Biloxi Blues Essay, Research Paper

Biloxi Blues begins in a train where a boy by the name of Eugene Morris Jerome is sitting writing in his journal. He is heading for Biloxi, MS for boot camp. Also on the train are some of his fellow platoon members. There was Roy Selridge, Joseph Wykowski, Arnold Epstein, Don Carney, James Hennesy, and others. Jerome says this is his first time away from home, and he seemed like the nervous type.

When the troops get to Biloxi, Ms., Sgt. Merwin J. Toomey greets them. Jerome is put on the spot when he gets every member of his platoon on the ground doing pushups except him. I think this part of the play brought out the quest of Jerome, not getting along with everyone, just being neutral. There are three other quests or goal?s Jerome establishes for himself: loosing his virginity, becoming a writer, and finding the perfect girl.

Jerome went through a lot in trying just to be neutral, and not hurt anybody. In certain parts of the play, it?s like he wasted all that energy to try and make everything right, but he couldn?t. There is one main time where he goes wrong. When Wykowski is making fun of Epstein for being a Jew, and his fellow Jew Jerome just stands there not defending a fellow Jew, just because he didn?t want to get in bad with Wykowski. Epstein even tells him that that?s what Jerome?s problem is, that he doesn?t stand up for his beliefs, he would rather have people make fun of him and others, so as not to get others upset with him.

I think Epstein provided the awakening, in that he told Jerome the problem. Jerome realizes that in trying to make everything cool, he is just causing a problem. In trying to make everyone in his platoon happy, he hurt the person he had a good relationship with, not to mention, a fellow Jew.

As for the other three goals, he accomplished all. He lost his virginity to Rowena, became a writer after the war, and the war helped him become a writer. Lastly, he met the perfect girl, Daisy Hannigan, although she eventually married someone else and had many children.

I attended the play on Sunday night. I though the play was great and the actors and actresses did a good job as well, especially Greg Hoffman. I thought I was watching a movie it was so well put together and acted. There was not one minute I lost interest in the play, it was a great play.