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Second Less Than Desirable Slave
Third Less Desirable is a member of the chorus of Less Than Desirable Slaves who are enslaved by Boss-Master and Missus. Although they don’t specify whether they think Hero will go with Boss-Master or stay, they bring a brass button to wager. By the time Hero returns from the war as Ulysses, Third Less Desirable has been sold by Missus.
Third Less Than Desirable Slave Quotes in Father Comes Home from the Wars
The Father Comes Home from the Wars quotes below are all either spoken by Third Less Than Desirable Slave or refer to Third Less Than Desirable Slave. 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:
).
Part 1 Quotes
SECOND
Some of us are betting that Hero’s going to the War.
LEADER
And some of us are betting that he’ll stay.
FOURTH
You might be the best at measuring Night
But that don’t mean you the best at measuring Men.
THIRD
Early risers have their say but we gotta make our own choices on this
Each of us gotta make a measure of the man
We gotta choose for ourselves.
(Rest)
I got a brass button
I might be betting that Hero is—
Going to the War.
FOURTH
I got a banjo.
THIRD
Don’t bet that.
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THIRD
It’s still dark out
There’s still time to reconsider
Hero you were born perfect and lived your whole life
Is that to end here? Is that to end now
In front of a ruined cabin with an old knife?
HERO
Harm won’t come to no one but me.
FOURTH
Won’t some angel come
And hold back the hand?
Where is the big voice
Telling us that this is just some kind of test
To see if we were willing to follow the path.
Where is the path? Where is the path?!
The path, it isn’t marked.
Won’t some spirit comes down,
Some angel, some light, some mercy?
LEADER
[…]
Homer is coming. Maybe we should wait for him.
He might have an idea for this.
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LEADER
Freedom in exchange for giving Homer away?
And you said yes.
[…]
SECOND
Freedom in exchange for breaking the bond of trust.
And you said yes.
[…]
HERO
Believe it.
It’s true.
Boss gave me a hundred reasons why I should tell.
[…]
Boss told me—
he talked up close inside my ear and he said—
He said—
And I thought, I thought—
I don’t know what I thought.
HOMER
When Boss said jump you jumped, that’s all.
You told on me to him.
I told on you to Them.
That makes it even.
OLD MAN
All we’ve got is the trust between us.
(Rest)
I can’t call you son anymore.
LEADER
And we can’t call you Hero.
PENNY
That’s still his name.
THIRD
Maybe we won’t call him anything at all.
The sun rises.
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Third Less Than Desirable Slave Character Timeline in Father Comes Home from the Wars
The timeline below shows where the character Third Less Than Desirable Slave appears in Father Comes Home from the Wars. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1
...one else—not Penny (Hero’s lady) or Old Man (Hero’s father) has yet placed a bet. Third Less Desirable and Fourth Less Desirable join the group—and the debate. Third thinks Hero will go, and...
(full context)
...Boss-Master’s promises come with strings attached. The return of Leader Less Desirable, Second Less Desirable, Third Less Desirable , and Fourth Less Desirable—without Odd-See—stops her from saying more.
(full context)
...likely to earn all of the enslaved workers a savage beating. As Second Less Desirable, Third Less Desirable , Fourth Less Desirable, and Leader Less Desirable describe the number of lashes they’re likely...
(full context)
Penny, Third Less Desirable , Leader Less Desirable, Second Less Desirable, and Fourth Less Desirable try to restore peace....
(full context)
Leader Less Desirable, Second Less Desirable, and Third Less Desirable are horrified; Old Man protests that Homer’s story is a lie. But Hero acknowledges that...
(full context)
