Larry is surprised to learn that Francis knew about what he did to Nicole and shows no remorse about what happened between them. Larry was the first young man of Monument to enlist in the armed forces, leaving the Wreck Center closed in the wake of his departure.

Whilst at school he met Nicole Renard and instantly fell in love with her, and continues to be so until at the end of the book. With only the clothes on his back, and gun in his bag, Francis is set on his final mission- to find the man who betrayed him in his youth, and make him pay for what he did. The most notable example, Larry LaSalle, enlisted in the Marines following the attack on Pearl Harbor.I felt that Larry had got his deserved fate when he lost his legs because it meant he could no longer be the Larry LaSalle he was (strutting about like Fred Astaire and with an air of self-confidence) and LaSalle is described as a shadow of who he used to be.

Distraught, Francis waited outside of Nicole’s house for days until she finally came out and angrily sent him away.

This book is about a 14 year old kid name francis cassavant that goes to war and loses some of his face. The rape of Nicole also seems to question the morality of of society's acceptance of actions carried out during war-time whilst in uniform against those perpetrated when out of it.