A Trident tattoo (symbol)
A Trident tattoo is a symbol of the SEALs. To get your “own Trident” is the highest honor for every SEAL, for it is “the symbol” of who they are. This “insignia” means a lot, one can’t have it just because he wants it. It should be earned just like one earns respect. Though Chris is not a newbie, he doesn’t feel like he has earned it, so he gets a “frog bone,” a tattoo that “look likes a frog skeleton.” This is his way to honor the SEALs.
A gun (allegory)
A gun is allegory of violence. Chris confessed that he “always” loved guns, always “loved hunting.” “Gun out,” “gun ready” and the fight began. He didn’t even feel safe without a gun, for there was a war. When “not on the gun” himself, Chris liked to help others “to improve their skills.” “Kill your enemy” was his ultimate goal. Those “fanatics” hated the SEALs and Americans as much as the SEALs hated them. The country was drowned in violence.
Fighting (motif)
Fighting is the main motif of the novel. Chris fights for his place in the NAVY, then he has to fight for a chance to become a real SEAL, and, finally, he goes to Iraq. Frankly speaking, he likes “the idea of fighting,” it is his element. He and other soldiers “are fighting for the country” and the ideas they believe in. More often than not, Chris repeats that he doesn’t fight for Iraq, he couldn’t care less about it. He thinks “if there are people fighting, it should be him.”
