Themes: All Themes

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Themes: Sympathy and Alienation

Waters is a sympathetic character because he suffers deeply over the wrongs committed against him and his race. More sensitive than other characters, he has withheld his rage, choosing instead to direct it, he supposes, against a vicious system that denies him his humanity. Ironically, his actions redound against him and his men, for his efforts to inspire them to achievement only alienate them and make them despise him. Even more important, he...

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Themes: Complexity of Black Identity

Fuller is also concerned about showing black men as complex humans instead of simplistic stereotypes. As the audience sees from the various interviews with the other characters, Waters is a black man with a Messiah complex, determined to save blacks from a racist American society; yet he is willing to sacrifice some of them to accomplish this goal. In the process he denies his own culture and loses his identity. C. J. is a threat to him because,...

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Themes: Racism and Its Psychological Effects

Like many of his other works, Charles Fuller’s A Soldier’s Play shows the devastating effect racism has both psychologically and physically on its victims and perpetrators. Fuller’s goal is to expose both overt racist behaviors and beliefs, and those that are so ingrained in the culture that they are taken for granted.

In an interview with George Goodman of The New York Times, Fuller describes how the themes in his work (and the work of other...

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Themes: Stage Design and Symbolism

Fuller’s use of the stage is also highly inventive. The entire set resembles a courtroom, implying that the play is in reality an interrogation of American justice. Dominating the set is a poster of boxing champion Joe Louis—as a private. The implication is that even black superstars have a very low ceiling in the segregated Army.

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Themes: Detective Form and Social Critique

Fuller’s use of the detective form to dramatize a tragedy is itself worthy of consideration. The detective genre usually represents crime as an aberration in a well-ordered society (often the crime occurs in an isolated setting). The solution to the crime, a result of the detective’s rationality applied to evidence, assumes the restoration of a benign social order, and justice reasserted reassures the audience.

Fuller, however, reverses the...

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Themes: Davenport as Chorus and Ideal

As chorus, Davenport represents an ideal in the play. He is an oracular commentator, narrating the action from a detached and Olympian perspective, but he also understands C. J.’s dislocation, Waters’s misguided quest, and Peterson’s rage. He derives self-definition from his profession, but he is not limited by it; he symbolizes in his character the acceptance of diversity that the play itself promotes.

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Themes: White Liberalism and Racial Prejudice

The white Captain Taylor also presents a complex, though economical, character study. Taylor represents the white liberal, pragmatic in his pursuit of justice. His unconscious racial prejudice is revealed when he meets Davenport, since he admits he cannot accept blacks in positions of authority. Thus, Taylor assumes that Davenport will fail in his investigation, and that he should allow Taylor to take control. The play suggests that liberal...

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Themes: Character Study of Peterson

The murderer, Peterson, is a fully developed character, though he appears onstage only momentarily. Peterson, like the other soldiers, misunderstands Waters as the “new boss—shoutin’, orderin’ people aroun’.” Peterson does not see that Waters is a reflection of his own hidden self. Although Waters is equally...

(This entire section contains 1395 words.)

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demanding of everyone, it is Peterson who kills him, for Peterson senses his connection with Waters. Like Waters, Peterson tries to conceal...

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Themes: Alternative Consciousness and Pluralism

C. J. provides an alternative mode of consciousness to Waters’s dichotomous vision of the races. Waters hates C. J. because C. J. represents what Waters thinks blacks must abandon to achieve success: southern roots, African American spiritualism, and the blues (Waters himself listens only to symphonies). The play shows that C. J. accepts his own identity; he is unashamed of his dialect, his music, his beliefs, and his background. Fuller places C....

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Themes: Alienation

The feeling of alienation that black soldiers endure is particularly evident during the baseball games between black and white soldiers. For black soldiers, these games offer a rare opportunity to showcase their superiority over their white peers. Typically viewed as subservient and inferior, black soldiers are not given the same chances to serve as full-fledged soldiers. Instead, they are assigned roles such as servants, handymen, garbage...

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Themes: Failed Idealism and Identity

The actual Waters, as disclosed in composite, is a failed idealist, a messianic African American who wants the best for his race but is uncertain about how to achieve it. “I don’t intend to have our race cheated out of its place of honor and respect in thiswar,” he tells Wilkie. Waters’s tragedy is a consequence of his terrible miscalculation, his fateful error in judgment. Because he is convinced that “the only thing that can move the race is...

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Themes: Tragic Hero and Misunderstanding

Waters’s identity as tragic hero is revealed to the audience slowly, through Fuller’s use of the mystery plot vehicle. The investigating officer, Captain Richard Davenport, conducts a series of interviews in which characters summarize incidents involving Waters. Complicating the understanding of Waters is the fact that the soldiers interviewed themselves do not understand him. Wilkie, the first soldier interviewed, respects Waters because he...

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Themes: Racism and Its Corrosive Effects

A Soldier’s Playexplores the corrosive effects of racism by focusing on the tragedy of one man, Sergeant Vernon C. Waters. Although he has distinguished himself in World War I and has risen in the ranks by his own effort and against an entrenched racism, his vision of himself extends far beyond his own career. His action reflects another purpose, one grander than simple personal success: Waters has taken upon himself the role of savior of all...

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Themes: Violence

Violence often stems from conflicts between white and black communities. Following the murder of Waters, initial suspicion falls on white individuals, especially the Ku Klux Klan. However, Waters himself frequently uses violence to confront differences. He perceives rural southern blacks as barriers to black advancement, believing their singing and dancing symbolize a time of ignorance and servitude that hinders achieving equality with whites....

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Themes: Racism

Racism is at the heart of the violence occurring at this military base. Although there are many black soldiers stationed there, the predominantly white community nearby does not welcome them. When Waters's murder comes to light, the local Ku Klux Klan is immediately suspected, given their history of attacking black soldiers. Within the base, a divide exists, with white officers and soldiers often set against their black peers. The black soldiers...

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Themes: Prejudice

Upon arriving at a southern military base to investigate the death of Waters, Captain Davenport faces prejudice. Captain Taylor warns him that the white community is unwilling to accept a black man investigating white individuals. Taylor also admits that most white officers are reluctant to serve with black officers and refuse to see them as equals. This attitude becomes evident when Davenport interviews two white officers, Byrd and Wilcox....

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Themes: Betrayal

Waters betrays his men, especially C.J., by fabricating evidence that wrongly accuses the young man of a crime. His only goal is to get C.J. out of the company. Although Waters had once been friendly with C.J. and admired his musical talents, he secretly holds a deep-rooted contempt for all southern black individuals. He believes they reinforce a negative stereotype through their singing, dancing, and comedic behavior. C.J., who Waters sees as...

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Themes: Anger & Hatred

Waters hides his profound self-hatred as both a black man and a black soldier in the army. This self-loathing fuels his anger towards the men in his unit. Despite his authority being granted and largely influenced by whites, Waters believes that excelling in his position might alter white perceptions of black men. As a result, he is more severe and ruthless with his men than a white officer might be. He aims to weed out those he considers unfit...

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Themes: Sympathy and Alienation

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