Analysis of Character Elements in Full Metal Jacket

War stories are complex tales involving many characters, emotions, motives and struggles. They go through highs and lows, moments of intense battle to moments of inner reflection. Some war stories are obvious depictions of war, including a series of battles, a dramatic plot, often a love interest, and a dramatic ending. One war story directed by Stanley Kubrick, called Full Metal Jacket, is an unconventional war story. Instead of focusing entirely on the war itself, it also captures the mental developments of the soldiers and their emotions. It goes beyond a normal war story and examines the soldiers themselves, and their motivations and relationships to each other and the war.

Motivation for fighting is a prominent aspect of every war movie. People fight for a variety of reasons; money, power, land, honor, freedom, women, reputation, and so on. Most characters in war stories give the viewer a clear understanding of their goal in the battle, and the reason they are there. It is often brought up a subject of conversation amongst the soldiers at some point in the film. They will ask themselves why they are there, explain how they got where they are, and examine their personal motives for continuing.

However, Full Metal Jacket denies the audience such clarity as to the motives of the soldiers. The film is divided into two parts. The first half takes place at a basic training camp in South Carolina, where the recruits go through the dehumanizing process of becoming Marine-trained "instruments of death." The second half takes us to Vietnam and into battle itself during the Tet offensive. During both halves, characters are challenged to understand the reasons they are fighting.