Chelsea does such an excellent job conveying the reason for the actions she took, and also the tremendous and extremely unreasonable retaliation that the government and military imparted on her as a result. All throughout the book is a clearly conveyed picture of what being closeted under an oppressive system looks like, and how evil systems like solitary confinement can be. Manning is *such* a good writer, I was crying by the end of this story. There's so much about her motives and intent that resonate with me.