Because, really, what a choice there was; what a prodigy of things to be afraid of! The moment that you understood this, really understood it, you lost your anxiety instantly. Anxiety was a luxury, a joke you had no room for once you knew the variety of deaths and mutilations the war offered. The purpose of the paradox in the excerpt is to illustrate the narrator’s desire to relieve his uneasiness. reinforce the physical and emotional challenges of war. show that indulgences are stolen during war, not provided. highlight the idea that fear can be viewed in different ways.