Student Question
Is Jonathan a good soldier in "The Fighting Ground"?
Quick answer:
Jonathan's effectiveness as a soldier in "The Fighting Ground" is complex. He eagerly joins the battle but struggles with the reality of war, questioning authority and showing empathy towards the Hessians. Lacking training and composure, he fails to meet traditional criteria for a "good soldier," such as following orders and remaining calm. However, his humanistic qualities and moral questioning highlight the subjective nature of defining a "good soldier" and reflect the complexities of war.
This is an incredibly loaded question. It assumes that you know the qualities of a “good soldier” and then it assumes you can project those qualities onto the character of Jonathan from The Fighting Ground by Avi. Let us take a look at this character of Jonathan and then pluck out qualities that might be seen as “good soldier” and/or “bad soldier” qualities.
First, Jonathan does rush into the fight with gusto (even disobeying his mother in order to do so). As he encounters actual Hessians, Jonathan is confused by their attempts to communicate and establish trust with him. Jonathan is especially confused when these same Hessians help bury a child’s dead parents and say a prayer for them. At the beginning, Jonathan both admires and fears the Corporal above him; however, by the end, Jonathan realizes that it was the Corporal who killed the little boy’s parents. The...
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worst crime Jonathan witnesses, then, is not committed by the “enemy,” but by his own superior. This causes Jonathan to question the nature of war.
Next, let’s consider some qualities of a good soldier: good training, ability to remain calm in a crisis, and ability to follow orders (in other words, complete submission to superiors). In this regard, I’m afraid that Jonathan fails in all of these. Jonathan is young and isn’t trained well with his weapon, nor does he have extensive experience in battle. As for remaining calm in a crisis, Jonathan panics for the poor boy when the dead parents are discovered and then panics once again when the Corporal proves to be the killer. Finally, perhaps Jonathan’s biggest failure as a “good soldier” is his question of authority and inability to follow orders. Jonathan tries to refuse when he is asked to lead the Corporal back to the Hessians. When forced to do so, Jonathan tries to warn “the enemy,” but they are unable to escape and are killed anyway. Instead of following orders without question, Jonathan questions again and again.
In conclusion, I have to say that (personally) I really like the humanity of the “bad soldier” of Jonathan in that there is no dehumanization of the Hessians. Jonathan recognizes goodness when he sees it, and is confused when his own superiors prove to do “bad things.” This shows that the idea of a “good soldier” is subjective in regards to who is doing the interpretation. For example, the US Army might have one opinion, and this eNotes Educator might have another. We can go even further with this and say that war between members of humanity is never completely clear good vs. evil no matter what the propaganda spouts. Jonathan now understands this, just like the readers of The Fighting Ground.