Sarge’s account of this confrontation is framed in a curiously impersonal style: The guard ordered me to call another prisoner a ‘bastard,’ and call myself the same. The former I would never do, the latter of which would produce a logical paradox denying the validity of the former. He began as he always does before “punishments,” alluding to the hint in his vocal intonation that the others would be punished for my actions. In order to avoid their punishment and avoid obeying that command, I produced a reaction that would solve both by saying, “I will not use the word bastard in any meaningful
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