the author uses setting to create a somber mood. the twenty six soldiers have all been marching, silently in the dark, none of them showing any excitement for battle, all of them just desperate for a break and to see the sea. the atmosphere is melancholy not only because the soldiers are weary, but the darker tomes also reflect the grief that the soldiers feel over the loss of one of their comrades. these choices affect the reader by illustrating the emotions of PFC Berlin in a more complete and detailed fashion: the reader can identify not only the grief that he feels, but it is illustrated through the dark and murky mood as Berlin reminisces for his own youth and innocence. almost as if the weather that a character or the reader perceives is a reflection of emotion.