To start analyzing Chris’ quote we have to take a look at
the two main people he mentioned, Elias and Barnes. Chris said in his quote
that he felt like a child born of these two fathers. I think he means that each
of them have left an impression on him good or bad. At sometimes, I felt that
Elias and Barnes had some similarities also. This may be why Chris felt they
were both teaching him and not just good Elias or just bad Barnes. Let’s start
with Barnes. Barnes is probably viewed by the majority as the villain of the
movie, and there are many reasons why it is that way. First he kills an
innocent woman and then threatens to kill a child, and finally he kills a
fellow American purposefully. What could Chris have possibly gotten out of
that? Well, he rushed into battle towards the end of the movie probably taking
what Barnes said about death and that everybody dies someday. Also, Chris ends
up killing him while Barnes tells him to do it almost as if it is a final
lesson or if it was just simply avenging Elias. Speaking of Elias, let’s go to
him next. He is probably more believable as being a father from Chris’ quote.
He really wanted to show everyone that who they were fighting was also human
and that they were going to win. This can clearly be shown when he stops Barnes
from killing an innocent child. In return, Chris stops some of his fellow
Americans from messing with the village teens and children. Next, Elias talks
to Chris telling him that they aren’t going to win this one because they’ve won
so much and what goes around comes around. Surely, Chris would not have run out on a
rampage if he really believed they were going to lose which is why I believe
that was Barnes’ impression on him. Then the other part of the quote is about
the enemy being themselves which is proven multiple times. First you have
Barnes killing Elias, then the whole group splits into two groups and then
Barnes tries to kill Chris but Chris kills him instead. Also, I think that he
means that we all have an enemy inside us and Chris was trying to battle for his
soul from Elias and Barnes. That is how I analyze the quote.
Now I am
going to review the movie. I enjoyed the movie and how it showed that we are not
the good guys either. I really enjoyed
the way they showed that we weren’t going to win fighting on the enemy’s home
ground. How could we possibly win in a jungle we are unfamiliar with? It would
be like a maze with every turn being a dead end, almost literally. The Vietnamese
definitely knew the jungle as they were able to sneak up on the Americans
countless times. I reminded me somewhat of when we would lose battles against
the Native Americans. They didn’t seem as intelligent or good as us but they
would beat us and sometimes badly. I liked the movie and acting overall and
would give it probably an 8 out 10.
