33 soon be ready for bed. The patrol could report in the morning that it had
gotten across the river and into German lines but had been unable to get a live prisoner p. 234.
The text above shows Winters cares about his men. Looking the situation at the current time, the war is almost over and both, Germany and ally do not do a
frontal attack. It does not worth to take patrol that can probably kill his men. It is analyzed based on Murphy’s 1972 theory of characterization. It is derived from
the thought p. 171.
8. Decisive
Winters is a decisive person. He could give a suitable decision for his Company during the combat. Taking Carentan, there is a moment when Easy
Company stuck in the ditch and the men would not move out to the road. It is a crucial moment for him. He takes cover from the fire or asks the men to move out
and to counter the attack. By this time, Winters furious. It had taken all night for regiment to get the
men in position. Stop, move out, stop, move out, so many times that the men were worn out. “It shouldn’t have been,” Winters said. “It wasn’t that
difficult. We had screwed away the night, just getting into the position.” There was no time for a reconnaissance; Easy had no idea what lay ahead.
There was no artillery preparation, or air strikes p. 94.
The text above shows that Winters has to take a good decision for the men in order to move out and achieve the objective. He was yelling to the men to move
out from the ditch and grab the target. It is analyzed based on Murphy’s 1972 theory of characterization. It is derived from the reactions p. 168.
Being the Executive Officer for regimental, Winters cannot directly control and lead Easy Company during the combat. Attacking Bastogne, Belgium, Easy
Company faces a lot of Germany soldier. This attack is led by dike, but he could
34 not organize his men well. Those problems make Easy Company into difficult
situation. Winters grabbed an M-1 and started to run across the field, headed for the
stationary company and its pinned down 1st platoon. He intended to take command, get those men moving. But as he ran down, he thought, Geeze, i
can’t do this. I’m running this battalion. I can’t commit myself. He turned and raced back.
“And as I was coming up, there was Speirs standing right in front of me’Speirs Take over that company and relieve dike and take that attack
on in.’”p. 209
The text above shows how Winters take a decision for the company. He can no longer handle Easy Company and lead them. So, he called Speirs, an officer
from D Company to take the leader position, and replaces Dike. It is analyzed based on Murphy’s 1972 theory of characterization. It is derived from the
reactions p. 168. The findings of the character and characterization above show that Winters
is described as a hard-working, kind, humble, self-confident, spiritual, caring and decisive person. The writer’s reason only shows positive characters because the
writer wants to show the real description of a real soldier. What the writer means as a soldier is the soldier who fights the enemy in the front line of the war.
Therefore, in this novel, Winters is not the soldier who becomes ranking officer who works behind of the desk during the war.
B. The Meaning of Richard Dick Winters’ Actions During His Military Service
This section discusses the meaning of Richard Dick Winters’ action during his military service. The meaning of his action is discussed in terms of a surface
