Phil Klay’s debut book, Redeployment (2015), transports readers to the front lines of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq via the accounts of many people and their experiences. It gives readers an understanding of what happened on the battleground and how the cruelty of war has affected the life of soldiers. The characters in the novel try to portray the repercussions of war’s turmoil, which is intertwined with numerous themes of faith, shame, dread, cruelty, and helplessness. The post-war emotional and psychological state of people is depicted in the book, showing how the American soldiers have changed significantly and could no longer fit in their past life. This paper addresses the theme of the post-war life of American soldiers provided in Redeployment by Phil Klay through discussion of two movies, All Quiet on the Western Front and American Sniper.
All Quiet on the Western Front is a story about Paul Baumer, a young German man who gets recruited into the war alongside some of his high school peers. Unfortunately, he and his fellows have false expectations of what they would encounter while serving. Indeed, before their service, soldiers do not know what awaits them in the future. One of soldiers in the book of Klay said that, “I was angry. I’d gotten a lot of Thank You For Your Service handshakes, but nobody really knew what that service meant, you know?” (Klay, 2015). The film depicts the sorrow of war via the emotional connections of the characters and concentrates on the experiences of a freshly recruited group of friends.
It seeks to depict war as it was actually experienced, rejecting the romantic image of heroism and valor in favor of a distinctly unromantic view of terror, meaninglessness, and butchery. As All Quiet on the Western Front is set among troops fighting on the front, one of the film’s key themes is the devastation caused by the war on the men who fight it. These soldiers are in continual bodily risk since they might be blasted to shreds at any time. This extreme physical threat also acts as a constant assault on the nerves, requiring troops to deal with mental health issues and natural instincts to survive.
Furthermore, the soldiers are compelled to dwell in deplorable conditions—in filthy, wet ditches plagued with lice and full of rodents and decomposing bodies. They frequently go without appropriate food and sleep, clothes, or medical treatment. They are forced to deal with the frequent, unexpected deaths of close friends and colleagues, often in a proximity and in a highly brutal manner. The results of these situations are paralyzing overflow of terror and despair and changed personalities of the soldiers. During the war, soldiers can only survive by disconnecting from their emotions, concealing their emotions, and accepting the circumstances of their existence.
War brings out the worst in people, but it also brings out their best qualities, since bad circumstances pull people together in ways that good times cannot. As the movie investigates the psychological ramifications of WWI, the audience observes how Paul and his companions were torn away from their childhood, how the men are unable to utilize their memories as a source of joy for fear of losing their brains, and how civilian life – home – has lost its familiarity and comfort. These unpleasant facts are softened by one thing: comradeship, which, unfortunately, occurs more among soldiers at the battle than among citizens at home. It is all too simple to see how the war was able to mentally ruin so many individuals, but it also provides readers a glimmer of hope in the power of comradeship.
American Sniper is based on the life of Chris Kyle, a Navy SEAL sniper known as the deadliest marksman in the US military history. After his first tour of duty, his survival mechanism transforms into hypervigilance prompted by trigger noises such as a neighbor’s lawnmower starting up or the sound of power tools at the car repair shop. He shows avoidant tendencies, which are also common in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). When accompanying his-pregnant wife (Taya) to an OB checkup, Taya discloses to the obstetrician that this is the first time he has left the house since returning to America, demonstrating the hardships of ordinary life for soldiers.
Kyle’s PTSD increases during his stay in the hometown with his family. He is often depicted having intense memories of being in Iraq while sitting in his home room alone. Kyle is also being more hostile towards everyday events and treats them as threats. In the movie, Kyle is referred to a psychiatrist at the Veterans Affairs hospital after an incident at a birthday celebration in which he nearly beats a dog playing with his kid. During the session, he does not disclose that he is suffering from the PTSD because of his military service. Kyle does not begin his own healing and readjusting to civilian life until he begins giving his time to help other veterans cope with their PTSD. Kyle spends much of the film at home, struggling with the affects of PTSD that has taken over his life. This clearly illustrates soldiers’ mental struggle after their service.
Kyle sits in his house, his children running about, gazing at nothing but a blank TV screen, while the crowd in the movie theater can only hear the noises of the battlefield. This scene suggests that soldiers cannot leave their wartime experience in the past. Other scenes show Kyle seeing his injured comrades in the hospital, understanding that they would never be able to see, walk, or buttle for their nation again because they risked their lives. American Sniper is about much more than Kyle’s talents and triumphs, and the realities of the Iraq War; it’s about what one soldier may go through and how other veterans helped each other get through the nightmares of the battlefield.
Klay uses the dialogues between citizens, military, and those who are not participating in the conflict to highlight the war’s experience. An injured veteran interviews an actress for a documentary, while in “psychological operations,” a veteran with a lot of anger confronts a college student activist. Returning home after the redeployment was the worst experience for a war veteran. At home, military veterans struggle to return to normal life because the conflict has drastically altered their lives.
There are some ideas that were presented by Klay where ex-soldiers confess that their post-war life is more hurtful than the actual war. Klay illustrates the dilemma with the words of a veteran who states that, “I didn’t know where to rest my hands. I put them in my pockets, then I took them out and crossed my arms, and then I just let them hang And glad as I was to be in the States I started feeling like I wanted to go back” (Klay, 2015). They could not live as they used to before the war. In another story, it said that “We are part of a long tradition of suffering. We can let it isolate us if we want, but we must realize that isolation is a lie” (Klay, 2015). This shows how soldiers look at their life which is full of sufferings.
To conclude, soldiers actively train in preparation for the outbreak of war. They give everything they have to fight for their nation. They return from the battle with bitter memories and devastating experiences, suffering from PTSD and struggling to integrate into society again. In such cases, spouses, families, and children are also suffering, demanding for a good old partner and father. All Quiet on the Western Front and American Sniper are two movies that show how detrimental wars are for people’s life and mental well-being.
Reference
Klay, P. (2015). Redeployment (Reprint ed.). Penguin Books.