Obedience of soldiers in “Saving Private Ryan”

Title of the Research The title of this research is “Obedience of soldiers to authority depicted in Saving Private Ryan novel by Max Allan Collins” 1. 2 Field and Object of the study The field of study in this research is literature while the object of this research is novel entitled Saving Private Ryan by Max Allan Collins. This research focuses on how chosen soldiers who got order to save Ryan respond and obey the superior authority.
Also, this research will apply sociological psychology of obedience criticism theory and use psychological approach. 1. Background of the study Obedience in the community can not be separated from the culture. Obedience to rules formed by human could still be considered by moral parameters of each individual, as well as obedience to the rules and values of religion in public life, moral constraints and considerations make us able to make obedience become unstable, it is different with its laws which firm, obedience to the rule of law can not be contested by any.
In military, obedience to the authority of superior is the highest oath for subordinate soldier. According to lieutenant colonel Kenneth H. Winker in his paper on Air University, all American military personnel have made a promise to obey in the form of the enlistment oath or the commissioning oath. (Winker, 1981). Every order, without exception, still in the environment of military and governmental, must be obeyed without asking, hesitating, or do refusing.

One will be punished or at least not rewarded if he does not obey. While this may be true and may sometimes provide sufficient reason (on teleological grounds) for complying with orders or regulations, nonetheless, it provides grounds only for compliance (not obedience) and only in those instances where the disobedience will be noted. We are more interested in an obedience based on the authority of the superior than in a compliance due to the superior’s ability to give rewards and punishments.
We are interested in a moral obligation to obey even when no rewards or punishments are involved and when disobedience will not even be noted. (CB. Brian M. Barry, Political Argument. 1965: 84) One thing for sure, obedience to the authority of superior would be rewarded although in the military, the difference of performance would not always be rewarded, and, the refusing to the authority of superior will got rank dropped even loss the trust, for breaking the oath, therefore, obedience is perfect, could not be undermined by mere refusal.
As the researcher takes obedience in military, the object for this research is a novel entitled Saving Private Ryan by Max Allan Collins based on screenplay by Robert Rotate, also filmed in Hollywood by well- known director, Steven Spielberg who make many succeed movies, such as Jurassic about eight soldier being a squad who got order from the supreme head, president Abraham Lincoln to save a mere soldier named James Ryan. This order comes up when three other brothers of Ryan killed in battlefield as his family Just has them as children for their parent’s; actually his family is only Ryan and his mother.
He must be returned to his family whatever way, even it could sacrifices other soldiers. Psychology for the chosen savior soldiers is analyzed, how they respond to this authority. 1. 4 Research Question Based from the background of the research, the research questions that will lead the research are: 1 . How do the chosen soldiers respond a simple order for saving the fourth James Ryan in Saving Private Ryan by Max Allan Collins? 2. What are the effects of obeying the authority for saving Ryan in Saving Private Ryan by Max Allan Collins? 1. Research Purpose The purposes of this research is to answer the research question and to give conclusion about the research based on the title of the research, further explanation for the purpose of the research would lead reader to understand the problem case of the research, they are: 1. To find out the psychological respond of the chosen soldier to the authority for saving Ryan in Saving Private Ryan. 2. To find out how the effects of the obedience of soldiers to superior authority in the story. 1. Research Limitation The research limitation make the researcher focus on the purpose of the research.
Limitation contains characteristics of methodology that influenced the application of the results that support the establishment of internal and external validity of the data. In this research, researcher will focus on social psychology, and most of them would described in agency and obedience theory by Stanley Amalgam while other would described about psychology in common, psychology of soldier in military this research, the researcher will analyze Saving Private Ryan novel by Max Allan Collins focus on the obedience of the soldiers in the story.
In this section will be explained about the theory used and also other data that support the research. 2. 1 Psychology in General Psychology directed toward the will or toward the mind specifically in its conceive function (Merriam Webster Dictionary), Conation itself refers to the intentional and personal motivation of behavior (e. G. , the proactive direction, energize, and persistence of behavior. (Hut, 1999). Psychology comes from Greek words, psyche which meaner the soul’ and logos meaner the study of a subject’, so that the psychology is the study of human behavior (Aimed, 2009: 72).
Psychology has traditionally identified and studied three components of mind: cognition, affect, and conation (Hut, 1996; Talon, 1997). Cognition refers to the process of coming to know information. It is generally associated with the question of “what” (e. G. , what happened, what is going on now, what is the meaning of that information. ) Affect refers to the emotional interpretation of perceptions, information, or knowledge. It is generally associated with one’s attachment (positive or negative) to people, objects, ideas, etc. D asks the question “How do I feel about this knowledge or information? ” Conation refers to the connection of knowledge and affect to behavior and is associated with the issue of “why. ” It is the personal, intentional, playful, deliberate, goal-oriented, or striving component of motivation, the proactive (as opposed to reactive or habitual) aspect of behavior (Bandmaster, Barbarously, Maureen ; Dice, 1998; Moons, 1986). It is closely associated with the concept of volition, defined as the use of will, or the freedom to make choices about what to do (Kane, 1985; Michel, 1996).
It is absolutely critical if an individual is to successfully engage in self-direction and self-regulation. 2. 2 Psychology in Literature Psychology and literature can be considered as bounded aspect, which, literature as mother study, contains many theories and analysis such as social, moral, philosophy, critics, and the most important thing, literature always use human as the main subject for all the conflict as the reflection of other problems and theories used in analysis of literature. Human itself has psychological system that can be explained and analyzed towards the conflicts and problems in the literature.
Mcneil and Rubin stated about psychology understanding, “Human behavior is nothing less than the substance of our lives – our actions, our thoughts, our attitudes, our moods, even our hopes and dreams… The purpose of Psychology as a science and profession is two fold ; first, to provide better answers to psychological questions than the “everyday psychologist” faces; and second to help people make use of these answers in shaping their own lives” (Mcneil and Rubin, The Psychology of Being Human. 994: 4) Literary works mostly reflect the behavior of human, in other words the forms of human can be seen through literary works. Psychology can be studied beyond the actions, thoughts attitudes, moods, hopes and dreams of human, and all of that can be found in literary works, considering that complex story work like novel narrates and describes characters behavior in a specific way. The psychology studies divide into four; they are General Psychology, Child Psychology, Social-psychology and Organizational Psychology.
As the object of this research is a novel about war, focusing in obedience of soldier to authority in military, the social psychology theory is used. Furthermore, this lead to description of psychology of soldier in military in neural and the obedience theory by Stanley Amalgam, then, the analysis in order to get the purpose of this research will mix those data. 2. 3 Psychology of Soldier Psychology or psychic or mental is the most important basic aspect in order to Join military, rather than physic and strength.
Psychology can lead a soldier change the behavior in war, as their Job is to protect or attack a country (sees). Actually, the most appearing mental stressed and disorder is come from the military. The violence in war is variable, murder, assassination, decimation, daughter, homicide, and other killing manners and terms’ is become their daily diet. Outside killing, rape, persecution, etc, then it slowly affect to the psychological disorder.
In Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PETS) case, Michele K analyzed the physical violence in signs and the * Assault Sexual or physical abuse Childhood neglect Car or plane crashes Terrorist attacks Sudden death of a loved one Rape Kidnapping Common symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PETS) Anger and irritability Guilt, shame, or self-blame Substance abuse Suicidal thoughts and feelings Feeling alienated and alone Feelings of mistrust and betrayal Depression and hopelessness
Physical aches and pains Basically, in military there are 2 divisions in general for military psychologist develop and work in the soldier psychology, they are Operational Psychology division and Health, Organization, and Occupation Psychology division. Operational psychology is the use of psychological principles and skills to improve a military commander’s decision making as it pertains to conducting combat and/or related operations. (Stall ; Stephenson, 2006: 18(4)).
Military psychologists perform work in a variety of areas, to include operating mental health and family counseling clinics, performing search to help select recruits for the armed forces, determining which recruits will be best suited for various military occupational specialties, and performing analysis on humanitarian and peacekeeping missions to determine procedures that could save military and civilian lives. Some military psychologists also work to improve the lives of service personnel and their families.
Other military psychologists work with large social policy programs within the military that are designed to increase diversity and equal opportunity. (Division 19 Society for Military Psychology, 2009) In military, there is Military Human Resource Development. In USA, based on the report of SADIE F. IDENTIFIED, staff manager on American Psychological Association (PAP), from congressional briefing at military,there are 3 subfields: Human factor, training, recruitment, and retention.
Human Factors. Retired Cool. Gerald P. Krueger, PhD, presented results of ongoing studies of the performance-degrading effects of clothing designed to protect soldiers from chemical and biological weapons. In a study published in Military Medicine (Volvo. 166, No. 2), and Military Psychology (Volvo. 9, No. ), Krueger reported that two types of common military gear–M-40 gas masks, which are air-filtration headgear currently being used by the U. S. Litany in Iraq, and the Battledress Overpayment, a protective layer of clothes worn over a standard military uniform–impair many routine activities such as walking, smelling and breathing, though they effectively protect the wearer from chemical and biological interactions, psychological research on training is also crucial to the military, reported Cool. Robert Roland, Used, of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at the National Defense University in Washington, D. C. He said DoC)-funded psychological research has helped military commanders develop Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) training.
Recruitment. Other promising research in the SERE area is designed to help military commanders and trainers identify factors that improve service members’ ability to respond to high-stress combat and captivity situations. Stress-hardy individuals, said Roland, exhibit measurable differences from their peers on variables such as heart-rate, self perception and cognitive processes. Retention. Besides recruiting, another important aspect of military human resource management is retaining enlistees. Howard M.
Weiss, PhD, head of the department of psychological sciences and co-director of the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University, summarized some of the institute’s findings on ways in which the military can encourage re-enlistment. Commitment to the military, says Weiss, is central to predicting re-enlistment, and for married soldiers, spousal commitment is also important. In light of this finding, Weiss and his colleagues are developing measurements of military member and spousal commitment and examining the effects of quality of life on military commitment and retention.
Ultimately, reported Weiss, this research will aid the military in increasing the retention rates of trained soldiers. 2. 4 Psychology of Obedience (Amalgam’s Theory of Obedience to Authority) 2. 4. 1 Obedience in general Obedience, in human behavior, is a form of “social influence in which a person yields to explicit instructions or orders from an authority figure. (Coalman, 2009). Obedience is a kind of the consistency of a human to follow the rule or the authority that is given from the public agreement or the superior.
Obedience usually based on two moral effects, when someone take vow to obey superior authority or rules, he/she must do it thou any hesitate, question, and refuses, penthouses it contrary to his/her belief in the truth to the authority itself. Those effects are sin and virtue; sin appeared when the order from superior is aimed to bad things, like killing people for money. Whereas, virtue appeared when the order from superior is aimed for the shake of public protection, killing people to avoid many other people being killed like terrorism. . 4. 2 Stanley Amalgam and His Theory of Obedience to Authority The psychology of obedience actually has been analyzed by New Yorker social psychologist Stanley Amalgam. He was born in 1933. He graduated from James Monroe High School in 1950, along with fellow classmate and future social psychologist, Phil Zanzibar. Amalgam published Obedience to Authority in 1974 and was awarded the annual social psychology award by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for his life’s work but mostly for his work with obedience.
Luckily, Amalgam also focuses on the obedience to authority in environment of military; he seeks all the problems of psychological within obedience and how the soldier responds the order and what the effect which would arose if they obey the authority. According to Amalgam, every human has the dual capacity to function as an individual exercising his or her own moral Judgment and the capacity to make their own moral decisions based on their personal character. What is still a mystery is this, what own moral Judgment?
It is ironic that virtues of loyalty, discipline, and self-sacrifice that we value so highly in the individual are the very properties that create destructive organizational engines of war and bind men to malevolent systems of authority. (Obedience to Authority, 1974, p. 188). In war, mostly,the authority given reportedly to attack, defense, saving, medic, report, assassin, and other basic orders that in morality case, those authority refers to virtue that if the soldiers obey, it would have positive results.
However, in other cases, the authority which leads to sin also appeared in the war, Such as My Alai incident in Vietnam, where 350 unarmed civilization killed by American soldiers because of their superior authority. 2. 4. 3 Obedience to Authority Experiments Image Information: E: Experimenter T: Teacher L: Learner The participants in the Amalgam experiment were 40 men recruited using newspaper ads. In exchange for their participation, each person was paid $4. 50. Amalgam developed an intimidating shock generator, with shock levels starting at 30 volts and increasing in 1 5-volt increments all the way up to 450 volts.
The many switches were labeled with terms including “slight shock,” “moderate shock” and “danger: severe shock. ” The final two switches were labeled simply with an ominous “XX. ” Each participant took the role of a “teacher” who would then deliver a shock to the “student” every time an incorrect answer was produced. While the participant leveled that he was delivering real shocks to the student, the student was actually a confederate in the experiment who was simply pretending to be shocked. As the experiment progressed, the participant would hear the learner plead to be released or even complain about a heart condition.
Once the 300-volt level had been reached, the learner banged on the wall and demented to be released. Beyond this point, the learner became completely silent and refused to answer any more questions. The experimenter then instructed the participant to treat this silence as an incorrect response and deliver a further shock. Most participants asked the experimenter whether they should continue. The experimenter issued a series of commands to prod the participant along: 1. “Please continue. ” 2. “The experiment requires that you continue. ” 3. “It is absolutely essential that you continue. ” 4. You have no other choice, you must go on. ” Results of the Amalgam Experiment The level of shock that the participant was willing to deliver was used as the measure of obedience. How far do you think that most participants were willing to go? When Amalgam posed this question to a group of Yale University students, it was predicted hat no more than 3 out of 100 participants would deliver the maximum shock. In reality, 65% of the participants in Amalgam’s study delivered the maximum shocks. Of the 40 participants in the study, 26 delivered the maximum shocks while 14 stopped before reaching the highest levels.
It is important to note that many of the subjects became extremely agitated, distraught and angry at the experimenter. Yet they amount of anxiety experienced by many of the participants, all subjects were debriefed at the end of the experiment to explain the procedures and the use of deception. However, many critics of the study have argued that many of the artisans were still confused about the exact nature of the experiment. Amalgam later surveyed the participants and found that 84% were glad to have participated, while only 1% regretted their involvement. 2. 4. Factors That Increase Obedience According to Amalgam, there are some circumstances that make obedience level is high, thus, the highest circumstances are: * Commands were given by an authority figure rather than another volunteer * The experiments were done at a prestigious institution * The authority figure was present in the room with the subject * The learner was n another room * The subject did not see other subjects disobeying commands In everyday situations, people obey orders because they want to get rewards, because they want to avoid the negative consequences of disobeying, and because they believe an authority is legitimate.
In more extreme situations, people obey even when they are required to violate their own values or commit crimes. Researchers think several factors cause people to carry obedience to extremes: * People Justify their behavior by assigning responsibility to the authority rather than themselves. * People define he behavior that’s expected of them as routine. * People don’t want to be rude or offend the authority. People obey easy commands first and then feel compelled to obey more and more difficult commands. This process is called entrapment, and it illustrates the foot-in-the-door phenomenon 2. 4. 5 Moral Obligation Vs. Authority In military, one can see the perspective of authority that there is no moral obligation to obey authority merely because there is oath that make soldier, in this case, the subordinate must obey authority because it is authority. According to U.
S Military, hen one enlists the United States Military, active duty or reserve, they must take (pronounce and apply) the following oath: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Military members who fail to obey the lawful orders of their superiors risk serious consequences. Article 90 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCM) makes it a crime for a military member to WILLFULLY disobey a superior commissioned officer. Article 91 makes it a crime to WILLFULLY disobey a superior Noncommissioned or Warrant Officer. Article 92 makes it a crime to disobey any lawful order (the disobedience does not have to be “willful” under this article). (Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCM)).
In fact, under Article 90, during times of war, a military member who willfully disobeys a superior commissioned officer can be sentenced to death. But authority is not extraneous to obedience. Obedience is not merely doing what another decides but rather doing it because it is the decision of an authority. I do not obey, unless we use “obey” in a very broad sense. Complying is a matter of doing what another wants us to do?for whatever reason we decide to comply. Obedience, on the other hand, is a specific variety of compliance. It is a compliance based on authority.
In other words, an authority is a necessary condition for obedience. When we obey, we do so because someone’s decision is authoritative. But this does not mean that when we obey we do so Just because someone’s decision is authoritative. For example, suppose that (1) a legitimate authority decides that a subordinate is to do something, x. Further suppose that (2) the subordinate has determined that doing x is valuable whenever the authority says to do x. Now suppose that (3) the subordinate does x because of (1) and (2). It would seem that the subordinate is obeying.
He is doing x whenever the authority says to. In other words, he is doing x because x has been authoritatively decided but not Just because it has been authoritatively decided. He is doing x because of (1) but not Just because of (1). He is doing it because of (1) and (2). It is important to reject this Just because terminology, for rejecting the terminology allows us an obedience that is more than the blind response of a robot. If obedience were based only on authority, then it would not matter whether the authority is a Hitler in Nazi Germany, a Mafia chief, or a Boy Scout patrol leader.
Any other consideration besides the existence of the authoritative order would then be extraneous. And since authority by itself cannot morally Justify obedience, any obedience based only on authority would not be morally Justified. Hence, it is not enough to say to the subordinate, “You should obey e because I’m the authority. ” The intelligent subordinate will recognize that Hitless and Boy Scout patrol leaders are authorities also. When trying to Justify obedience, we must appeal to more than the fact of authority. Obedience should not be “Just because” of authority.
Otherwise the obligation to obey is equally strong for Hitless, chiefs of staff, and Boy Scout patrol leaders. 2. 4. 6 Summary of The Story SUMMARY Chapter 1: A Family Visit An American grandfather with his wife, his children and grandchildren visits a big cemetery in France. The grandfather prays, the grandson wonders why. Chapter 2: On the Landing Beach American soldiers wait on boats to land on the beach in Normandy in June 1944. Some of the boats are blown to pieces at once, and those who survive see incredibly gruesome scenes. Landing on the beach, many are killed.
Captain Miller saves a young private, Delaney. Chapter 3: Landing Miller and Delaney get to the beach, then Delaney is killed, along with hundreds of others. Miller uses Delaney body as a shield to protect himself. Some soldiers arrive at the sea wall, where it is harder for the enemy to shoot them, and they realize they are two kilometers from where they are supposed to be. Chapter 4: On the Beach Using explosives, a number of soldiers force their way off the beach. Some of Miller’s soldiers have survived. The doctor, Wade, takes risks to help a friend.
A little further on, they attack a German machine gun position, and capture it. They are now safe for the moment. Chapter 5: A Problem In Washington, secretaries are typing letters to families of dead soldiers. The colonel responsible realizes that three brothers, from the Ryan family in Iowa, have all been killed very recently. The fourth Ryan brother is in France. The colonel is worried about the effect on public relations. Enervation earlier decides they must save the fourth brother, even if it meaner other soldiers taking enormous risks.
Chapter 6: The Mission Captain Miller and his group are still in France. Miller is given the urgent Job of finding the fourth Ryan brother, and has a squad of eight soldiers to help him. They will have to pass through enemy lines. Chapter 7: On the Road The soldiers are more than a little skeptical about their mission. They wonder why they should risk all their lives to rescue one unimportant soldier who may in any case already be dead. Driving down a very dangerous road, heir Jeep is destroyed by a bomb and they have to continue on foot.
Chapter 8: Nouvelle-AU-plain The eight soldiers meet American soldiers in Nouvelle who were hoping for much bigger reinforcements and are disappointed to see such a small squad, on a mission which seems difficult to Justify. The squad begin looking for Ryan. French civilians ask them to take their children to safety, but this is against orders. One of the soldiers, Capron, is killed while playing with the children. Chapter 9: Private Ryan The Americans kill five Germans in a building. The squad find Private Ryan and tell him that all his brothers are dead.
But it is the wrong Private Ryan! This Private Ryan only has brothers who are much too young to be in the army. They then try to find out where the company of the other James Ryan is stationed. Chapter 10: New Hope They walk on in the night, discussing their mission with some cynicism. They meet up with more Americans, but they can’t find Ryan. They sort through large numbers of identity tags belonging to dead soldiers, but there is none with the name of Private Ryan on. They finally find someone who knows where his company is – twenty-five kilometers away.
Chapter 1 1: Germans The squad comes across a German aching gun post and after an argument decides to take it before continuing. Some of the soldiers consider this to be an unnecessary risk, but Miller thinks that not to take the gun position would put other soldiers in great danger. The squad’s medic, Wade, is hit by five bullets. Chapter 12: The Prisoner Wade the medic takes drugs to kill himself, because he is dying. One of the German soldiers surrenders. Some of the squad want to kill him. They make him bury the dead American soldiers.
Captain Miller allows the prisoner to go free. One of the soldiers, Robber, is so angry about this he wants to mutiny and leave the group. Serge threatens to shoot him, but Miller calms everyone down. Chapter 13: Ramble Hiding from German tanks, disorders arrive in Ramble. Just before they arrive, thrives are saved by Private Ryan! Miller delivers his message to Ryan and says they are taking him home. Remunerates to come, since the bridge his group is defending stop important, and because he does not want to abandon his fellow soldiers, who are already short of personnel.
Chapter 14: The Bridge The squad decides to help hold the bridge. They draw up a new plan, position the machine guns, and make some specially improvised “sticky bombs” to attack the tanks with. The German tanks attack, and the soldiers fight bravely and effectively. The German prisoner they had previously released is again fighting and is killed. Captain Miller dies, his last words to Ryan being “earn this. ” Chapter 1 5: Memories Many years later James Ryan visits Captain Miller’s grave with his wife, and asks him if he has indeed earned what Miller and his friends did for him.
Ryan asks his wife, to whom he has told little of his terrible war experiences, to reassure him that he has lived a good life. RESEARCH METHOD 3. 1 Method of the Research This research uses a qualitative method to analyze the object in the research. A qualitative method observes or records the people,setting or institution in natural setting that concepts, hypotheses and theories in describing the process, meaning and understanding the object in the form of words or pictures are built in this research (Merriam in Crewel, 1994: 145) 3. The Data resources Data is the information about every related thing to the purpose of the research (Druid, 2007: 83). The data used in this research are divided into two parts as follow: a. The Primary Source The primary source of this research is novel by Max Allan Collins based on screenplay by Robert Rotate entitled Saving Private Ryan published in 1998 level 6 of penguin readers. B. Secondary Data Secondary data are all supporting data and other references also relevant information about the object which included books, Journals, dictionary, articles and internet based files. . 3 Technique of Data Collection To obtain the necessary data, the writer read the whole of the novel carefully and repeatedly. Then, the writer could understand and get a deep comprehension. The next method is folding the important pages which consist of the problem that will be analyzed in study. Then, underlining and making a note for the main data that related to the problem which will be analyzed by using some theories, concepts and approach. These Techniques are used to help easier in analyzing later.
The main data are taken from the comprehension of narrative, dialogues, and conflicts of the characters which is stated in novel Saving Private Ryan. 3. 4 Technique of Data Analysis The technique to analyze the gathered data is divided into four steps. The steps are listed as follow: a. Data Collection In this research, the researcher collects the data which is related to the object of the search from the dialogues and narratives of the short story.
The gathered data considered from both Primary and Secondary data and at least as much as possible data for the research. B. Data Reduction Data reduction step is summarizing, choosing and focusing on important things from the data. Any gathered data that seems not suitable for the further research will be reduced. The purpose of data reduction is to find out as much as possible related data from the previous step. C. Data Interpretation Data interpretation is to interpr