How would you interpret the pronoun ‘them’ in the last sentence?
How would you interpret the pronoun ‘them’ in the last sentence ‘It is with them the war is made’?
I think the ‘them’ consists of two kinds of people, the ones who never realize how bad the war is, and the other ones who are afraid of their officers. What do you think?
Or does it only refer to the ones who are afraid of their officers?
Thanks. It’s from A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway (Chapter 9).
the context:
"Tenente," Passini said. "We understand you let us talk. Listen. There is nothing as bad as war. We in the auto-ambulance cannot even realize at all how bad it is. When people realize how bad it is they cannot do anything to stop it because they go crazy. There are some people who never realize. There are people who are afraid of their officers. It is with them the war is made."