Response to Oct 31st
Jarhead is a book written by former marine Anthony Swofford, and he recalls his time of serving in the military during operation Desert Storm. He recalls times of hooking up with women, almost committing suicide, his friendships, but the thing that stood out to me the most would have to be when a news reporter was coming to camp and the marines would have to censor their answers. The marines were instructed to answer every question a certain biased way to reassure Americans that they were believing in the cause and they were almost happy to be at war because they are doing the right thing. There is an argument between the marines due to the free speech amendment and there is a major disagreement. It was interesting how the Staff sergeant is telling the marines they signed away their rights on papers and were instructed to follow orders. I find this statement very thought provoking especially with our recent debate on the Vietnam war. What exactly happened in Vietnam that the civilian world does not know about? What happened in Desert storm when our military was over there? The American military censors what goes in and out of the news which is supposed to better America. I do believe it is for the better that we are a censored nation but as curiosity arises, as a civilian I am curious as to see how our military acted or acts in these countries. I am interested to see how other nations view our military as they lived through what our military has done.
Throughout the reading of Jarhead we see the influence of war films on Swofford and the other marines. I find it interesting that these films that show some of the darkest aspects of war such as Platoon and Full Metal Jacket are viewed by the marines as desirable aspects of war.
ReplyDeleteSwofford describes watching the films as something exciting, “because the magic brutality of the films celebrates the terrible and despicable beauty of their fighting skills. Fight, rape, pillage, burn.” pg. 7 This connection to the films is not only based on attraction to the excitement but it is also compared to sexual satisfaction. Swofford describes the marines as viewing these films as pornographic, and creating a moral that is set on violence. There is also an instance during the reading in which the marines watch war films to get themselves “pumped” and “[prepared for] killing” pg. 65 Swofford even goes so far as to compare these violent films to drugs.
However in the chapter on War and Film we see the films that Swofford describes as enticing being viewed by Laderman as witness to atrocities of war. The films that followed the Vietnam War had themes of anti-war ideology, even if only in small details. The details being the capturing of horrors of war such as rape, and war crimes but these details that should be terrifying are viewed by the marines as thrilling. Jarhead shows just how these war films which are arguably anti-war can be subverted by the audience.
So it becomes clear that war films have a true effect on people. Does the representation of war through film come at the cost of creating violent desires for people? Or do these films just encourage the violence that is already there within these people?
After reading the first half of Jarhead, I really appreciate the brutal honesty that Swofford provides of his experiences in the Marine Corps. In this way, I think the book is similar to Kovic's as they both don't hold back on the details involving their experiences in war. Swofford's stories of his time in basic training reminded me of the chapter we read on the Marine Corps and basic training. In particular, the rule against using personal pronouns that was discussed in that chapter is demonstrated in this book. One recruit mistakenly uses a personal pronoun after being berated by Burke, and the following occurs, "Burke punched the recruit square on the forehead. He swayed but his knees did not give. The recruit had made the mistake of using personal pronouns, which the recruit is not allowed to use when referring to the drill instructor or himself" (page 28). Swofford often talks about how many Marines hate being in the Corps, often referring to it as the "Suck". While I do believe Swofford when he says he hates the Marines, I do believe that they enjoyed the camaraderie involved in being in the Marines. Finally, the chapter where Swofford discusses his suicide attempt resonated with me. He couldn't point to an exact reason as to why he was feeling suicidal, but there were many things that were making him unhappy, and I think it was because he was stuck in the base knowing that they were soon going to be in combat. A friend of mine is in the Navy, and he has told me how a handful of people on his ship have committed suicide, something that was truly shocking to me.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the first half of Jarhead, Swofford’s actions promote danger. Several times, he does things to make the situation worse for himself. For example, on page 30, he says, “I wish that that night at the chalkboard, after he’d shoved my head into the wall, he’d have put me to the floor with a swift knee to the stomach, followed by a boot to the face, and another boot, and that he’d have continued beating me, while other recruits watched, horrified, observing their future.” On the next page, after reporting the incident, he says, “I hoped that reporting Burke’s brutality might somehow put me in danger, increase the odds against my survival, that his fellow DIs would fuck me further and longer than anyone else.” After this encounter, he wants to get beaten further, and he snitches in order for more harm to come his way. Why would he want further conflict? There is another example on page 45, when he tells Burke that he used drugs. He didn’t have to turn himself in, yet he did. Burke then proceeded to make him piss himself by screaming in his ear. Swofford could have avoided this by keeping his mouth shut. On page 47, he tells a story where he changed marquee, and was punished for it. On page 58, he is thinking about joining the STA platoon. What sells him is the idea of “Poor odds and likely death to fulfill thankless missions”. On page 60, he mentions this again, saying, “If a war started, being an STA marine would increase the danger of my missions.” All of this makes sense on page 70, when he has the barrel of his rifle in his mouth. After talking about his suicidal sister, and his girlfriend cheating on him, he thinks about suicide. Swofford is suicidal, and he tells Troy that it is the dessert that made him put the gun in his mouth. The military literally makes him want to kill himself, and there are many others as well.
ReplyDeleteFor my blog post, I have not had the chance to talk about the “Platoon” film, which I want to focus on most. I had already watched the film once before in the past so I had a good idea about what to expect from it. Although this is the case, as I have been learning more and more about the conflict in Vietnam I understood parts of the film that I didn’t before. One thing I found very interesting about the film came from a class discussion. Someone mentioned that throughout the film there was little to no Vietnamese dialogue being witnessed, and for the Vietnamese that was being spoken in the film there were no subtitles for the viewers to understand. I feel this is a much bigger issue in the film that people may think it to be. The fact that there was barely any Vietnamese perspective or conversation really shows how the movie was made to give a fully American point of view on the war. I feel the film definitely possessed a certain theme and had a specific message that was meant to be portrayed to the audience. The basis of the entire movie was centered around the war crimes and horrific atrocities that occurred during the Vietnam war and we can see this in many ways. Although we witness the terrible events that took place in the time of war, we also see an inner conflict in Chris which involves him choosing which side to take on the war. We witness the difference in Barnes and Elias and their drastic difference in attitudes and standpoints of the war. Toward the end of the film we sort of see how Chris took on certain parts of each person and developed his own ideology on the whole situation. I really enjoyed the film and I believe it is one that really sheds light on the type of things that occurred and how the Vietnam war was such a dark time in history. Besides this movie, I would like to see a similar film but in the viewpoint and perspective of the Vietnamese instead to give us an idea of how different they may be.
ReplyDeleteAnthony Swofford’s Jarhead provides a brutally honest look into the Marines where the idea of masculinity is hyperactive yet simultaneously attacked. We see this happen on page 33, “Like most good and great Marines, I hated the Corps. I hated being a marine because more than all of the things in the world I wanted to be—smart, famous, sexy, oversexed, drunk, fucked, high, alone, famous, smart, understood, loved, forgiven, oversexed, drunk, high, smart, sexy—more than all those things, I was a Marine. A jarhead. A grunt”. This passage, coupled with many parts of the book, illustrate how the Marines really attack a man’s masculinity by insulting them, cursing at them, using homophobic slurs, while simultaneously creating a man who can kill, listen, be respectful (though in Anthony’s case was poorly received), and be a real man. What I mean by that is the Marines try to instill some discipline into young men who want material things and let those material things dictate their actions into young men all united with a single purpose/goal, doing what they are told and serving the country. Another way, at least in Swofford’s case, that the Marines attack a person’s masculinity is making them feel like they have no where to go. The common perception of Marines are these ultra-tough dudes that feel no pain, physically or mentally, and are unsympathetic killing machines, but the book really illustrates how the Marines can destroy a person. If we compare the book to the movie Full Metal Jacket or even the movie Platoon, we see that the constant attack, physical and mental, really impacts a person. In Full Metal Jacket and Jarhead, the similarities between Swafford and Private Pyle are noticeable, the constant berating, lack of individuality, and attacks on their masculinity, deeply affect both.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading the first half of Anthony Swofford’s memoir, Jarhead, I realized that Swofford struggles with the concept of not always having the answers to events or actions that occur in his life. More times than not throughout the memoir, Swofford reassesses situations in which he names himself at fault. For example:
ReplyDelete“Burke didn’t touch me again, but he beat on other recruits. I’m sure he had only the best intentions, and now when I consider him and his acts of violence, they seem petty, not severe enough….Along with others, I chose to speak, and I wrote a report of what had occurred the first night of training when Burke had introduced me to the chalkboard….I briefly fantasized that the Marine Corps would apologize to me and buy me a ticket home, no questions asked. But mostly I hoped that reporting Burke’s brutality would fuck me further and longer than anyone else, and I welcomed this imagined challenge. I’d increase the likelihood of my failure.” (Swofford 30-31)
Swofford giving Burke the benefit-of-the-doubt for his tyrance over the new Marines-in-training is Swofford’s answer to the unknown reason of why Burke was so aggressive toward the new recruits. His response to reporting Burke in hopes of being attacked by Burke’s comrades is Swofford’s self-punishment for not knowing how why he was a victim in Burke’s tyrade. It almost seems like a type of self-deprecation, which is evident throughout the memoir as well. The terms “grunt’ and “jarhead” are used by Swofford to describe and address himself and his fellow Marines. These terms are self-deprecating due it’s belittling and derogatory nature. He doesn’t see himself as the strong, honorful war-machine that a Marine is supposed to embody in the eyes of society, Instead, he degrades himself as a trouble-minded, grunt who doesn’t have a clear cut reason for why he is in the Marines.
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ReplyDelete"As I folded my newspapers each morning, staring at the front-page images of the marines, the carnage crept into my brain, and also the sense that my country had been harmed and that I was responsible for some of the healing, the revenge. My country had been attacked, and I was part of my country" (pg 128).
DeleteFor some reason, this line in particular really resonated with me; perhaps because it articulates a motivation for enlistment so familiar to me now because of past articles and books from the course. This deep saturation of oneself with national, militaristic patriotism is achingly reminiscent of Kovac's memoir, especially because it stems from Swofford's youth. To be ingrained with this sense of personal responsibility to the country's retribution is not uncommon, especially among young American boys who grow up idealizing what they perceive to be the one true masculinity - heroic, aggressive, and possessive. Swofford goes on to recount the growing obsession he had with the idea of the marines; he trained and daydreamed secretly and endlessly, unable to focus on much beyond his singular goal of becoming a marine, of saving his country, of getting his "revenge." The end of this particular section was interesting, as well; Swofford reiterates that he kept his military fantasies largely to himself growing up, in fear of them being "ridiculed and tainted by the kids smarter and hipper and better dressed, the better athletes, the better students" (pg 131). What makes the Marine Corps so attractive to young Swofford is its transformative ability - it's promise of a clean, even slate, unsupportive of a social hierarchy. It takes average American boys and masculinizes them, disciplines them, shapes them into the powerful forces Swofford reads about and wants to become. His desire is not unreasonable, but the complicated reality of a marine - something Swofford eventually becomes familiar with - is much less about protecting the sanctity of the nation for personal and national fulfillment, and much more about reevaluating one's own humanity and will.
In the first half of the book the plot is carried along by the training that Swofford underwent and the waiting for the war to start. The second half of the book is driven by the conflict itself and how Swofford and his unit respond and react to it. Because in this section the war is starting Swofford talks more and more about the various guns that he uses and the purposes behind them. In addition to talking more about them in this sections guns are romanticized, even personified to a point. At one point in this section Swofford even describes being turned on in a sense upon seeing the Barrett 50.-Caliber rifle. Towards the end of the book after Swoffords unit has finished shooting the guns of the dead Iraqi's they were horrified at how poor of shape the Iraqi's guns were in. This is when Johnny says "The weapons didn't fail. . . They failed their weapons." (pg 244) The romanticized description of the weapons in this section shows what Swofford identifies himself to be. Not a marine, but a machine. In this section he even described himself as a machine with his rifle being a mechanized part of him. He was trained to be a killing machine in the first section of the book and now we can actually see that aspect of him coming out with the war starting.
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