sincere writer.nThe Sergeant’s troubles were not,nthank heaven, sexual. They stemmednfrom congestive heart trouble—a conditionnthat afflicted the author. It flowsnfrom a weakness of the heart that isnprogressive, and which leads to an accumulationnof fluids in the body. The mortalitynis about fifty percent, though patientsnwho lead austere and cautious lives maynlast a long time. Sergeant Winch, whomnJones first introduced as SergeantnWarden in From Here To Eternity, discoverednon his San Francisco leave thatnit meant he could no longer drink ornsmoke—and be sure of living.nOne of the more impressive descriptionsnof the Sergeant is that he was ablento stop both habits immediately—thoughnhis ability to drink was legendary in thenArmy—with no great difficulty. In fact,nhe took a quiet satisfaction in knowingnthat he had the key to an outwardlynrespectable death in his possession, andncould turn it by ordinary dissipationnwhenever he chose. His real problemnwas far more difficult: he was troublednby a recurring vision of his old platoonsnas they passed before him, “blank-faced,nfear-eyed”—many of them, if notnall, dead.nThe portrait of Corporal Prell is equallynarresting. “. . . small, slight,” with highncheekbones and narrow, coalblack eyes,nPrell is the dangerous fighter who firstnappeared as Prewitt. In Whistle he wasnwounded in both thighs while leading anplatoon in New Georgia that discoveredna Japanese force and lost several men innretreating. Sergeant Winch decided Prellndeserved a Medal of Honor, and setncomplex Army wheels into motion. Toncover this, he let it be known he thoughtnPrell had been reckless with his men,nand refused to go to see him in thenhospital ship.nBy the time they are all in the MemphisnArmy Hospital, Prell is declining; hisnlegs refuse to heal. Despite a stoicalnexterior, he exudes a subtle despair. ThenArmy doctors decide to amputate, andnhe refuses permission. Reluctantly theynponder overriding him. The CongressionalnMedal will not be awarded a leglessn14nChronicles of Culturenman: that would interfere with the imagenthe wartime Army command wants tonproject to the nation. Sergeant Winch,nstill obsessed with his private nightmare,nfinally visits Prell.nHe notes Prell’s animosity and coldlynaccuses Prell of deliberately losing hisnmen in an effort to become a hero. Prell’snhatred soars as Winch, disdainful, walksnaway. From the moment Prell begins tonmend, the amputation is cancelled andnthe Medal of Honor is assured. Jones, innthis powerful series of insights, does notnexplain; he depicts.nThe third of Whistle’s central charactersnis Landers, a buck Sergeant andnclerk who had three and a half years ofncollege. That is the only flaw, a minornone, in the characterization for me, fornLanders does not reflect an education.nAll the other aspects of his personality:nthe sense of being shattered by his wound,nhis abiding malaise with his country, hisnfamily and most other people, his bitternessnand his violence, ring true. The lastnof the four, Mess/Sgt. Strange, a rednecknTexan with fixed and peculiar ideas aboutnmanhood who attempts to emulatenWinch but does not have the insight ornthe skill, is a real and familiar American—sympatheticallynportrayed.nIN ot only the men but also the Southernnwomen who flock to the PeabodynHotel to share the parties and the beds ofnthe servicemen, the mythical city ofnLuxor, Tennessee which closely resemblesnMemphis; the feel of the Kentuckynregion where the AWOL Landers findsnrefuge, the flavor of St. Louis andnWinch’s unfaithful wartime wife, thenwar-worker family and its bleak, cheerlessnIn I liL’ fdrthcoiiiin^ issue of Chronicles of Culture:nPress, Economyn& Other Woesn’ Ciritics li;ie also nbsi-rvct! tli.ji ihosc whii ivpnn rhu iifw.snjrc likelv ti) !)i- iiuMriijI’lv inirci! in an iiKiMiuMi>nri.’hiiii)ii.>iliip with thusi’ .v\o iiiaki’ :t. .iiid in rlu’ L’niicJnSlaKs rhal iisnall) means with pul)!if ol’liii:il.s. pairii-i.iiis.npliitoirais. am! a inotli’v niinaiicrii’ nt pc.iioik.s UIK!njMl’inj.us. WJiiii ilii.”; I’l’ianu-^cniiiiU) ijinlirstuDLl diinnuntill’ l’>W)”.s– (111- mull 111 iii-iitralit was ikliiinkcd onu’ am!ntor .ill.”nI’rom “A I’jk’ol Ywo I-.r(pli)ri)iis” liy Ki’iini;th Kolionn”Wc- !ivi” iii a sdiicrt nhtisi- iii.siitniiiMis ,iii- rm iim^’c-inI.ipabli-of conferring; mcinjiii; on oiii !ifs. W’l. .siiuf wn.iri- no loniicr alisiirU’ii by a ijuotitlian strii,i;^li- tor .survival,nv.i- nt-i-i! more than CVLT lo tt’i-l ihal our iivt’s have sonumi-.inin,i;.nWe vaiit lo live riuhr am’, nivd amlirnialion thain\i’ aiv spenJins; our time Wi’ii. that our i-lloii.s. ournsutk’iin^s am! oui plcasnn.-s niaki .^rnsc. ihal vc aniounln;o sonicthinj;.”ntroni “”IJi’Iiefs iiiiil N’erhcil Whfiiiemv”nIn l-.rni’sr van Ann Ha-Af^n-Also:nOpiiii’niis & Views — Coinnicndables — In I-fKusnWaste ot .Money — .Staj^e — .ScreennThe Anieritan .Scene — Joiirnalisni — Liberal CulturenI’dlemics & hvchansesnnn
January 1975April 21, 2022By The Archive
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