Responses
I too want to see him grow, I think he could be a good person if he only put his heart into it. I see the author trying to make us understand that he has his own struggles and how this situation is affecting him. I totally am willing to see a good man come from his rather ignorant mind if it’s through good effort.
I like the blondie as a character, sure he is a racist and an asshole but he has some great potential for change and development. He isn't a good person with good values but he is different and I genuinely want to see him grow and to have his views and standpoints challenged.
He is a soldier in an army at war with a different state, ofc the propaganda will be heavily inforced + he has suffered heavy losses in that war. Blondie is young and impressionable and a great target for hate propaganda, it would be a miracle if he wasn't affected by that at all. Now that he works close to a northerner, someone he sees as subhuman, and with other people who's sorta accepted the northerner, it will be a good way to challege his beliefs.
Now I do hope ya'll understand that I don't fucking like racists or assholes, I don't find that character trait attractive in any way. HOWEVER I want to see him grow, learn and change. And this is just my personal prefrence of flawed or even hateful characters that makes you question different standpoints and look at yourself in a new way. :)