Student Essay on Me Vs. Myself, Full Metal Jacket

Me Vs. Myself, Full Metal Jacket

Summary:   It goes into explaining the theories behind Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket and reasons behind the irony.

Me vs. Myself

"These are great days we're living, bros. We are jolly green giants, walking the Earth with guns. These people we wasted here today are the finest human beings we will ever know. After we rotate back to the world, we're gonna miss not having anyone around that's worth shooting."

In Full Metal Jacket, Stanley Kubrick's portrayal of the Vietnam War and the US Marines is immense. His "Boys to Men" theme brought forth the transition these young men had gone through in order to achieve that "Man" status. The beginning of the movie takes place at the Marine boot camp on Parris Island in South Carolina. The Marines, as always, were looking for a few good men. On this day, they received a group of wide-eyed teenagers, and some adults, but mostly teenagers. Obviously unaware of what will await them in boot camp and more importantly on the frontline, their Senior Drill Instructor Sergeant Hartman played by R. Lee Ermey greets them. Sergeant Hartman plays a different role in the film depending on the perspective you take. To me, he is my coach. They have been through similar situations I have been through and are there in guidance. However, contrary to Hartman's intentions, he forces them to learn quickly and efficiently because this is not a game that they are practicing for. This is life and Death. Sergeant Hartman had seen Vietnam personally. A hardened veteran of the US Marine Corp, Hartman demands to see the fear in his recruits so, in a bullying manner, he can take it.

"It is your killer instinct which must be harnessed if you expect to survive in combat. Your rifle is only a tool; it is a hard heart that kills. If your killer instincts are not clean and strong, you will hesitate at the moment of truth. You will not kill. You will become dead Marines and then you will be in a world of shit because Marines are not allowed to die without permission; you are government property!"

Private Joker, as well as the majority of the audience, finds Hartman amusing and quite the character. Everyone has Private Joker inside of them. He is our doubt. Our naïve braveness. Our curiosity. Our qualm as some may call it. He sees Hartman as I see my coach. He can see beyond the Marine boot camp and perhaps even Vietnam. Joker, played by Matthew Modine, is the person inside of us that is self-disciplined. The one that tells us we have to do it on our own, find our own way. He is going to learn whatever it is that the teacher is teaching but will attempt to garner his own understanding before he accepts another. While Sergeant Hartman is giving his introduction, he mumbles in his best John Wayne Voice "Is that you John Wayne. Is this me"" Extremely upset with this disruption, Sergeant Hartman accuses Cowboy, Joker's future friend who happens to be standing next to him in line. "I did sir," Joker tells his Drill Instructor. "Private Joker...I like honesty. I like you. You can come over to my house and fuck my sister." Sergeant Hartman sarcastically states seconds before punching the private in his stomach. I am sure Private Joker was not expecting the drill instructor to strike him but his courageousness showed when he admitted to his fault. I believe that despite Sergeant Hartman's sarcastic remark, he was impressed by this courage. Responsibility is the key to becoming a "man." In this paper, my meaning of "man" is not your father, and person with a penis, neither Michael Jordan nor Sergeant Hartman. While they may very well be "men," my perception of the word in this paper is different. In some situations, the mother may have been the "man." Maybe the father was too scared to assume the responsibility of taking care of his seed. In other situations, a 14 year-old boy could be the "man." In the ancient Spartan civilization, boys were led out into the wilderness at the premature age of 13 and forced to survive and find their way back home. One must be able to take care of oneself in order to become a "man." Likewise, realizing you need help is intelligent and I believe it is another aspect of being a "man."

In contrast to Private Joker is Private Leonard Pyle. Like Joker, I feel we all have a part of Private Pyle within us in some way. This is the side of us that is uncertain and timid; the part that is self-conscious and too dependant. My coach would always tell us not to feel sorry for ourselves. Private Leonard Pyle does exactly that. I do it too. You do it also. This is normal because in some situations, you have to feel sorry for yourself. Nevertheless, do not let attempt to make anyone feel sorry for you. Private Pyle felt sorry for himself as you can tell in various parts of the boot camp section. "Everybody hates me," he says while Private Joker is helping him button up his crisp, collar shirt. "That sounds like a personal problem," Joker responds. Here, Private Joker is inadvertently right. It is not that everybody hates Private Pyle; it is that he hates himself. During the several weeks that the recruits are experiencing this dreadful boot camp, they become stronger and tighter as a group; all except for Private Pyle who keeps himself distant. As I said earlier, Sergeant Hartman had been searching for loose fear within each of his recruits but Private Pyle seemed to empty his pockets the quickest. Hartman brought out the true fear in recruits and forced them to face it. His job is to teach the Marines to "Kill the enemy." In Pyle's case, the enemy is not the North Vietnamese. It is himself. On the recruit's last night on the island, Private Joker had the duty of fire watch in which he had to watch over the sleeping members of platoon 30-92; all except for Private Pyle. Joker finds Pyle sitting in a room by himself on the floor assembling his rifle. When Joker steps in, he begins to load live rounds in the rifle. A "Full Metal Jacket." Sergeant Hartman, awaken by the noise, storms in the room and begins screaming as usual. "Why is Private Pyle holding that weapon? Why aren't you stopping him"" Once Private Joker informs Hartman Private Pyle is carrying a loaded rifle, the yelling worsens. "What's your major malfunction"" Sergeant Hartman screams. "Didn't your mommy and daddy show you enough attention..."" That was the final statement as Private Pyle has enough of Sergeant Hartman and kills him. When he pulled the M14 trigger on his drill instructor, he was in fact killing a part of himself he was afraid of. Hartman only brought out the true feelings Private Pyle had inside of him. "Go easy man," Private Joker says as Pyle's rifle turns toward him. In his mind, Private Joker was once his friend. Even when the platoon, including Private Joker, beat him with soap bars for causing them disciplinary actions. He knew Joker was not his problem. It was himself. With a confused look on his face, Private Pyle sits down, shoves the barrel of the M14 into his mouth and defeats his enemy.

"Before God I swear this creed. My rifle and myself are the defenders of my country. We are the master of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life. So be it, until there is no enemy, but peace. Amen."

Private Pyle was his own enemy and Sergeant Hartman made him realize this.

While watching this film, many wondered was the grilling of Private Pyle necessary. I believe that it was totally unnecessary compared to the vast conflicts Pyle would of encountered in Vietnam. He opted to take the easy way out. Sergeant Hartman and Private Pyle were not the only people to die that last night on Parris Island. In fact, every recruit who graduated died that night. In order to survive on the frontline, they would need much more than running obstacle courses and tooth-brushing commodes. They were forced to kill themselves and reincarnate into a Marine. "Kill, Kill, Kill!" "Jesus Christ, you're not a writer, you're a killer!" In addition, in the war, they had to go against their beliefs, their will. They had to create opponents within themselves.

By late 1967, about the time Private Joker and the platoon he was apart of entered the war; the US command in Vietnam was issuing very optimistic statements about the decreasing amount of Communist forces and the possibility of the war being won. Nevertheless, these statements were mainly based on wishful thinking. In its eagerness to make the war seem hopeful, the US was underestimating the actual size of these Communist forces. In past years, a tradition had surfaced of declaring a truce for a few days during the Vietnamese New Year, Tet, to allow people on both North and South Vietnam to celebrate this imperative holiday with their families. During Tet of 1968, the Communists declared a ceasefire but then launched an offensive, attacking roughly every major city in South Vietnam. The US forces had prepared for the possibility of an attack, but not enough being that most allied units were captured by surprise. The attacks were so immense it seemed as if the North Vietnam forces were attempting to win the war at a single blow. Although the US forces and were shaken, they did not retreat. As a result of the Communists' large attack, they lost a huge part of their forces and it never completely recovered. In addition, the Communist machinery in the South became much more dependent on North Vietnamese support more than ever. Although the Tet Offensive had weakened them very considerably, in public relations, it was a Communist victory. After months of US spokespersons claiming the Viet Cong forces were weakening, the Tet Offensive demonstrated how enormous their forces actually was. When the US spokespersons begin to tell the truth on how the Tet Offensive severely exhausted the Communists' forces, it was hard for people to believe them. The amounts of casualties among US troops were approximately 14,000, the highest of any year during the Vietnam War. In addition, the attack brought the brutality that American forces had been participating in front of the American audience. This added gas to the protests that were spreading throughout America.

This part of the War was a terrible part for both sides. The most causality have occurred and Private Joker and his platoon were tossed into the wilderness like the 13 year-old Spartans I spoke about earlier. Even with the courage and promise, Private Joker showed on Parris Island, he did not stand a chance. The majority of troops deployed in Vietnam were unaware of the true reason they were fighting. They only knew to kill the enemy and in some cases, anyone in sight as we learned later many people were killed by friendly fire. Some would argue that the Marines had to be both male and female. There were no constant females amongst the troops like the John Wayne movies they often viewed. I feel that the Marines were neither male nor female nor human. They were what they learned to be out on the frontline. They fought themselves on a daily basis and toward the end of the war, they actually encompassed themselves and became a Marine. The only war they were fighting was within them and was indeed the only one that they were triumphant.

The public often misinterpreted this brilliant depiction of the Vietnam War. Some thought of it as having an anti-war message while on the contrary, others believed it to be a recruitment attempt. Whichever you support, I feel that the movie helped us realize how easily someone can lose one's self. We follow a typical teenager through circumstances many of his peers were not unfortunate enough to experience. Modine's play of Private Joker was excellent. Joker had "Born to Kill" chalked on his helmet while he wore a peace symbol button on his shirt. The contrast was evident, but he was beyond the two. He was neither peace nor war, he was there to do one thing and one thing only; survive. Carl Jung would call this archetype the "shadow." Consequent from our pre-human past, the "shadow" is the part of us that is amoral, taking us back to the times where we only knew survival. Similar to animals, we did not understand good or bad, male or female. We only knew specific actions and they were based on our survival, not our perspectives. Throughout this film, we watch Private Joker transition from Boy to Man to Marine into a callous creature. He has to conflict with himself to become this but at the end of the movie, he seemed more calm and understanding. He had in fact, defeated himself by realizing he was his own enemy and is no longer afraid. He had finally found someone worth killing.

Works Cited

Jung, Carl G. The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious.

New Jersey: Princeton University Press. 1969.

Oberdorfer, Don. Tet: who won? Washington D.C.:

Smithsonian Magazine 2004

Rambuss, Richard. Machinehead: The technology of killing in

Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket.

Indiana University Press. 1999

Crowley, Vivianne. Jung: A Journey of Transformation: Exploring

His Life and Experiencing. Quest Books. March 15, 2000

Downs, Frederick. The Killing Zone: My Life in The Vietnam War.

W.W. Norton & Company. November 1, 1993