ENCOUNTERING CONFLICT - WAR
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN – STEVEN SPIELBERG
1. Why do the leaders and generals continue to send soldiers to an almost
certain death? Explain.
2. Why do countries go to war rather than exploring diplomatic channels of
communication? Explain.
3.
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Google and jot down some background notes on the following:
Saving Private Ryan
D-day invasion
Normandy WW2
Omaha beach WW2
4. Analyze as many instances as you can of how soldiers, groups of
soldiers, leaders and family deal with conflict in the opening scene at
Omaha Beach and its aftermath. Advice: firstly list the examples and
then explain each of them.
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Shaking hands shows nerves prior to landing
Vomiting on the boat prior to landing is either nerves or sea sickness
“5 men is an opportunity, 1 man is a waste of ammo”.
Kissing the crucifix and the crossing the heart
The senses and mind being overwhelmed and not being able to cope
A lone soldier looking for his arm
A mortally wounded soldier screaming for his mother
Looking to the Captain or our leaders in times of need
Under extreme duress soldiers try to perform their roles: a munitions
officer stays to clear the obstacles, a medic tries to save lives,
Improvising with chewing gum by affixing a mirror to a bayonet
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A reverend/ chaplain says the last rites to dying soldiers, “My God, I am
sorry for offending thee…I detest my sins for having offended Thee, O
Lord”.
Soldiers work together as a team to clear the barbed wire with bangalores
The sniper (Jackson) says a prayer to summon strength and inspiration
before he fires his weapon, “be not thou far from me, O Lord
Collecting a tin of dirt, “France”, “Italy”, “Africa”, to remember the conflict
Showing no mercy by shooting unarmed German soldiers
Typing telegrams to loved ones detailing the death of their son
Officers having to write reports after the death of soldiers under their
command. Detailed reports about character and
Mrs. Ryan collapses on the verandah on receiving the news of the deaths
of 3 of her 4 sons.
Creating a humanitarian public relations mission to retrieve one man
from behind enemy lines, “That boy is alive. We are going to send
someone to find him and we are going to get him the hell out of there” –
General George C. Marshall.
5. Who are the characters from the movie and how does each of them deal
with conflict? You must pass comment and use quotes from these
characters to support your answers.
Captain John Miller
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“Upham’s talking about our duty as soldiers. We all have orders to follow.
That supersedes everything, including your mothers”
“You see, when... when you end up killing one of your men, you see, you
tell yourself it happened so you could save the lives of two or three or ten
others”.
“I'm a schoolteacher. I teach English composition...in this little town called
Adley, Pennsylvania. The last eleven years, I've been at Thomas Alva
Edison High School. I was a coach of the baseball team in the springtime.
Back home, I tell people what I do for a living and they think well, now
that figures. But over here, it's a big, a big mystery. So, I guess I've
changed some. Sometimes I wonder if I've changed so much my wife is
even going to recognize me, whenever it is that I get back to her. And how
I'll ever be able to tell her about days like today. Ah, Ryan. I don't know
anything about Ryan. I don't care. The man means nothing to me. It's just
a name. But if... You know if going to Rumelle and finding him so that he
can go home. If that earns me the right to get back to my wife, then that's
my mission”.
“I just know that every man I kill the farther away from home I feel”.
“Angels on our soldiers”
Sargent Mike Horvath
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“Someday we might look back and decide that saving Private Ryan was
the one decent thing we were able to pull out of this whole God-awful
shitty mess”.
Is shot 3 times in the final battle but continues to fight on.
Private Reiben
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“Where is the sense of risking the lives of the eight of us to save one guy”?
Private Jackson (sniper)
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“Let not my enemies triumph over me”
“Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teaches my hands to the war, and
my fingers to fight…my goodness and my fortress...my high tower and my
Deliverer…my shield, and he in whom I trust…”
Private Caparzo
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Shot by a sniper when going to the aid of little French girl. Emotions,
sentimentalities or doing “the decent thing” have no place on the
battlefield. Caparzo’s dying words, “copy it…it’s to my dad…its got blood
on it”.
Medic Wade
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Wade recalls pretending to be asleep when his mother came home from
nightshift. He now regrets ignoring his mother and the war makes him
yearn for home and its comforts. Wade later calls for his mother when he
is dying.
Corporal Upham (interpreter)
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Is a pacifist (has not fired are gun since basic training), is an idealist
(brotherhood) and is innocent (does not know what FUBAR means).
“I’ve never been in combat”.
“Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die”
“War educates the senses calls into action the will, perfects the physical
constitution, brings men into such swift and close collision in critical
moments that man measures man”. – Emerson
Gradually transformation – smoking and understanding the meaning of
FUBAR
Not being willing and able to help a fellow soldier in need and then
allowing the German soldier to walk directly pass him
Pretending to be dead
Shooting the German soldier that Upham earlier asked to be let go
Private James Ryan
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“You came all the way out here to tell me that”?
“Tell her I was here with the only brothers I have left and there is no way I
am going to desert them”.
“I can’t remember what my brothers look like”.
James ‘Frederick’ Ryan from Minnesota
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[sobbing] “I got to get home. I got to get home right now”
Steven Spielberg
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During battle, Spielberg’s unsteady documentary style camera is literally
a type of soldier that follows the soldiers everywhere and in doing so
immerses the audience into the actual conflict.
6. While keeping the context in mind, comment on scenes of interest.
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Sifting through the dog tags looking for Ryan
Detour around the German machine gun post or take it out? The Captain’s
decision to go up the middle
The death of Wade, the medic.
Captain Miller crying
The choice to let the German soldier live
The ensuing argument between the soldiers about letting the German
soldier walk away
Captain Miller telling his men that he use to be a school teacher
(sometimes we need to remember who we use to be as it can become a
distant memory or you begin to transform into someone or something we
do not desire to be)
Ryan’s choice to stay and fight with his comrades despite the news of his
3 brothers being killed in action.
Improvisation by creating sticky bombs, which is “composition B”
wrapped in standard issue socks and dipped in axel grease. The explosive
is designed to be stuck to the tracks on the side of tanks. The detonation is
enough to immobilize a tank
Talking about the memories of home while listening to Edith Piaf. Various
anecdotes from Miller, Ryan and Reiben
Hand to hand combat and looking your enemy in the eye and the
subsequent mercy killing by the German soldier who uses his knife
The bigger contextual questions arising from the text
1. Why do people fight or go to war?
2. Besides the soldier, who else is affected by war?
3. Is there room for humanity and compassion in war?
4. Why has war been a constant throughout the ages?
Creative Writing Tasks
1. Choose a character from the film and write a letter home to a loved one.
2. Imagine you are Mrs. Ryan and you have just been informed that 3 of your
4 boys have been killed in action. Write a letter to the war department
requesting that your third son be stood down from active duty and be
sent home.
3. You are a soldier about to land at Omaha beach. Write a letter home to a
loved one describing your feelings (hopes, fears, etc…) on the eve of the
D-day invasion.