Predicable Personalities

Rating: 7/10 (18 May 2008)

Mike, Nick and Steve have three very different personalities before they go to Vietnam, and it is these pre-war personalities that determine their actions during the war and their personalities after it. Before Mike's Vietnam experience, he is a quiet, powerful, and thoughtful man. He is the type of man who enjoys the solitude and challenge of hunting that is his element. On the other hand, he is somewhat jealous of Nick because of Nick's ease with the ladies and his skill in dancing that Mike does not possess. Inside, however, Mike is ultimately a good man, who only wishes the best for his friends even though he may be jealous of them. Nick is a man who is small in stature, but big in confidence. He has good social skills and more emotion than Mike that allow him to be popular with the ladies and his friends alike. Steve possesses less confidence and respect than either Mike of Steve, yet he is the one who is to be married. He is a good man at heart, but not a man made for war.
After understanding the personalities of these three men, it can be better understood why they act as they do during and after the war. Mike becomes the leader of the three men because his strong nature allows him to be less affected by the torments of the war, such as the Russian roulette, that hinders the actions of his friends. He is also the one who has the easiest time returning to his life before the war because he can hold the horrors of the war inside him and know that he did what he had to do. At first, Nick fares okay when forced to participate in the awful game of Russian roulette and manages to work with Mike to kill their captors and escape, but deep inside this face-off with Death takes a toll on Nick. At the end of his participation in the war, he is unable to move on and ends up continuing to challenge fate in ongoing 'games' of Russian roulette until he finally loses and dies. This is because Nick's sensitive emotions are crushed during the war, and as they are smashed out of him, so is his identity and the essence of who he is. Steve, on the contrary, is unable to to challenge Death in a game of Russian roulette and his conscience is destroyed by the war as soon as he gets there. He then becomes more of a risk for Mike and Nick to bring along than a help, especially after he is injured. He has much trouble returning to his life before the war, because of his huge loss in confidence that went when he lost his legs. He would rather try to disappear than make the best of his situation and support his family, but Mike comes and brings him home.
All in all, the war was bound to have the same mental effects on each person regardless of the series of events because mental consequences are dependent on the character of each person, and not of the specific series of horrible events experienced during the war. The physical effects of the war are variable, however, as they are largely based on chance and luck. In the Deer Hunter, the most evident and cutting effects on each person are mental, so they could not have happened any other way.