"And I'll be damned if I can recall what any of them were in particular - except for these four: It could've been me." (193)
When Toland speaks before the crowd at the Alleysax, and confesses his similarities and regrets for the fallen soldier Sammy, our stuck rubber baby seems to pry himself from the cold recesses of confused and silent homosexuality in the South, and come out to the community he believes he has hurt. He finally understands what may happen when one is not completely true to oneself. What I mean to say, is that it was not enough for him to frequent the Rhombus or be nice to his newfound group of Subterraneans, his heart really needed to be able identify, in order for his position as a gay white man in the South to allow himself to sympathize with the more race related plight of those around him and find the acceptance from himself, alongside the acceptance from his group of friends; Shiloh becomes an expression of this movement, and from one foot in and out of the closet to crying before those that he really cares for, the cold hard microphone takes the cold hard feelings from Toland and his heart becomes humbled before the death and pain that the Dixie Patriot seems to have impressed upon those different of skin and sexuality.
What does it mean for the future of the South and for the future of Toland, that he could finally become unstuck, and be able to show a great deal of humanity in the face of such horrible tragedies? AND why is it important that here in the story (192) he imagines himself as Sammy, galaxies away from his own unconscious body on the night he was murdered?
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