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Griffen Rohr-Clark
Mrs. Sauer
American Literature
28 October 2015
How Bad Does Your Uncle Want Out?
During the late sixties and early seventies, the United States embarked on arguably the
most controversial war in its history. The Vietnam War came about as the United States tried to
fight the spread of communism throughout Southeast Asia. Following their World War Two
victory, Americans believed that their military was the premier force in the world. That sense of
pride still existed even after the stalemate of the Korean War. But as technology advanced and
the television became more common in households, the faith in the military began to stagnate.
Before television, Americans received their news from either the movie theaters, where
the government had a say in what its citizens viewed, or from the radio. Although the radio
broadcasted the same information the television news did, the television gave people the ability
to see with their own eyes the brutality of war. In the beginning of the Vietnam War, public
support was strong. But as the conflict dragged on and more soldiers were killed, the anti-war
sentiment drastically increased. The new meaning of Uncle Sam in I Want Out symbolizes the
changing views of the United States during the Vietnam War which I feel has spread into
the modern day hockey rink.
I Want Out demonstrates how the cruelty between the competition of capitalism and
communism influenced the decline of patriotism within the soldiers fighting in the Vietnam
War. At the height of the Cold War, one of the main reasons people supported the Vietnam War
was because they wanted to stop the spread of the communist Soviet Unions reign of influence.

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But as the war became the longest conflict the United States had faced up to that point, people
started questioning if the fight was worth the cost. The way Uncle Sam is portrayed in I Want
Out shows the pain soldiers went through over in Vietnam. His face is all dejected and scratched
up while his clothes are all torn to shreds (Dunst). Why had we gotten involved in somebody
elses war, against an opponent who seemed to have an endless supply of soldiers? The enemy,
who the soldiers nicknamed Charlie, hid among the common people in Vietnam. Because they
were everywhere, they aimed to mentally weaken the American soldiers. They often befriended
the Americans during the day before attacking them in the dark of night. Soldiers did not know
who they could trust within the country they were occupying. Often, after the Americans took
over one piece of land from the Vietnamese, they had to go advance elsewhere, leaving that land
to be retaken. Once they left, the Vietnamese took back that land, making the Americans have to
fight for the same piece of land over and over again. It became a monotonous fight that many felt
was nott worth losing lives over. I Want Out perfectly shows how soldiers felt about the war they
were forced to fight in.
Uncle Sams original poster, saying I Want You for U.S. Army, was used to recruit
soldiers to join the war efforts in World Wars One and Two. The way he was portrayed in I
Want Out showed how the United States had changed its view on warfare. At the beginning
of the war, men from all over volunteered or gleefully accepted being called to arms by the draft.
Eventually, as public approval for the war declined, so did the enthusiasm about men being
forced into combat. Most did not want to put their lives on hold and go fight on some continent
in a war they believed was wrong on all fronts. Young men tried to get out of the war by using
college to their advantage. Others burned their draft cards, moved to Canada, or claimed to be

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homosexual in attempt to prevent the military from reaching them. War veterans staged protests
where they symbolically threw out all of their combat medals.
Colleges and universities all over the country protested the war, which irritated the
government to the point where they brought in the national guard to try maintain the peace. They
used posters like I Want Out to portray their dissatisfaction with the war (Dunst). Sadly, there
were protests that ended up becoming violent (most notably the riots at Kent State University
and the massacre that happened there). Finally, once the Vietnam War drew to a close, President
Nixon decided to end the draft to try and ease the anti-war sentiment. Thanks to President Nixon,
Uncle Sam has managed to be able to live up to his purpose no matter how he is portrayed.
Although it is not as dramatic and severe as the Vietnam War, I believe that I Want
Out portrays the rigor of hockey practices. Hockey a skilled sport that is extremely fast paced.
Trying to match that with the natural aggression of the game is a hard task to endure. Every so
often during practices, we do battle drills which is typically one on ones in the corner of the rink,
where players battle for the puck and try to score against one another. Me being a defenseman,
those drills are the worst. The forwards usually have their way with me, and I have to work twice
as hard to try and win, as well as to try and stop them from scoring. Also, one of the worst
feelings during a practice is when the coach decides to bag skate you, or also known as skating
until youre exhausted. If I dont end up looking like Uncle Sam in I Want Out, I certainly will
feel like how he feels (Dunst). Those are the practices where the posters message is alive and
well in my thoughts.
Uncle Sams new meaning in the poster I Want Out demonstrates the United States
transition away from its love of war during the height of the Cold War, which drastically
changed how people today can have a voice within their daily lives. Uncle Sam, who usually

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was represented for pro war, was portrayed as a way of protesting the competitive nature the
government had with the Soviet Union and its allies. Costing American lives in a war that meant
nothing beneficial to the United States in the long term. Why should my son or friend have to
suffer the pain of fighting a war that was to no avail?