platoon summary and analysis

For him, an authentic life means stepping down in class; he embraces the same experience as the working-class blacks and white ethnics who got drafted—common clay, most of them, forgotten men, losers.” (Denby 86). Barnes as the leading commander in the platoon instead of the inexperienced Lt. Wolfe; he doesn’t do anything when Barnes and others in the platoon commit war crimes against the Vietnamese villagers; he also doesn’t realize that the platoon is about to be caught in a crossfire trap by the Viet Cong. There is a scene in the “head” hutch where Rhah points out to Chris how much Chris respected Barnes when he first arrived:

‘Lias, he was full of shit, ‘Lias was a crusader - I got no fight with a man does what he’s told, but when he don’t, the machine breaks down, and when the machine breaks down, we break down… and I ain’t gonna allow that. He honors and respects Sgt. He does not, however, prove Barnes’ crimes in a way that would allow justice to triumph, which lends to his failure to resolve his personal angst. Chris seeks to obtain revenge against Barnes for murdering Elias: We see Americans shooting other Americans, and we can understand why.

Barnes have different ideas on what the war represents. “In the game of Cold War politics, Vietnam became a pawn. © Copyright 1994-2020 Write Brothers, Inc. All Rights Reserved. He overpacks his back pack, has difficulty climbing,  drinks too much water and cramps up, doesn’t yet know how to conserve his energy, and ends up passing out. Barnes in merciless revenge. No longer a liability, Chris has become a valuable asset to the platoon. Each of the men begin to have a moral conflict with one another over what the other considers as “right” and “wrong.”  Outraged by Sgt.

Barnes’ drive and motivation.

Chris finally obtains a strong aptitude for the war.

No on talks. Colonel James R. McDonough (Retired) is an impecable example for future (and current) young lieutenants that are preparing to take command of their first platoons. After Sgt. Barnes realizes that Chris is standing behind him with a rifle pointed at him. Get that other “cherry” up here, Gardner! Worth accelerates the conflict between Chris Taylor and Sgt. Thus, the other sergeants, and even Lt. Wolfe, look to Sgt. Out here assholes, ya keep your shit wired tight at all times!

Truman willingly agreed to aid France’s ambitions in exchange for France’s support.

RHAH:  (puffing on his bowl) How do you know the dinks didn’t get him. They drove me crazy with their goddamn world, Grandma, you know Mom, I don’t want to be a white boy on Wall Street, I don’t want my whole life to be predetermined by them. Not one…(Stone, p. 88), Sgt. You don’t sleep on no fucking ambush!

Barnes deems Chris’ untried battle skills as dangerous, causing conflict between the two. The Platoon Community Note includes chapter-by-chapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. Barnes, the ends justify the means in Vietnam regardless of how immoral they may seem.

I shit you not! Members of the platoon feel that if they become more accurate in their efforts in the war, their fortunes will turn and they will win the war. By the end of the film, the platoon and several other military companies are completely overrun at their base by the enemy. Barnes when Barnes confronts him and others about killing Sgt. Sgt. He’s seen a lot of action in his day and has already served several tours in Vietnam.

Despite Lt. Wolfe’s seniority, Sgt. Sergeant Barnes is the first sergeant in Chris’ platoon.

Barnes attempts to kill him, he finds Barnes crawling on the jungle floor. “Death…  What do y’all know ‘bout death?” is what Barnes asks Chris and the others of the “head” when he confronts them about Elias. BARNES:  There’s the way it oughta be and there’s the way it is. And it has shown him the level down to which he too can stoop, the level of cold-blooded, vengeful murder. KING:  What we got here a crusader? This is done as a means of releasing the tension and frustration that has built up from horrific ordeals he and his platoon have recently experienced; While his platoon pillages a small village, Chris rescues a young village girl from being raped by some of the men in his platoon; When Sgt. Barnes confronts Chris and some of the other men when he overhears them talking about killing him to revenge Elias’ murder.

There is no hesitation or contemplation when Barnes enters the village and begins interrogating and killing civilians; we don’t see him ponder much about killing Elias or attacking Chris. (Stone, p. 21). I say we frag the fucker.

Chris Taylor is from a wealthy and privileged background. Hope things are well Grandma, tell Mom and Dad, I… well just tell them, Chris. It was Francois Truffaut who said that it's not possible to make an anti-war movie, because all war movies, with their energy and sense of adventure, end up making combat look like fun. Even though he didn’t see Barnes actually shoot Elias, or has any physical proof of the crime, Chris still knows Barnes murdered Elias. I don’t know what’s right and what’s wrong anymore. Just keep your pecker up and your powder dry, things change. But in actuality, he doesn’t know for sure that Sgt. He volunteers for the war because he wants to experience his own life, not just observe it like other middle-class college boys” (Denby 86). From the very first scene of the film, as black rubber body bags are loaded onto planes that have just unloaded new recruits, America’s success in the war is put into question. They seek direction and guidance for the way they need to function in order to stay alive in Vietnam. For example:  Barnes doesn’t seem to give much thought to sending the new, inexperienced recruits, Chris and Gardner, out on a dangerous all night ambush mission shortly after they arrive to the platoon. His extensive exposure to combat has caused him to develop warped ideals to support his cold, callous, and immoral behavior. Copyright © 1999 - 2020 GradeSaver LLC. Sgt. Barnes is the first platoon sergeant. Barnes’ decision to kill Elias and later, his decision to try and kill Chris, provokes Chris to kill him. O’NEILL:  So what am I going to do! We just don’t add up to a rat’s ass. Chris gets his revenge and kills Sgt. When Chris awakes after the final battle scene in which Sgt. How close his troops conform to Barnes conception of soldiers, is how he measures his concern of being a role model.

The realm of conflict between Chris and Sergeant Barnes is in their fixed attitudes.

The platoon keeps losing men to the enemy and to each other. That’s a good Gook, good and dead. Say ‘gain. He’s able to make observations that other people miss. When you know you know. Everybody knows who’s really in charge of the platoon. You were there Rhah - I know what you were thinking.

Elias warns Barnes that he shouldn’t send the new men in the platoon out on an all night ambush because they would most likely engage the enemy, and their inexperience would make them inadequate for the patrol. The more Chris understands the realities of warfare, the more he understands it has little to do with the patriotism that compelled him to enlist. Barnes feels war and death are his exclusive expertise because of his first hand experiences: Barnes seems to think he owns an exclusive insight to death.

Since these two view the war differently, their view of certain causes is a source of tension for them.

Gunfire all around, incoming and outgoing, makes them yell to each other. He and the other newbies pass by a group of battle-hardened veterans before being shepherded elsewhere. Sgt. ACE:  ...they caught ‘em last night trying to pull some shit on Charlie Company. The goal is for the U.S. military to make progress in the war—which they don’t. Chris’ enlightenment about the horrible, desensitizing, dehumanizing nature of war weighs heavily against the wisdom he has about the society that compelled him to volunteer for military service. For instance, Chris is appalled when Barnes shoots a village woman in the head and then threatens to shoot a young village girl unless the villagers give him the information he wants; Chris tries to convince some of the other men that Barnes killed Elias, and that they need to kill Barnes who is becoming an evil, immoral, out-of-control liability to the platoon.

Understanding how networked the entire area has become and how hidden and well stocked the Viet Cong are serve as forewarnings that support the consequence.

Others still retain some measure of the morality of the situation. Sgt. The film closes with hundreds of dead bodies fallen everywhere, with no particular organization, and no body bags.

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