The Yellow Birds

Chapter 3 jumps forward in time to the closest moment to the narrator’s present so far, after Bart’s tour of duty is over and he is about to head home to the States. His platoon has a layover in Germany, and won’t fly out until the morning, so he slips off base to wander the nearby town. During the cab ride, he thinks about how the passing trees and rain-soaked scenery remind him of the war, despite seemingly being the exact opposite climate, and he finds himself gripping an imaginary rifle. After he gets out of the cab, Bart wanders the streets, appreciating the lack of interactions with the people around him and reflecting on how much he does not want to run into Sergeant Sterling: “The mere thought of him made bile well up in a kind of raw, acidic burn at the back of my throat” (55).

He passes a cathedral and enters, sitting in the back with a brochure on its history. He watches a tour of children as they pass through the nave and looks at the portraits of martyred saints on the walls. Eventually a priest, Father Bernard, comes over to him and asks if he wants to talk, saying, “You look troubled” (58).