Symbolism

Rating: 7/10 (15 May 2008)

Russian Roulette symbolizes the Vietnam war in a way which there is no chance of winning. If the three main characters chose not go fight in the war, they would have been sent to jail or would have been humiliated by their families for bailing out of the war. This left the characters and anyone else who was drafted for the war no choice but to fight or face the punishment of not going.
Anyone who came back from the Vietnam war was either physically hurt or emotionally hurt. Their families would be proud of them but they would never have gone through the pain that the soldiers did. For the main characters, this is what happened to them. They chose to go and only one of the characters came back in full physical health. But even he was emotionally hurt by the war.
Going to the war was just like Russian roulette. If you keep on playing, eventually you will lose and die. Nike, who sends money home by playing Russian roulette eventually loses when his best friend comes all the way back to bring him home. The Deer Hunter proved that even if you go to war and come home alright, you will still be emotionally hurt. The director chose Russian roulette symbolize this by proving that there is no way to win.