Kubrick essentially made two movies. One about his characters shedding their youthful innocence and becoming trained killers, and all of the psychological and physical burdens they must bare throughout this transformation. Another about the trauma and destruction of warfare, and the moral conflictions of the soldiers. We will focus on the first half of the film, undoubtedly the most recognizable portion.
The setting is Boot Camp. Combat training is not often depicted in war films, and even more rarely to such an extent. A mixture of bright-eyed, eager enlistees and apprehensive and fearful draftees are thrown into the fire, subject to both physical and mental conditioning. The hard edged drill instructor, Sergeant Hartman, is one of cinema's most memorable characters. The scenes with the actor and veteran R. Lee Ermey ripping his recruits hearts apart with wildly creative insults are what most people recall about this film. This constant degradation, paired with the physical fatigue of military schedules and conditioning makes for a nightmarish environment that drives one recruit, Private Leonard Lawrence, past his breaking point.
This is where we will transition from setting to story. Private Lawrence, played by Vincent D'Onofrio, is a large man with a low level of intelligence. This leads to a series of mistakes, and creative insults and punishments from Sergeant Hartman. This cycle begins to have a noticeable impact on Lawrence's behavior. The constant berating and physical punishment begin to make him distant amd self loathsome. He is at one point nick named Gomer Pyle, on account of his inability to follow instruction consistently. This verbal abuse only aids in his alienation.
After hiding a jelly donut in his footlocker and being caught by Sergeant Hartman, Lawrence is forced to watch his squad mates do push-ups as punishment for his indiscretion. This method of punishing the group becomes Sergeant Hartman's preferred method of punishing Lawrence.
We take a break from the film here to consult an article from the Journal of Clinical Psychology from 2010 by Craig Bryan, Kelly Cukrowicz, Christopher West, and Chad Morrow entitled "Combat Experience and the Acquired Capability for Suicide." We learn here of psychologist Thomas Joiner's Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicidal Behavior. This theory consists of three variables, but for now we'll restrict our focus to the first two. These are perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness. Perceived burdensomeness, as described by our authors, is, "the sense that the individual is a burden to others, does not contribute to the group, and is a liability to the group's well-being or safety." (pg. 1045) Thwarted belongingness is defined as, "the sense that the individual lacks important connections to others and that previously meaningful relationships have been strained or lost." (pg. 1045)
All three variables are said to need to be present for an individual to take their own life. These first two refer to the development of the motivation to do so, and speak to the construction of suicidal thoughts. When referring to the story of Private Lawrence we can see the slow and arduous development of these two variables.
The punitive practices of Sergeant Hartman, such as forcing Lawrence to eat the donut while his comrades were punished, served to reinforce a feeling of isolation and lack of unity for Lawrence. Lawrence was already beginning to feel like a burden to the team, due to his inability to complete tasks properly, if at all. This is his percieved burdensomeness.
One scene depicts the unit beating Lawrence in his sleep with bars of soap wrapped in socks. Not only did the unit as a whole make it clear how much of an outsider he was, his only ally, James "Joker" Davis, also participated. Lawrence now feels the sense of thwarted belongingness.
We can see pretty clearly Lawrence's budding motivations for committing suicide to escape the tortures and trauma of training. But what is there to say regarding the capacity to carry out this fearful action? This is where we encounter Joiner's third variable. After percieved burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness take hold, this individual can gain what Joiner calls the acquired capability for suicide. This is, "the degree to which an individual is able to enact a lethal suicide attempt." (pg. 1045)
The violence enacted upon Lawrence by his peers, superiors, and the training itself desensitized him so much to the thought of death that he acquired this suicidal capability. His only proficiency throughout his training, marksmanship, instilled the confidence to commit such an act. As our authors state, "Because a lethal or near-lethal suicide attempt is extremely fear-inducing and often pain-inducing, habituation to the fear and pain involved is a prerequisite for serious suicidal behavior." (pg. 1045)
Lawrence's training and abuse broke down his fear of death or pain, and his abilities with a firearm gave him a tool.
Kubrick documented a maddening and frightful descent into madness, and ultimately death. Private Lawrence is found by Joker in the latrine late one night just before deployment to Vietnam. There he finds Lawrence with an assault rifle, loading the magazine, referencing the ammunition type that lends its name to film's title. Lawrence kills his tormentor, Sergeant Hartman before turning the weapon on himself.
Private Leonard Lawrence was shown to have exhibited all three of Joiner's variables for suicide. This depiction is raw and apparent. Set against the backdrop of military combat training , the story finds unique footing in the genre, making Full Metal Jacket a timeless war classic.
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