What makes
a hero a hero? Is it the actions they do
or does it depend on how their actions affect others or is it the intent behind
the actions? In the 1962 film, Hell is for Heroes, this is one of the
main themes. The usual war story, the
odds are against us, in this particular story it is six against a large force
of Germans. Reese, a rebellious soldier
is the newbie in the squad. Comparing
Reese to Kurt Vonnegut’s main character from Slaughterhouse Five, Billy, the two have incredibly very little in
common. Reese is strong, makes bold
decisions and is very authoritative despite his lack of experience with this
squad. Billy is pathetic. He is insignificant and unimportant in the
war and he is the laughing stock, out of place.
Reese is also a strong believer in free will. He says people are all the same all around
the world, “going with the tides.” His story ends with the ultimate act of free
will on his part, sacrificing himself to bomb the German pillbox. Billy believes in a deterministic universe,
this way he can feel no guilt from war and cannot be responsible for any of his
actions. The only thing the two characters
have in common is that they were both soldiers during World War II.
Billy relates more with the Polish
soldier from Hell is for Heroes who
is sent to get pens and paper for the other soldiers and just wants to be a
part of something. Billy wants to be
part of something special so desperately, he create alien creatures from his
subconscious called the Tralfamadorians who abduct him and teach him about the
universe, such that there is no free will and all moments exists “like bugs in
amber”. In Hell is for Heroes, when the six soldiers learn they are alone
against the Germans, most except their inevitable fate. One soldier is asked how he is and responds,
“I am great! Because every time things
seems bad, I focus on things in the past that were worse.” This is somewhat similar to the
Tralfamadorians’ concept of time. They
believe you can travel between moments, so there is no such thing as the
present, just the past or future. The
present depends on where you are, but that can become the past in an instant.
Mary O’Hare begged Vonnegut not to
glorify the war like they do in the movies.
She asked him to call his book The
Children’s Crusade and did not want any more wars to kill our country’s
children. I do not think Mary would
appreciate Hell is for Heroes too
much. Reese’s death at the end is
glorified as the climax point of the movie.
Reese gave up his life for the “greater good”, making him out to be the
war hero whom everyone admires. I would
argue the validity of Reese’s “selfless” act however. The sergeant told him to not attack the
pillbox, but being the rebel he is, Reese went.
By the time Reese had reached the Germans, two of his men had died. Was throwing himself in with the bomb really
an effort to defeat the Germans, or was he saving his pride by not having to go
back and face the blame for two deaths?
Hell
is for Heroes does not make war out to be all happy though. The soldiers are weary of war and are lead to
believe they are going home after a long war, only to have the bone pulled away
from their face. A soldier writing a
letter comments to another soldier, “If you say you’re coming home they’ll just
censor it out.” Hope was stripped away
from the soldiers, much like the soldiers who were losing hope on the train car
in Slaughterhouse Five.
While Slaughterhouse Five and Hell
is for Heroes both take place during World War II, they show two very
different sides and to different characters.
Billy really does not contribute anything to the war effort, while Reese
has the war story Weary so badly wanted before he died, unknown, in a train
car. Hell
is for Heroes glorifies a selfish activity a selfish man did that was
warped into a selfless act that made him a “hero”. Slaughterhouse
Five conveys this selfishness an reality that is war.
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| The soldiers discuss strategy before attack the German pillbox in Hell is for Heroes |
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