Brunner’s question if Jamal is “man enough” echoes his (and others’) allegations about Lobel’s sexuality. But it also points towards the impersonality of military leadership and how leadership asks too much of the soldiers under their command. That is, it doesn’t matter if Jamal can handle combat. They’re too short-staffed to spare him any longer. The soldiers become depersonalized, dehumanized chess pieces being moved by unseen commanders, even though they are all individual human beings with their own characters, abilities, hopes, and dreams. Perry finds himself turning to his family more and more to remind himself that he’s a person, not just a faceless soldier.