The Conflict between Man and Machine in The Naked and the...

While the surface of Norman Mailer’s The Naked and the Dead centers around World War II, its focus is on â€Å"the conflict†¦between the mechanistic forces of the ‘system’ and the will to individual integrity† (Waldron 273). The ultimate domination by the ‘machine’ makes for a very depressing, hopeless novel. Mailer explores this conflict mainly in the interactions between General Cummings and Lieutenant Hearn, and although less extensively through their lower ranked counterparts, Sergeant Croft and Private Red Valsen. It is in these interactions that The Naked and the Dead makes a statement about not only war, but society. Therefore, in order to fully understand the novel, Cummings, Hearn, Croft, and Valsen must be examined and understood†¦show more content†¦The mountain which dominates the island dominates the men with its motionless hostility. The sea around them wears all things down and is full of death. The land itsel f becomes terrifying in its somnolent brooding resistance. It seems as if there is a cosmic conspiracy against men, as if something working through the various forces of nature is seeking to bring them to a standstill, erase their identities, annihilate them altogether† (Siegel 291-292). The men must take the island from the Japanese, and General Cummings formulates a grandiose plan involving a reconnaissance mission, given to Croft’s platoon, a general forward attack, and an amphibious invasion from the other side of the island in order to surround the Japanese. It is while he is planning this attack that he and Hearn have their own intellectual battle. Hearn loses. Cummings then assigns him to Croft’s platoon, as leader of the reconnaissance mission going behind enemy lines. Croft is infuriated that he has been taken out of his position of power, and eventually kills Hearn. By the time that the platoon returns to the main base, the island has been taken, but not by Cummings plan. Another American force avoided all the detailed planning, and simply wiped out the Japanese on the island in one strike. The reconnaissance mission was never needed, did nothing for the war effort, andShow MoreRelatedExistentialism in Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer1866 W ords   |  7 Pagesconcerned only with that intense moment of awareness with only his senses at his disposal, never looking to the future – the most living awareness. McCandles, the protagonist, in Into the Wild has come to the realization that existence is already being dead and accepting the fact that life is absurd and marvelous. He embraced the sublime absurdity of existence by renouncing the language games society plays. What is so enticing about the existentialist is that he is not concerned with the pressure ofRead MoreAnalysis Of Cormac Mccarthy s Writing Of The Road2679 Words   |  11 Pages Cormac McCarthy’s writing of The Road is an apocalyptic writing that foreshadows the destruction of the world as we know it. 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