Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk

by

Ben Fountain

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk makes teaching easy.

Mr. Whaley Character Analysis

The boss of Denise, Billy's mother. Mr. Whaley offers Billy a minimum wage job and to throw him a parade, but has offers no other response when Kathryn points out that Billy is going to be forced to redeploy and might die. Billy, meanwhile, realizes that he is just a peon to the rich Mr. Whaley, but that Mr. Whaley is just a peon to the truly rich people that Billy met during the Victory Tour.

Mr. Whaley Quotes in Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk

The Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Whaley or refer to Mr. Whaley. 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:
Fantasy vs. Reality in the Media Theme Icon
).
Chapter 6 Quotes

Billy rattled off the cities. Washington, Richmond, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Columbus, Denver, Kansas City, Raleigh-Durham, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Miami, and practically every one, as Sergeant Dime pointed out, happened to lie in an electoral swing state.

Related Characters: Billy Lynn (speaker), Sergeant Dime, Kathryn Lynn, Ray Lynn, Mr. Whaley
Page Number: 88
Explanation and Analysis:

The Mr. Whaleys of the world are peons to them, just as Billy is a peon in the world of Mr. Whaley, which in the grand scheme of things means that he, Billy, is somewhere on the level of a one-celled protozoan in a vast river flowing into the untold depths of the sea.

Related Characters: Billy Lynn, Norm Oglesby, Mr. Whaley
Page Number: 91
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk LitChart as a printable PDF.
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk PDF

Mr. Whaley Quotes in Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk

The Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Whaley or refer to Mr. Whaley. 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:
Fantasy vs. Reality in the Media Theme Icon
).
Chapter 6 Quotes

Billy rattled off the cities. Washington, Richmond, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Columbus, Denver, Kansas City, Raleigh-Durham, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Miami, and practically every one, as Sergeant Dime pointed out, happened to lie in an electoral swing state.

Related Characters: Billy Lynn (speaker), Sergeant Dime, Kathryn Lynn, Ray Lynn, Mr. Whaley
Page Number: 88
Explanation and Analysis:

The Mr. Whaleys of the world are peons to them, just as Billy is a peon in the world of Mr. Whaley, which in the grand scheme of things means that he, Billy, is somewhere on the level of a one-celled protozoan in a vast river flowing into the untold depths of the sea.

Related Characters: Billy Lynn, Norm Oglesby, Mr. Whaley
Page Number: 91
Explanation and Analysis: