In this vignette, O'Brien introduces a church, a site of religion and solemnity, into the daily affairs of war. Through Kiowa and Dobbins, O'Brien contrasts the church with the Vietnam country and the monks with the soldiers. The church and the monks stand outside of the war experience of Vietnam and the company of soldiers, but the two worlds come together when the church is used as a base of operations. Like the "Style" vignette later in the book, the soldiers watch the movements of the natives without understanding either language or meaning. In order to understand them or to arrive at any sort of meaning for the war for themselves, the soldiers can only imitate the language, movements, and habits of the monks and hope it will increase their sensitivity and diminish their dismissive and discriminatory attitude toward others unlike themselves.
Dobbins again is the central character, and as he reveals to Kiowa that he harbors an inclination to become a religious leader of some sort, he is able to make a stronger connection to the monks than the rest of the troops. He respects and understands the choice they have made because of a desire deep within him, a remnant from his childhood. Without being able to understand the language or the meaning of the "strange washing motion" of the monks, Dobbins and the monks establish a special liking for one another. They call him "good soldier Jesus," using very simple English words that they know to describe what they know of him: He is good, he is a soldier, and he is a Christian. Dobbins does not understand all of them either, but teaches them to clean his rifle, showing them trust and respect. He also imagines them to be what he cannot ever know: kind and intelligent. He derides his own intellect by believing he would make a good people person but lack the brains and religious faith of a minister, and under it he assumes that these monks have all of those qualities. Dobbins interprets their silence as kindness, faith, and intelligence, assuming the best about them though he has no reason to believe this.
