Abstract

“Dialectical disorientation” is a rhetorical form that creates uncertainty and ambiguity through confrontation between two competitive but complementary orientations. This essay examines its dynamics in four films addressing the war in Vietnam: The Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now, Platoon, and Full Metal Jacket. We argue that the works subvert traditional American war mythology. The films present the war as destructive rather than regenerative and purposeless rather than meaningful. This divisive scene creates a context in which principles governing behavior in war—militarism and moralism—become inoperative. The essay first details the development of disorientation in the films and then examines the rhetorical and social implications of the analysis.

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