For who is lonelier than the cockroach without his tribe?
The theme of national identity is raised in War Dances, and the parallel is weirdly lined between people and cockroach. Any person, like the cockroach which the narrator had found in his suitcase, cannot be alone. Any person needs a tribe to belong to, like birds gather into swarms, people stick together as well. And no wonder that the cockroach was dead, as it was left alone, and nobody can survive being alone, even a cockroach.
There would come a time when roles would reverse and the adult child would become the caretaker of the ill parent. The circle of life.
Life never stays still, generations come to replace other generations. Relationships of parents and children is fundamental basis for this replacement, these represent the circle of life.
I was the weak antelope in the herd.
The narrator tried to stay as positive as he could concerning all the tests on his brain, and tumor that was found there. However, still his nerves give way and he felt desperate. The quote reveals his feelings at the moment.
