Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in If I Die in a Combat Zone, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Evils of the Vietnam War
Courage
Duty vs. Conscience
The Enemy
Racism at War
Summary
Analysis
Major Callicles becomes the executive officer over LZ Gator and battalion headquarters. He is the “last but defiant champion of single-minded, hard-boiled militarism.” He hates mustaches, marijuana, long hair, and prostitution—all of which exist in LZ Gator. For the first few months, Major Callicles sets about trying to rid the base of everything he hates and preaching that “the army needs guts.” However, when American journalists finally get wind of the My Lai Massacre that occurred a year and a half before, Major Callicles’s new priority becomes defending the army’s honor and trying to justify the act.
Major Callicles is the story’s purest representation of the unbridled military spirit, and his ridiculous conduct thus far offers the memoir’s greatest criticism of that spirit. His belief that no on in the army has “guts” anymore implies that he will embody what O’Brien sees as the wrong kind of courage: bull-headed recklessness without wisdom to judge what is right from what is wrong. Major Callicles’s attempt to justify the My Lai Massacre confirms this.
Themes
First, Major Callicles insists that the My Lai Massacre was fabricated by the “liberal” press to sell newspapers. When journalists fly into Vietnam to investigate for themselves, Major Callicles gathers them in a room and screams at them, telling them that civilians always die in war and this instance was no different. A journalist points out that former soldiers reported that they lined civilians up in ditches and executed them, but Major Callicles holds his ground. The next day he flies the journalists over where My Lai 4 once was. The sight itself is unremarkable: just a burned out hamlet.
Callicles’s rage at the journalists’ charge that the military did anything wrong suggests that, like Edwards the chaplain, Callicles firmly believes in America’s moral superiority; if American soldiers committed an action, then it must somehow be justifiable. Major Callicles’s attitude thus demonstrates how the American military can commit such heinous actions and sweep them under the rug, maintaining its belief in its own rightness.
Themes
When the journalists leave, Major Callicles is tasked with securing My Lai 4 and removing the mines around the area so the military can conduct a proper investigation. Callicles does his work thoroughly and receives a commendation, but he feels as if he’s betraying his values and belief in the righteousness of the American military. He starts drinking heavily and frequently. Some evenings, Callicles argues with O’Brien about the morality of killing civilians. In Major Callicles’s eyes, every Vietnamese civilian is probably Viet Cong, so killing civilians shouldn’t be a problem. When O’Brien presses Major Callicles, Callicles grows irate and says they have to win the war at all costs.
Major Callicles’s assignment forces him to recognize that America committed an unpardonable wrong at My Lai, which causes an inner conflict with his conviction that America is morally superior. Callicles’s argument that most Vietnamese civilians are probably Viet Cong, and thus worth killing, belies a deep racial animosity toward Vietnamese people. In addition, his conviction that America must win pushes him to justify war crimes, which contradicts any notions of America’s exceptionalism or superiority.
Themes
With the investigation over, Major Callicles continues obsessing over marijuana and prostitution. O’Brien thinks Callicles is trying to resurrect the “old order,” the way the army used to be. Major Callicles spends hours in the rain, searching incoming jeeps for marijuana. When a medic named Tully shoots himself in the foot the night before returning to combat—Tully claims it was an accident, but O’Brien doubts it—Major Callicles screams in his face about cowardice and having “guts.” After leaving Tully, quite drunk, Callicles tells O’Brien that people like himself need to prove to the world that some men still have courage; all the young soldiers don’t want to fight, but courage means “going out” and “making things happen right,” though O’Brien notes that this depends upon what “right” is.
Major Callicles’s desire to return the army back to the way it used to be suggests that he struggles with the loss of the World War II-era, when good and evil felt clear-cut, soldiers were obviously heroes, and war felt like a valiant endeavor. Major Callicles thus shares O’Brien’s sense that the Vietnam War changes the American idea of war from something valorous to something unnecessary and possibly evil. However, whereas O’Brien simply gives up the idea of noble warfare, Major Callicles panics and tries to resurrect the idea himself, whether or not that is the right thing to do.
Themes
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Major Callicles takes his helmet and goes to the officers’ club. O’Brien is there, talking with Bates and a man named Porter until midnight, when Callicles enters the room and tells O’Brien to get his gear: they’re going out to set an ambush. Callicles wants to “get some kills.” O’Brien tries to talk Major Callicles out of his plan, but the major insists. They pick up a Vietnamese scout, then they drive down into a village and meet a squad leader from Delta Company. The squad leader points to an area the Viet Cong frequent, next to another village, though he advises Major Callicles not to go. “But Callicles [is] spinning in booze and courage,” O’Brien reflects.
Major Callicles’s previous tirade about courage and having “guts” and his current desire to “get some kills” suggest that he views bravery and violence as one and the same. Rather than courage being endurance tempered by wisdom, as O’Brien sees it, Major Callicles clearly views courage as little more than manly bravado. Callicles’s absurd conduct firmly condemns this view of courage.
Themes
Callicles leads O’Brien and the scout into the jungle to set up their ambush. He criticizes O’Brien for the way he sets up a claymore mine but he clearly doesn’t know how to do it himself. Callicles talks so loudly that any Viet Cong nearby would easily hear them in the darkness, but it’s raining, so O’Brien figures the Viet Cong won’t be travelling tonight. Callicles lays down to hide, then passes out. They let him sleep until he suddenly rises an hour later, looks into the village, and decides it’s empty. They return back to base. A few days later, Major Callicles burns down a “whorehouse” on LZ Gator. The next day, he’s stripped of his command and banned from the base.
Again, Callicles’s reckless behavior and shameful end condemn his view of courage as little more than bravado and senseless violence. Compared with Captain Johansen, who is fearless but also exercises wise judgment, Callicles possesses no wisdom whatsoever. His ultimate loss of command and banishment from his own base suggests that there is no place for Callicles’s concept of courage, nor his hope for a return of the military’s glory days.
Themes
