The Real Drug of War

In Chris Hedges’ article “War is a Force That Gives us Meaning” he stated, “The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug.” In the 2008 film The Hurt Locker, Sergeant William James, accompanied by Sergeant JT Sanborn and Specialist Owen Eldridge, make up an elite squad of army bomb technicians that take on dangerous tasks dismantling planted IEDs (improvised explosive devices). Every second spent dismantling a bomb is another second spent flirting with death. While disarming the bombs the soldiers are surrounded by Iraq civilians watching from balconies and doorways, never knowing if the bystanders created the bombs or were in charge of setting them off.

Most war movies portray soldiers as constant fighting machines that never have any down time or come across any personal struggles. The Hurt Locker on the other hand does an excellent job of depicting the daily in between scenes that soldiers have to go through. In the film Eldridge is a bundle of nerves and is ashamed of his own fears. After the suicide bombing Sanborn breaks down to James about how he just wants to survive and return home and have a son. James is an adrenaline junkie with a fear of not being good at anything else but disarming bombs. This brings me to the question: does normal life compete with the potent drug of war?

Chris Hedges once said,“Fighting in the war gives soldiers purpose, meaning and a reason for living.” Normal life cannot compete with the potent drug of war. Soldiers will always wish they were still deployed because everyday tasks at home seem much harder and did not even close to the assignments given to them while at war. In the article “The Destruction of the Hurt Locker” I read that “ The most profound, true, and real scenes of The Hurt Locker are when James returns home. At the grocery store, staring at the wide colorful swath of cereal boxes aligning the aisle, left with all these choices that are so trivial. It’s the first time in the movie we see so many colors. And that’s how it feels coming back to the states.” When it comes down to it the choice between which cereals to choose from and the decision of choosing which wire to cut to detonate a bomb literally have no meaning to each other.

Returning home for James was so hard because once he was home he felt like he no longer had a purpose in the world. The scene where he is playing with his son is one of the best scenes that help to describe the way of war. He comments about his son’s love for everything, but as he gets older he will come to love less and less. James confesses to his son that he only loves one thing now. 

To soldiers war is not an addiction, it was a way of life. If they were not fighting for something or given tasks on a daily basis, then they had nothing to live for. James re-deployed because of his love for the job. He yearned to have a purpose in life again. He did not care about dying he simply wanted to feed his hunger of being a bomb technician. But was returning to war a selfish decision? After all, he was leaving his wife and son at home to worry and live without him day in and day out. He chooses to satisfy his drug rather than sacrifice his love for war in order to be apart of his young son's life. Is the drug really worth his son growing up without a father? It is a very hard decision to make because America needs soldiers and doesn't discriminate against a "family man." But William Prochnau quoted in his novel “Once Upon a Distant War”, Addictions destroy, junkies usually die, and the war always wins.”