Lake is one of the two absent members of Bravo Squad. Very little is said about him, but he lost both his legs in Iraq and is at the Brooke Army Medical Center for the duration of the novel. Before every meal, Billy ritually imagines where Lake and Shroom would sit were they present.
Lake Quotes in Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
The Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk quotes below are all either spoken by Lake or refer to Lake. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Ecco edition of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk published in 2012.
Chapter 5
Quotes
What's happening now isn't nearly as real as that, eating this meal, holding this fork, lifting this glass, the realest things in the world these days are the things in his head.
Related Characters:
Billy Lynn, Sergeant Dime, Shroom, Albert Ratner, Lake
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Lake Character Timeline in Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
The timeline below shows where the character Lake appears in Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
1. The Thing Begins
...Ratner, accompany the eight remaining members of Bravo Squad. Counting Shroom, who is dead, and Lake, who is seriously wounded, Bravo has two Silver Stars and eight Bronze Stars among the...
(full context)
4. The Human Response
...is "property," and the rest of the Bravos are "product." Billy wonders what Shroom and Lake are in this system. He is also annoyed by the rest of the platoon's interest...
(full context)
5. By Virtue of Which the Many Become the One
...conversation and hopefully learn something. Before he starts eating, he thinks about where Shroom and Lake would sit. Billy considers the other rituals he follows, and reasons that none of them...
(full context)
...the memories in his head feel more real than eating in Texas. He thinks of Lake and his two missing legs, but Dime calls Billy's attention back to lunch. Albert declares...
(full context)
Dime berates Billy some more, and Billy recalls the day that Lake was injured. Billy had lost all composure, and Dime shoved him in a supply closet....
(full context)
11. This Is Everything There Is
...guard brings out the flag and the national anthem begins. Billy thinks about Shroom and Lake, but his mind wanders to Faison. He picks her out in the line of cheerleaders,...
(full context)
12. Billy and Mango Are Out For a Walk
...his aisle seat. Billy wonders what he believes in and sends up a "prayer" for Lake, Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld. He prays that the war is about the oil and the...
(full context)
