Character, Dignity and Valor

Character, Self-respect and Dignity

Analysis of The movie Glory

Glory, a 1989 film based on the personal letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the novel One Gallant Rush and Lay This Laurel. Robert Shaw trained and led the first black volunteer infantry in history during the civil war. The story line is full of racism, politics, corruption, loyalty, perseverance and identity. It is written as seen through the eyes of Officer Robert Gould Shaw and shows the valor and courage of a group of soldiers fighting against their own superior’s racism to achieve their desire to serve their country. I will reflect on the ethics and virtues of this film and compare the characters actions to Aristotle, Epictetus and St. Augustine philosophies.

Captain Robert Shaw is injured in the Battle of Antietam and sent home to heal with his family. He meets abolitionist Frederick Douglass, a former slave. Shaw is offered a promotion to colonel and command of the first all black regiment in the union army. The 54th Massachusetts volunteer infantry. He accepts and recruits his childhood friend Major Cabot Forbes. Their first volunteers are Thomas Searles, Rawlins, Jupiter and Trip. Trip does not get along with Searles and Rawlins tries to step in to mediate.

Shaw knows from the start that his troops may never get to see actual fire. AS they are the first troop of its kind, he believes they will be used primarily for general labor instead of true soldiers. In spite of his beliefs, he puts his troop through rigorous training to help them learn the importance of alertness, momentum and endurance. The confederacy issues an order to shoot any soldier in a union uniform that is black and any white commanding officer associated with the troop. The men of the 54th infantry are given the option of an honorable discharge, none do. Trip disappears and is believed to be AWOL by Shaw. When Trip is found, Shaw orders him flogged in front of everyone until he sees trips scars, he...