The movie A Few Good Men is a brilliant illustration of challenges which the characters adhering to contrary moral and ethical principles face. Moreover, since moral and ethical issues described in the movie are completely opposite to each other, it seems that nothing can be found common in them. Nevertheless, it appears that the main characters of A Few Good Men are so convinced of their own rightness that sometimes it becomes unclear when the distinctions between professional ethics of US Marine Corps and mere bullying of a weaker soldier are obliterated. Every character adheres to his/her own moral principles, and even in the end of the movie it is impossible to understand who is right because offenders look like victims. Dawson and Downey seem to follow the set of military values, but killing their fellow marine does not correspond to the official army regulations; as a result, they can be only blamed for inability to oppose immoral order of platoon officers responsible for this crime.
Private Santiago is a typical pariah in the US Marine Corps Naval Base in Guantanamo. Nobody communicates with Santiago since he is physically weaker than his fellows. When Private Santiago requests to send him to another military base, he does not take into account the chain of command. As a result, his fellow marines, Dawson and Downey, carry out the code red against him that results in his death. At first, it may seem that it is a mere bullying at the army that led to a lethal outcome. On the one hand, it would be easier to distinguish their deed as an intentional homicide. However, the murder of Private Santiago is not the consequence of bullying of the weaker soldier who cannot be like others because the order for this punishment is given by higher-rank officers.
The deed of Dawson and Downey cannot be viewed as a homicide. It should be noted that their actions are based on the order given by the highest-rank officers and their platoon commanders in Guantanamo, Colonel Jessup and Lieutenant Kendrick. The very first scene when Dawson and Downey meet their lawyer Lieutenant Kaffee in court allows the viewer to notice the marines behave like senseless machines who can only obey the orders of senior officers. The brightest example of it is the moment when Kaffee asks them to stop calling him “Sir” while Dawson replies to him “Sir, yes, sir!”. Hence, their inability to distinguish which order of their officers is immoral may justify them in this case.
Psychological duels between Lieutenant Kaffee and Colonel Jessup show the clash between moral principles of two different characters. Kaffee is a person who has never been in dangerous situations and has never been concerned about something more significant than baseball. On the other hand, Jessup is a person who has forgotten about the value of human life. He has become a wild, immoral animal after spending several decades in Guantanamo Bay. Jessup is sure that everybody must respect him and obey his orders absolutely. Therefore, when Private Santiago sends a request for transfer without making him aware of it, Colonel Jessup decides “to train him a better Marine” instead of letting him go away.
Furthermore, code red orders are not the only moral lapse of Colonel Jessup who tries to look like a noble and fair officer while being zealous in keeping military traditions. He constantly violates officers’ code of honor, lying and hiding the truth from the court. Additionally, he appears to be a cowardly person who does not confess that he is involved in this crime in order to avoid criminal penalty. All deeds reveal the true nature of Jessup who can break any codes of honor and moral principles for being promoted. Only when Kaffee catches Jessup lying, the colonel confesses that he is responsible for the order to carry out code red against Private Santiago.
Code red, which occupied the mind of all Marine Corps in Guantanamo, is not similar to the code of honor. For this reason, Dawson and Downey should have followed the moral code of marines instead of bullying their fellow marine. Colonel Jessup explains the need to carry out code red against marines who failed by the necessity to train the better marines of them that will allow a soldier “to put your life in another man’s hands and asked him to put his life in yours”. He is convinced that it would help to make them reliable and professional in the battlefield. He believes that they would not let down their fellows in a dangerous situation. However, it is difficult to imagine how the code red would make a soldier more confident and loyal to his fellows. There are some doubts that a marine would be willing to help and support his fellow who yesterday punished and humiliated him for some blunder.
One may view another duel of moral principles between Lieutenant Kaffee and Lieutenant Commander JoAnne Galloway. Galloway is a military lawyer willing to seek for the truth; Kaffee wants to conclude a plea bargain in order to get softer sentence for Dawson and Downey. At first, he does not even try to examine the case in detail, being convinced that defendants are guilty. Only after visiting Guantanamo Bay and acquainting with all the details of the case, he realizes that Dawson and Downey have just fulfilled the order of superior officers. Moreover, this case transforms Kaffee professionally as a lawyer and morally as a person. Previously, Kaffee has only been interested in baseball and never considered his cases seriously, although it does not prevent him from being an effective lawyer. However, only after defending Dawson and Downey in court, Kaffee understands the significance of his job, which he has neglected earlier.
Moral laws promoted by Colonel Jessup are rather fragile than firm. Code red is supposed to provide discipline and make soldiers stronger, but instead of it Private Santiago dies. He has not died because Colonel Jessup ordered to kill him, he has died because of his disease. His death is caused by the assault committed by his fellows. Nevertheless, even if the Colonel has ordered to kill Santiago, Corporal Dawson and Private Downey have to fulfill his order without any hesitation. This is one of the main themes of the movie A Few Good Men, and this is what Corporal Dawson finally realizes when the court makes a decision to discharge them from the US Marine Corps for improper behavior. Previously, the order of the officer of the higher rank has been absolute law for them, but only after the court, Dawson understands that they should not have fulfilled the order, which is immoral and unconstitutional.
One more embarrassing aspect illustrated in the movie is a total rejection of their guilt by Dawson, Downey, and Colonel Jessup. They are firmly convinced that red code should be applied to those marines who violate the rules, so they are ready to break all possible moral and ethical principles of the democratic society. The only person who cannot stand it anymore is Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Markinson. He commits suicide being afraid to return to Guantanamo Bay after his testimony in court. The confidence of Dawson and Downey may even make one consider that they are not guilty. They could be hardly considered as people who have any choice in that situation because in case of their disobedience, their destiny would become similar to the life of Willy Santiago.
While Downey wonders what they have made wrong, Dawson understands that they should have protected Private Santiago from violence, saying to confused Downey that “we were supposed to fight for people who could not fight for themselves”. It is the main lesson for them as if they did not follow the orders of the higher-rank officers, their fellow marine would not be dead. The service at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base makes Downey and Dawson forget about moral and ethical principles, which differentiate humans from animals. Being exposed to the influence of superior officers, such as Jessup and Kendrick, young Dawson and Downey turn into watchdogs that are not able to think independently and can only obey orders.
A Few Good Men reveals the contradictions of the army system in the modern times. Looking at the soldiers on parade at the beginning of the movie, one may admire their wonderful skills, but at the same time, looking at the murder of Private Santiago, one should realize that all these people would easily kill anyone at whom a superior officer points. Clashes of moral and ethical principles in the movie allow one to see a positive transformation of some people. The case of Dawson and Downey shows that they are not bad and violent; they have just fulfilled an order, which is unethical towards their fellow. Undoubtedly, Dawson and Downey do a wrong thing while carrying out the code red against Private Santiago. The problem is that they are not able to evaluate the situation from a moral point of view; they are influenced by a corrupt set of values cultivated by Colonel Jessup. Nevertheless, after the lesson in court and their dismissal from the Marine Corps, they will be ready to live in the world where they have to think independently and behave ethically towards people around them.
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