As We Sat Waiting

I am kinda confused in understanding the point of view that this novel is written in. The narrator is clearly there as a part in the action. He uses pronouns like "we" and "I", but he is also sort of "all-knowing". Especially in the beginning when he talks about Lt. Cross and Martha.. "Lt. Cross gazed at the tunnel But he was not there. He was buried with Martha under the white sand at the Jersey shore...he was aware of how quiet the day was...yet he could not ring himself to worry about matters of security" (page 11). How does the narrator know all that? I guess he could just be making assumptions.
This confusion makes me question the actual role of the narrator. Why is he even there? He doesn't really get in on any of the action. When you envision the actual scene, he is just there, listening to Rat Kiley or someone telling a story. Surely he will play a bigger role eventually, right?

Even though he is telling us these stories, I think he is just a flat character. We really don't know him very well other than he fought in the war, and he is now an author. I can sorta create some other personality traits of his based on his description of the other men, but I don't think he will change the course of the story. His sole purpose is to tell stories to his audience.

Road To Hell Paved With Unbought Stuffed Dogs.

I've decided that Bill is a flat character, who really doesn't change much of the story line. He is pretty laid back, unless Robert is around. Finding Robert annoying is Bill's only purpose. Jake has to have someone to relate to. If he was on the trip with just Robert, waiting for Brett and Michael-he would blow up. Because Bill was there, they were able to leave Robert behind and move on together, without having to listen to Cohn's "superiority".

Additionally, I think Bill adds to the dialogue. Like I said in my "Statement", Hemingway adds a lot of nonsense to the book. A lot of that comes form Bill. My favorite: "A horse cab passed us. Bill looked at it. 'See that horse-cab? Going to have that horse-cab stuffed for you for Christmas.' " (page 79). It's so random and adds nothing to the story line (which I really haven't figured out yet).

So, Bill's purpose is to: 1) dislike Robert and 2) take away the serious tone of the story