Transition in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket

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Transition in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket

"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 st...

... middle of paper ...

...o 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

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