What word can be used to describe an ideal situation based on finding companions?

Question

I'm writing a paper analyzing Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five, and one of the pieces of evidence I am using in a section is the following quote:

Weary's version of the true war story went like this. There was a big German attack, and Weary and his antitank buddies fought like hell until everybody was killed but Weary. So it goes. And then Weary tied in with two scouts, and they became close friends immediately, and they decided to fight their way back to their own lines. They were going to travel fast. They were damned if they'd surrender. They shook hands all around. They called themselves 'The Three Musketeers.'

Weary doesn't actually form close friendships with these men, but this is rather the situation he wants to happen in war. The trauma caused by the fighting has actually cause Weary to believe this is the case.

What I'm asking is, is there a word to describe the situation that Weary wanted? I don't want to call it a utopia, because that would most likely apply to a situation without war involved, and I'm not entirely sure I can use Ideality in this situation. Would fantasy work?

Thanks if you can help!

Answer 1

The thing he wanted was camaraderie. He did not want a fantasy; he just had one. Perhaps he fantasized that the war would be the "crucible" in which the friendships he needed would be formed?

I don't know if he expected the war itself to be, in some way, ideal. Your excerpt is the only part of the book I've read.