Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussions of wartime violence and deaths, animal cruelty, and racist policies and behavior.

“But thoughts seeped into my brain like seawater. Like other traditional Navajos, I’d always believed in the ‘Right Way.’ Balance must be found, not only between individuals, but between each person and his world. My hands gripped the rail. The ship’s steady progress brought me inexorably closer to Guadalcanal. For three months, battle had raged there. How could I find any balance in that?”

Nez uses both simile and rhetorical questioning to illustrate his internal conflict. The simile comparing intrusive thoughts to seeping seawater creates a connection between his psychological state and his physical environment, while foreshadowing the challenges ahead. The rhetorical question at the end of the quote underscores the fundamental tension between Navajo philosophy and the reality of war. This quote exemplifies Nez’s struggle to reconcile his traditional beliefs about balance and harmony with his role as a Marine heading into combat.

“Navajo belief forbids contact with the dead, but we waded through floating bodies, intent on not becoming one of them. Close your mind, I told myself. I tried not to think about all those dead men, their chindí violently released from this life. I am a Marine. Marines move forward. I tried to make myself numb.”

This passage employs parallel structure in the short, declarative sentences “I am a Marine. Marines move forward,” emphasizing Nez’s attempt to suppress his cultural identity in favor of his military identity. The reference to chindí (spirits of the dead) juxtaposed with military terminology highlights the collision between Navajo spiritual beliefs and the brutal reality of warfare. The passage illustrates both The Advantages of Cultural Duality and The Navajo Heritage of Survival and Resilience  as Nez attempts to navigate this conflict by compartmentalizing his cultural beliefs to fulfill his duty as a Marine.