The island of Anopopei provides not just a setting for the book but a symbol for the isolation and antagonism that the men are feeling on campaign. The climate, terrain, and vegetation provide a source of conflict that represents the larger forces that the men are battling, and the distance from help or home creates an environment in which the men are forced to rely upon one another.

Early on, the geographical shape of the island is compared to an ocarina, a wind instrument that is roughly ovoid in shape but has a handle, much like the island has a peninsula. The island is described as the ocarina upon which General Cummings, the strategist, plays his tune. This image reflects the objectified terms in which the General views his plans, especially in how he sees his men as resources to be deployed, not men with families, dreams, and lives.

The island itself also creates a conflict of human versus nature in the forces that work against their human efforts, from the typhoon that blows away their tents to the rain that the men fear will soak their gunpowder and ruin their guns. This conflict is most evident in the scenes where the teams are trying to move the heavy artillery to the frontline and when recon is on their patrol. At certain times, the island is compared to the Biblical Garden of Eden, suggesting a lost paradise untouched by human evil, and as such a stark contrast to the destruction and carnage of war. At other times, it is described as a primeval wilderness, an external symbol of the darker urges deep in the nature of the human characters. The sunset the men witness the night they land on the beach to begin their recon mission is a beautiful moment of rest and a scene of beauty that hints at the ending of peace and the coming of darkness, foreshadowing the emotional and physical challenges they will face.