The Terminal List

While Reece is devastated by the loss of his family, at times he is more devastated by the loss of his team. He often refers to these men as his brothers, and he often lists their deaths before his wife’s and daughter’s deaths. When he calls Pilsner before setting off the bomb in Tedesco’s vest, he says, “You wiped out my troop and my family, and you did it all for money and a promotion” (283). By listing his troop first, Reece indicates that this is the more important death. The novel as a whole hence communicates the significant value of brotherhood and loyalty.

Masood and Howard, the two men primarily responsible for orchestrating the death of his troop overseas, experience the most brutal deaths in the novel. Both have their bodies denigrated and dismembered. Meanwhile, the men who killed Lauren and Lucy suffer brutal but quick deaths. This indicates that Reece feels a stronger sense of revenge toward the men who murdered his troops because he views their deaths as an example of his failure to protect and be loyal to them.

The aftermath of the Project “cause[s] Reece to sit back and take stock of his friendships. What he’d learned about loyalty was surprising” (250). He notes that it is the people outside of the SEALs who support him most during this difficult time. This suggests that the men still enlisted are going against the brotherhood by following upper-level commands and not stepping out on a limb to support Reece. Meanwhile, civilians like Marco, Katie, and Liz have no problem committing crimes to help Reece meet his mission, conveying that their friendship is true and not based on an ingenuine sense of duty and loyalty.

The greatest betrayal that Reece experiences is Ben Edwards’s double-crossing. This double-crossing can be traced through the diction Ben uses. At the beginning of the novel, he often calls Reece “brother,” indicating that they have a strong and almost familial bond. However, once he reveals his true evil intentions, he begins calling Reece “bro.” The word “bro” has a much more casual and shallower connotation and is often used to create a shared sense of community or familiarity between strangers. By suddenly using the word “bro,” Ben shows that their friendship is not a true brotherhood or friendship; instead, it is just a shallow facade that allows Ben to control Reece.

Many characters in the novel are motivated by paternal relationships. Katie can come to America and assist Reece because her father worked with and was ultimately saved by Reece’s father. Katie admits that Reece’s “father was like a God in [her] house growing up” (167), something that Reece echoes since he “worshipped him growing up” (168). Reece’s father becomes something of a God to the two characters, and it is ultimately his legacy that helps Reece uncover the history of the Project.

While Reece is devastated by the death of his wife, he is especially destroyed by the death of his daughter and unborn son. He uses Lucy’s drawing as the physical site of his terminal list, indicating that he is killing to avenge her death. Reece prides himself on being a good father, and his fondest memories—the ones to which he returned during war—are focused on time spent with his daughter, highlighting that father-child relationships are crucial motivations in hard times. Conversely, some of the most morally corrupt characters in the novel do not have children, primarily because they are “too selfish to give what is required in parenthood” (123). The Pilsners have no children for this reason, and it’s unclear whether or not Ben or the Hartleys have children. Instead, these characters embrace excess—shopping and affairs—emphasizing that to be a good person means to be motivated by others’ needs, particularly in father-child relationships.

Carr reinforces father-child relationships as a motivational force when Pilsner attempts to use Reece’s bond with his father to manipulate Reece. When Pilsner berates Reece in his office, he repeatedly uses the word “tarnished.” He first accuses Reece of having “tarnished the hard-earned reputation of this brand” (92), meaning the SEALs, and demands that he finally face the consequences of “the tarnished legacy [his] father left on the Teams” (93). Reece can keep his cool until Pilsner brings up his father, which leads him to physically attack the admiral, indicating that his father’s legacy is extremely important to him. While it is unclear what his father did as a SEAL, Pilsner’s wording implies that Reece inherited a negative legacy and had to work to overcome his father’s mistakes. This is bolstered by the word “tarnished,” which is often used to describe silver, a material associated with family inheritance. Pilsner hence knows that Reece’s father and children are his main motivations and uses this to his advantage.