Do not talk back to your elders. Ask permission to use the restroom. Do the dishes. Take the dog out. Following orders is a task humans are taught in their adolescence. By disobeying such orders, coming from either our parents or from our principal, the consequences may vary between taking TV time away all the way to being suspended from school. These are orders to accomplish one thing precisely: obedience. In the film, A Few Good Men, Lance Cpl. Harold W. Dawson, and Pfc. Louden Downey, were charged with the murder of Pfc. William T. Santiago. The two are assigned Lt. Daniel Kaffee, Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway, and Lt. Sam Weinberg as their lawyers, who work hard to win the case for the two men accused of murder. In the movie, Santiago wrote
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This fact is supported by the article “The My Lai Massacre.” In the piece, it is constantly brought up that “it is unclear what was ordered” (Kelman, Hamilton). Although in the film, Lt. Kendrick commands Santiago to be given a Code Red, the confounding element in the situation is that there were two orders given to the men. One was to not touch Santiago, and the other was to punish him. Dawson and Downey followed the most recent order given to them, which was to go into Santiago’s room and give him a lesson. When Lt. Kaffee spoke to the men in private, Dawson said to Kaffee, “We did nothing wrong, sir… I believe I was right, sir. I believe I did my job” (A Few Good Men). This kind of mental attitude is not only seen in here, but also in the article “The My Lai Massacre,” where Kelman and Hamilton write, “actors often do not see themselves as personally responsible for the consequences of their actions.” In the movie, it is stated that Dawson had previously disobeyed orders and gave food to a hungry Marine, and because he did so, he received a lower report. Phillip G. Zimbardo writes something related to this in his article, “The Stanford Prison Experiment,” where he lists some rules and one of them happened to be, “Failure to obey any of the rules may result in punishment.” Dawson had already experienced his part of the …show more content…
Although it is apparent that none of the Marines enjoy a Code Red, they are not opposed to toughening up another Marine who has fallen behind because they have never experienced death by the punishment. Dawson repeated his code, “Unit. Corps. God. Country” (A Few Good Men), to Lt. Kaffee multiple times throughout the movie. Due to this code of his, he fully believed in doing what was best for his unit. This means he would follow any order in an efficient way if it meant it would repair his platoon, and this includes giving Santiago a Code Red. Dawson was not the only that felt that way because in “The My Lai Massacre,” an interview was held and Lt. Calley said, “..all orders were to be assumed legal, that the soldier’s job was to carry out any order given to him to the best of his ability” (Kelman and Hamilton). This means that Calley and Dawson both agree when given an order, the order must be fulfilled in the best way possible. In Dawson’s point of view, if the order is not followed or is poorly done then the Marine must have no honor or discipline
This fact is supported by the article “The My Lai Massacre.” In the piece, it is constantly brought up that “it is unclear what was ordered” (Kelman, Hamilton). Although in the film, Lt. Kendrick commands Santiago to be given a Code Red, the confounding element in the situation is that there were two orders given to the men. One was to not touch Santiago, and the other was to punish him. Dawson and Downey followed the most recent order given to them, which was to go into Santiago’s room and give him a lesson. When Lt. Kaffee spoke to the men in private, Dawson said to Kaffee, “We did nothing wrong, sir… I believe I was right, sir. I believe I did my job” (A Few Good Men). This kind of mental attitude is not only seen in here, but also in the article “The My Lai Massacre,” where Kelman and Hamilton write, “actors often do not see themselves as personally responsible for the consequences of their actions.” In the movie, it is stated that Dawson had previously disobeyed orders and gave food to a hungry Marine, and because he did so, he received a lower report. Phillip G. Zimbardo writes something related to this in his article, “The Stanford Prison Experiment,” where he lists some rules and one of them happened to be, “Failure to obey any of the rules may result in punishment.” Dawson had already experienced his part of the …show more content…
Although it is apparent that none of the Marines enjoy a Code Red, they are not opposed to toughening up another Marine who has fallen behind because they have never experienced death by the punishment. Dawson repeated his code, “Unit. Corps. God. Country” (A Few Good Men), to Lt. Kaffee multiple times throughout the movie. Due to this code of his, he fully believed in doing what was best for his unit. This means he would follow any order in an efficient way if it meant it would repair his platoon, and this includes giving Santiago a Code Red. Dawson was not the only that felt that way because in “The My Lai Massacre,” an interview was held and Lt. Calley said, “..all orders were to be assumed legal, that the soldier’s job was to carry out any order given to him to the best of his ability” (Kelman and Hamilton). This means that Calley and Dawson both agree when given an order, the order must be fulfilled in the best way possible. In Dawson’s point of view, if the order is not followed or is poorly done then the Marine must have no honor or discipline