How old is robin in sunrise over fallujah

Toggle navigation. Sign Up. Sign In. Get Sunrise Over Fallujah from Amazon. View the Study Pack. View the Lesson Plans. Plot Summary. Chapters Free Quiz. Marla starts calling him Birdy, and the nickname sticks, both because a it's kinda cute and b Robin feels like he's at the start of something new, and needs a new name to go along with it. In fact, Robin becomes a memory: just the name of the person Birdy was before he became a soldier. And because this is a book about during-war Birdy, we don't learn much about pre-war Robin.

We just get hints from his letters home, and the occasional thought that pops into his head. We know he played high school basketball, because of an analogy he uses when he wishes war had a scoreboard. We know that his first major disagreement with his dad happened when he decided to go to war instead of applying for college, and that his father won't forget about their disagreement.

We can see why a dad would rather send his kid to college than Iraq, but sending a picture of a college when your son asks for some photos from home? That's harsh. Birdy's not an in-your-face kind of narrator. Instead of making statements about what he thinks about the war, he tells you the facts of what he sees, and what other people are saying.

He's so quiet, in fact, that the other characters tease him about it. Like when Marla tells Jonesy,. From time to time, Birdy worries that he isn't much of a soldier. He doesn't have the same drive to fight that men like Harris have before the war begins. But that might be a good thing. He's in Civilian Affairs, after all. The goal of his unit is to put a human face to the American side and gain the trust of Iraqi citizens. Birdy's ability to understand the other side helps them accomplish that goal, like when he plays soccer with a village boy:.

I said that next time we would win. It was something to say. I patted the boy on his head and he pushed my hand away and stood up straighter, almost defiantly. Okay, I could deal with that. If Birdy had more violent, warlike emotions, he might have gotten all offended. But Birdy gets why a boy wouldn't like being talked down to by a soldier whose side had killed men in his village. He knows the boy isn't being rude for no reason…and he doesn't feel the need to put him in his place.

He's sympathetic like that. And he's thoughtful. He can feel bad for searching Iraqis He can see both sides of the war. Don't get us wrong—Birdy's no angel. His attitude isn't always enlightened, especially when it comes to the ladeez. For one thing, Birdy definitely feels threatened by Marla being so tough.

Birdy and his comrades know that their friendships are tenuous, borne out of fear and isolation as much as anything else. They realize that back in the United States, they likely would not move in the same circles. However, the bonds they form are built on absolute trust and dedication. Birdy struggles both with his own internal doubts and the unspoken disapproval of his father.

Birdy has a strong relationship with his Uncle Richie, but his father wanted him to enroll in college rather than the army. Birdy writes letters to Uncle Richie that discuss the combat and his feelings much more personally than to his mother or father. For him, it probably feels like a bad memory is repeating itself. For a young adult just out of high school, Birdy understands remarkably well that he is simply one piece of a large puzzle. The image of the puzzle, however, is unclear.

The various military units that Birdy interacts with each have distinct agendas, some of which appear almost at odds with each other.