Thursday, December 4, 2008

Themes, Motifs, and Symbols (Saving Private Ryan)

Themes
Courage~
* I think that courage is portrayed in the movie by the soldiers who never stopped fighting and died for their country. Tom Hanks' character especially, since something was obviously going wrong with the nerves in his right arm/hand, but he never tried to weasel his way out of fighting. Even when their fellow soldiers were getting killed in the last battle, they kept doing what they had to do to have the Allies to be victorious.

Manhood~
* Manhood definitely comes with maturity and experience. Since the translator had no battle experience whatsoever, he was the soldier who wasn't completely grown up and mature. Soldiers who knew what the difference between dying in battle and running away is and choosing to stay and fight are full of manliness. Especially the soldiers who knew their friend was dying and defeated the enemy first, then hurrying to their friend. That shows dedication to the cause.

Self-Preservation~
* The translator was the only character who showed major self-preservation. When his fellow soldier (the Jewish one) needing him the most, all the translator could do was sit on the stairs while the Jewish soldier was killed. He was definitely my least favorite character. Yes, he avenged the death of Tom Hanks' character by killing the soldier who killed him, but that still doesn't make up for the fact that he was a coward during the actual battle. Idiot.

Disregard for Human Life~
* This is showed quite a few times during the movie, during the D-Day scene, where two American soldiers shoot two surrendering soldiers from Germany. Also after the medic dies, the entire squad (other than the captain) shows no sympathy for the one live soldier from Germany. But as it turns out, Tom Hanks' character sets him free, and that soldier ends up shooting him later.

Motifs
Noise and Silence~

* In the point of view of Tom Hanks' character, you experience this motif. Noise is obviously the high-strung environment around the soldiers and the battles/fights that they must go through to further achieve the goal to win the war. Silence is when Hanks' character is in a mode where he is seeing everything, but not really comprehending where he is at/what he needs to do. We first see this happen during D-Day, and he gets snapped out if it by a soldier asking for orders. It's like he is sort of memorized by what was happening and couldn't stop thinking about it.

Light and Dark~
* In the light/daytime soldiers are always fighting and doing their duty focus and strength. When nightfall comes, it's like the demons come out. Soldiers have time to think about what they did wrong in their past and how if they die they won't be able to correct it, or ask forgiveness from the party that they did wrong to. It is almost like the darkness brings out the hopelessness in the soldiers. They think they won't make it home.

Clean and Dirty~
* Like in The Red Badge of Courage, soldiers who tend to be clean have no war experience and are immature, like Henry and in the movie; the translator. Soldiers like Hanks' squad, there isn't a time where you see them completely clean and spotless. They are always on the move and doing their duty. Dirty and ready to do what is necessary.

Youth and Maturity~
* The soldiers that are youthful are the ones that truly don't realize why they are fighting. They are fighting for freedom and the lives of their fellow countrymen. The mature soldiers understand that being a soldier means that they must be ready to lay down their life for the cause. When soldiers are mature enough to fight with a clear head, they might make a drastic mistake, like not being able to help a fellow soldier.

Symbols
The Dead Soldier~
* As Saving Private Ryan is a war movie, there is a lot of dead soldiers. The one that makes more sense to me as a symbol is the dead General in the plane. The one the army tried to ensure his safety by welding steel plates to the bottom of the plane, but ended up crashing it. Twenty-two soldiers died in the crash, including the General. Once learning about this, Hanks' squad is in awe that the army would actually sacrifice that many lives to save one man, and realize that they are doing the same thing saving Private Ryan.

The Flag~

* The flag is only present at the beginning and the end of the movie when you see Private Ryan, in his old age, visiting the grave of Hanks' character at the Arlington cemetery. The flag represents freedom, and all of the lives that were lost in battle for it. It shows us that men and women in the past have cared enough for the United States of America to sacrifice their life and future to ensure it's safety.

The Letter~
* The letter is from Vin Diesel's character to his father. When shot, Diesel's character tells the squad that he has a letter to his father that he wants them to re-write and send it, since his wound got blood on it. When Diesel's character dies, the medic takes the letter and re-writes it. But once the medic dies, Hanks' character is next in line to possess the letter to Diesel's father. In the last battle, Hanks' is shot, and the last soldier of Hanks' squad (other than the translator coward) takes the letter. Being the last one to have it before sending it. The letter symbolizes how the men honor the dead, by carrying out the last wish of Diesel's character. Even though it dwindles down to only two left, Hanks' squad members understood that if they were still alive, they have to send the letter for Diesel's character.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

The translator hasn't been prepared for combat so of course he wouldn't be able to save/help anyone since his only job was to stay put, record events, and translate(he also didn't seem like a heroic type either). Other than calling him a coward i loved this blog post. ^-^

bd7323 said...

He's a huge pussy/coward any man should be able to fulfill his patriotic duty and save his squad mates from death. Would you rather let your squad mate die fighting for the greater good or kill the German fighting for evil.

Unknown said...

sup mr jones