A Few Good Men Summary

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In A Few Good Men, marines Dawson and Downey choose to obey their superiors and carry out the Code Red. In the article, “The My Lai Massacre,” Herbert C. Kelman and V. Lee Hamilton described a situation during the Vietnam War where a platoon ransacked an entire village while under orders by their superiors. “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem” explains that in order to go further in one’s life, he or she must be disobedient; however, the article recognizes the power of a situation and its effect on a decision to obey or to disobey. Lance Corporal Harold Dawson and Private First Class Louden Downey decide to obey their superiors because they have extensive training in following orders, they are required to obey all lawful orders, …show more content…

In A Few Good Men, the defense called Colonel Jessup to the witness stand. Jessup assured the court that no chance existed for his men to disobey his orders. This is somewhat present in “The My Lai Massacre.” Not one soldier could clearly recall what was ordered; however, they were used to following orders that they followed the order to destroy the Vietcong without question (Kelman and Hamilton 135). Soldiers are trained exceptionally well to immediately follow orders that it becomes second nature to them. Fromm regards this natural obedience as an internal voice with “whom we are eager to please and afraid of displeasing” (Fromm 126). Logically then, if this is true, everyone naturally wants to please others, especially those in authority. One major example similar to A Few Good Men is the case of a squadron that was stationed in Afghanistan several years ago. A marine subject to hazing took his life after receiving forced exercise and humiliation from his squad mates. According to the follow-up report, Sergeant Benjamin Johns instructed that “peers should correct peers” (Yang). Even scholar Martha Minow writes that most people do not advance to truly assessing right and wrong on their own until a later age (Minow). This means that people do not adjust to a more advanced state of moral reasoning on their own and are more likely to simply obey an order they are given, especially

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