Fallen Angels Movie Analysis

Many people have an idea about how war is like, however most of them base these ideas from movies that they see. Similarly, Richie Perry in Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers, also has a fantasized view about war. However, his view completely changes when he partakes in the Vietnam war. Through the character of Perry, Walter Dean Myers reveals that being part of a war changes an individual’s outlook on war because it debunks many beliefs they had before. War is similar to what is shown on movies, or so what Perry has thought. His entire opinion about war has changed after experiencing the traumatic events that has taken place in the Vietnam war. Before being involved in an armed fight, Perry meets a comrade named Jenkins who fears that he is going to die. Perry tries to comfort Jenkins by …show more content…
This shows that Perry is still naive because this was the first war that he has been in. When Perry first landed in Vietnam, he heard heavy artillery being fired off. This means the war is probably still raging on and probably will result in armed conflict for him. However, his idealistic opinion of war quickly changes. He experiences many traumatic things such as the deaths of Jenkins, Carroll, and Brew. Perry took Brew’s hand as he died, this causes him to feel useless as it was the only thing he could do for him. He did not want anyone that he knew to die. These experiences causes him to think the infirmary “is heaven” compared to the boonies. This reveals that he has first hand experience how harsh and brutal war can be. His experiences makes him realize his purpose in war. At first Perry thought it was to be the good guy to eliminate the bad guys, however this idea is challenged when he was on a pacification mission and he “didn’t like convincing anybody that I was the