Fallen Angels - Millbury Public Schools Community Portal

Other characters are more fully developed and play larger roles in Richie's account: Lobel, who joins the army
to prove his manhood, only to find himself the target of other soldiers' homophobia and anti-Semitism; and
Monaco, who identifies most strongly with Richie, Johnson, Peewee, and Lobel, and also bears the brunt of
discrimination that men like Sergeant Dongan and Brunner, one of their own squad members, perpetuate.
Newcomers enter into the stream of activity and the war; however, Richie and his comrades have closed
ranks. Their individual goals are also the collective goal—to survive and put together some kind of worthwhile
life once they are home.
Fallen Angels: Literary Qualities
The first-person narrative brings an immediacy to the action and descriptions in the novel. Through Richie's
observations and commentary, readers see the interplay between the soldiers and officers on the squad. They
also learn about the army hierarchy, the routines, the weapons, and the chemical arsenal specific to the
Vietnam war.
The soldiers' talk, often raw and coarse, reveals the elemental function language plays in keeping fear at bay
and maintaining the toughness combat requires. This "linguistic setting," the language of the army and the
very basic language of survival, is convincing, realistic, and appropriate to the context and the direct tone of
the novel.
The emphasis on the dailiness of the men's lives and the effect communication from the World has on their
emotional well-being is realistic and sensitive to the characters' identities. Conversations about family,
girlfriends, and their lives back home, show how much or little these young men have to look forward to on
their return. As the novel progresses, the dialogue shows how the war experience changes their views of the
world and themselves.
Fallen Angels: Social Sensitivity
Myers's novel deals with social issues of current importance and concern in society: the morality of war,
racism, and classism. The most pertinent is war and whether it is ever justified. Richie tries to rationalize his
and the other men's presence in Vietnam. Ultimately, he concludes that as much as fighting for the good of the
South Vietnamese and the suppression of Communism, he is fighting for his own survival. To his dismay, he
is also put in the position of fighting for the greed and glory of certain commanding officers. Richie watches
Captain Stewart inflate the enemy body count and downplay American casualties in order to achieve a
promotion to major. Over time, this practice depletes the numbers of men in the squad and the company.
When the Tet Offensive is launched, only a few of Richie's original squad remain.
Subtle and pervasive elements of racism and classism are revealed through rank in the army hierarchy. A new
sergeant places the black soldiers on point—the most dangerous position— when they go out on patrol.
Johnson, who carries the bigger M-60 machine gun, is ordered to the vulnerable rear position. That the men
on the squad close ranks, rotate the point positions, and watch out for Johnson, is a testimony to the loyalty
and protectiveness they feel toward one another. With the exception of Brunner, the soldiers realize that in
battle there is no room for race and class distinctions. The survival of one individual heightens others' chances
for survival.
Still, there is acknowledgement and awareness of class differences as the men share letters and imagine the
lives they will return to. For Peewee and Johnson, uneducated and untrained for anything except war, the
choices are limited. Lobel sees the war as a movie, a perspective generated from growing up with an artistic
film-director father. This view distances him from the realization that rebelling against his father and enlisting
Fallen Angels: Literary Qualities 4