Blog Ten- LdT

n the first hour of The Deer Hunter, the viewer is introduced to three characters: Michael, Steven, and Nick. In the first act we see the main traits of the characters. Michael seems to be a very serious and somewhat leader of the other main characters. Steven is more of the caring one, who is well kept. We see this when his mother asks him about the scarf and his tuxedo. Nick is the quietest of all the characters. When they are talking about hunting we here about the “one shot” which is how Michael describes taking down a deer when hunting. This idea of a one shot kill, is a theme throughout The Deer Hunter.

This film is clearly an anti war film. In Act I when the three are at a bar, a green beret is at the end of the bar. When Michael tries to ask him about his time in Vietnam he raises his glass and says, “fuck it”. Everyone is amazed in the scene, but what they don’t know is that this reaction is probably the same reaction that they would had if they were asked after their time.

The horrors that the three face throughout the film show that this film has the intentions of showing the war in a negative light. In Act II the film abruptly goes into a war torn village where a North Vietnamese soldier is shooting a woman carrying a baby. Mike wakes up from being unconscious and burns the soldier who shot the woman and baby and then shoots him. This scene shows such awful things that were happening during the war. It is not patriotic, the killing and torture that the men had to go through. They were going through trying to survive, like many of the other men were doing.

Another example on how this film is anti the Vietnam War is through the character of Nick. Nick is used by a Frenchman to win money playing Russian roulette. Nick is psychologically damaged and goes out one night when he is at a military hospital. The Frenchman uses this American soldier to gain money similarly to how the French used the Vietnamese. When Mike finds Nick, Nick does not recognize Mike. The theme of the “one shot” is brought up again when Mike makes a break through to Nick talking about their hunting trips. Nick says to Mike, “one shot” and puts the gun to his head and pulls the trigger.

Another symbol that is talked about through the book is the revolver. When Mike goes hunting after coming back from the war, he takes his “one shot” but pulls up and intentionally misses. When Mike sees Stanley carrying the small revolver and waving it around not realizing it is still loaded, Mike scolds him. Mike understands the power and awfulness that can come from such a small weapon. This scene also is foreshadowing what is going to happen to Nick, because Mike will not be able to stop Nick from using the gun. The Deer Hunter shows the destruction and changes of lives that occur after the Vietnam War and during the Vietnam War.