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Dilemmas In The Movie : An Ethical Dilemma In Gallipoli

Decent Essays

An Ethical Dilemma: The Correct Choice to Make In Gallipoli, a 1981 film focusing on several young men who enlist in the Australian Army during World War I, an ethical dilemma is presented. One of the main characters, Archy Hamilton, is given an order by his superior officer, Major Barton, that will surely result in his death, as well as many others’, for nearly no tactical gain. From this order, the dilemma arises: should Archy follow the order given to him and charge fruitlessly into the enemy and inevitable death, or refuse the order in preservation of his own life? The natural instinct of survival—perhaps the most basic and primal human impulse—might lean one towards the option favoring self-preservation. In terms of a Soldier’s duties and Army ethics, however, we will see that the choice should be made to carry out the given orders even if doing so assures death, as long as the orders are lawful. In the film, Colonel Robinson, a brigade commander and Barton’s superior officer, commands Barton to order his men to continue an assault toward an entrenched enemy equipped with several machine guns despite having been informed that the mortality rates of the several previous assaults were nearly one hundred percent and that the men were “being cut down before they can get five yards” (Weir & Lovell, 1981). Barton, in turn, reluctantly relays this order to his men, creating the ethical dilemma. At first glance, it can be easy to see why one might choose to refuse such

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