Blog 10 NR

The first hour of The Deer Hunter gives us a look into the lives of our main characters before they leave for war in Vietnam. We see a group of six guys who are like family to each other. They’re loud, rowdy, heavy drinkers, and full of brotherly love. They enjoy spending time at the local bar and going for deer hunting trips up in the mountains. Viewers are instilled with feelings that life is good in this Pennsylvania town.

Their experience in Vietnam is a life changing one for the three men, yet they are all effected in particularly different ways. Mike, after arriving home, finds a new respect for life. This is shown when he and a couple others from the crew go deer hunting again. Rather than shooting the deer once he has it in his sights, he lifts up at the last second, and lets the deer go about its business. Steve, after having grazed his own head and broken both legs Vietnam, suffers from some mental retardation and is limited to a wheelchair when he gets back home. His wife is shocked and troubled at how her husband has returned to her and how the life she had planned for herself has been thrown out the window. Where Steve was forever scarred physically from the roulette game in Vietnam, Nick was forever scarred mentally. The intense fear that he had to overcome in order to survive wore down his brain and erased his value for life. When Mike returns to Vietnam and finds him, Nick is a lost cause. He has the thousand yard stare, cuts all over his arms, and a quick, steady trigger finger when he plays the roulette game. Nick probably didn’t even keep much of the winnings, since he sent thousands of dollars to Steve in the wooden elephants.

The revolver and its finality are a recurring theme throughout the film. We see it on the river in Vietnam, we see it in Saigon, and we see it with Stan. Both Mike and Nick play little roulette games of their own out of anger. Mike when he takes Stan’s loaded gun away and Nick when he sees the gambling room in Saigon. They both click the trigger on the other and then on themselves, showing they have no fear of death anymore. Stan, being the little man of the group, shows hints of insecurity throughout the film. He carries the loaded gun around as a means to try and boost his confidence.

The war has drastically changed the life of these characters. The gun is feared by all yet touted by both the strong and the weak. With “God Bless America” being dismally sung to close out the film, this work comes across as an anti-war movie.