Break of Day in the Trenches”

I think the author is showing his discontent with war. It seems that he has befriended a rat and begins to tell him of the things that are to come. He tells the rat that he would not make it if everyone knew that he was going to feed on the dead. He goes on to tell the rat that he will not only feast on the dead bodies of the English soldiers, but the Germans as well. Rosenberg seems to be telling the rat that it has a better chance of surviving than he does. He believes that the rat will be able to navigate his way through the battlefield without harm. “Less chanced than you for life” (Rosenberg 15). In other words, the rat has a better chance of surviving than he does. He asks the rat what does he see when he is feasting on them. What is it like being able to wander the battlefield as the sky is illuminated from the firing of the guns? Rosenberg believes that unlike the soldiers, the rat is able to move freely about the battlefield without fear of meeting his destruction.