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"Glory": The Public's Viewpoint Essay

Decent Essays

The filmmakers of Glory depict the 54th Massachusetts volunteer infantry from the point of view of its commanding officer, Robert Shaw. As shown in the film and from the reading materials, we know that the 54th regime was the first formal U.S. Army regime comprised only of African-American soldiers. After watching the film, we can infer that the filmmakers were interested in depicting the African-American Men from the public’s viewpoint. Rather than depicting the struggles within the African-American soldiers, film is more in line with how the other Northern soldiers and their communities disapprovingly dealt with the 54th Massachusetts volunteer infantry.
The filmmakers of Glory convince the viewer of their argument with numerous …show more content…

Also, Shaw requests shoes and socks from the quartermaster, but he gets denied until he finally forces the quartermaster to give the men new shoes and socks. Furthermore, all soldiers were guaranteed a monthly wage of $13, but the solders in the 54th regime learns that they will only receive a $10 monthly wage unlike other white soldiers. There are so many outside struggles depicted in the film, but the only consistent struggle within the infantry is the relationship between Trip and Thomas.
The film expands the knowledge of northern soldiers and their communities. During the Civil War, just like African-American soldiers depicted in the film, many white soldiers also had to be removed from their larger society (Mitchell, 2003: p.80). For example, Armies deliberately created distance between a soldier and his officers because officers were given legal sanction for their authority (Mitchell, 2003: p.81). This is shown in the film when Thomas tries to speak with Shaw. Although Thomas is a childhood friend, Shaw requires Thomas to use appropriate channels when he wants to speak with his commanding officer. Furthermore, in the last years of the Civil War, Northern soldiers demoralized Southern people by terrorizing Southern communities. (Mitchell, 2003: p.91). According to a Union officer during an Atlanta campaign, one Union officer said, “It is but right that these people should feel some of the hardships of war, they will better

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