Identity

Anthony Swofford goes into great detail about dogtags, which represent his identity. Swoffie enjoys ordering new dogtags and sending his old ones to loved ones, friends, and even special whores who put them in between their matteresses. On the dogtags are their names, social security number, blood type, and religous preference.



Swofford finds comfort in his dogtags. he says that "a man that owns that many dog tags will not die." Knowing this makes it easier for Anthony to wake up each morning and walk around un-alert. Anthony wants to have no religion on his dog tag but whenever he orders one it says he is Catholic. This isn't a problem for him, or so he says, but he makes a big deal about how he is labeled as Catholic which makes us wonder why it matters to him if he says it's not a problem. We think he might like being a little more different than the rest of his family, specifically his dad who was in the Air Force. At the end of our section he tells how his dad wasn't the greatest person and even beat him up one time and was always giving him a hard time. This leads us to believe that he is trying to become his own person and not let his family decide who he is and what he believes in.

steve and chris worked on this