Perdre sa cerise

Perdre sa cerise is the expression Shoo applies to the narrator after he helps carry wounded men from a field to a helicopter. In the section titled Cherry, the phrase turns a difficult first encounter with battlefield casualties into a joking rite of passage: the narrator has, in Shoo’s teasing formulation, lost his innocence.

Meaning and Context

The expression is linked in the scene to losing one’s flower or cherry, an image of sexual initiation used metaphorically. The narrator has just helped move stretchers over uneven ground toward a landed helicopter. In the low light, he sees the frightened, distressed face of a wounded man. The passage establishes the experience behind Shoo’s remark without presenting the phrase as a literal description of what happened.

Use in the Narrative

Back at base, the other soldiers ask what happened, who was killed, and what the group saw. The narrator is not in a state to give them an account. When he goes to Shoo, Shoo finds his reaction amusing and mocks him, describing the experience as losing his cherry. The contrast is sharp: the narrator cannot yet explain the scene, while Shoo supplies an easy, teasing label for his response.

Significance

The phrase gives the section its title and marks a transition from witnessing wounded men to being recognized by others as someone newly exposed to the realities of combat. Its humor does not erase the seriousness of the encounter; instead, it shows how the soldiers handle an experience that the narrator cannot readily recount. The expression converts vulnerability into a familiar initiation joke, leaving the gap between the narrator’s unsettled response and the group’s bantering language visible.