Three Soldiers - John dos Passos

The title is Three Soldiers, but dos Passos is focused mainly on just the one, John Andrews. The story follows Private Fuselli early on, as he tries his best to make good impressions, thinking he'll be able to climb his way from lowly private up the ranks. Then he tries jumping to what he thinks is a cushy position made for him and falls out of the narrative almost entirely. Chrisfield hangs around more, since he and Andrews are in the same unit, but eventually he vanishes for long stretches as well.

Andrews is the main star, and Andrews. . . doesn't really know what he's doing there. he doesn't have Fuselli's drive for advancement, doesn't seem to have an anger and resentment bubbling in him that needs an outlet like Chrisfield. He seems to be in the army because he got drafted, and decided not having to make any more decisions sounded pretty good. And maybe it does, until he realizes it isn't about not having to make choices; rather he isn't allowed to. If someone gives him an order, he better hop to it, no matter how inane or degrading. If an officer passes by, he better salute, if he knows what's good for him.

Dos Passos returns repeatedly to the idea of how degrading and dehumanizing the army is. That everything about how it works is meant to break someone down into an obedient, faceless drone. The routine, the monotony, the ranks. It's compared to being caught on a treadmill multiple times, by several characters. And it's difficult to get out, or perceived as being that way.

(I assume with that, dos Passos is drawing on the time where he was accused of desertion because he didn't answer his draft notice. Because he was already in Europe, serving in a volunteer ambulance corps.)

Fuselli stamps down any resentment he has over being ordered to do things he doesn't think he can be ordered to do, because he hopes it'll pay off. Andrews finds himself being run through hoops trying to get into a program that would let him study music in France. He keeps being told there's no room, but if he behaves desperately enough, grovels enough, there always seems to be a spot available. The whole thing seems designed to make a person throw away any sense of pride or worth that isn't bestowed upon them oh-so-benevolently by an officer.

The part after Andrews reaches Paris drags a bit. He seems to just drift from one place to another, encountering people. He's meant to be studying music, but it's unclear if he ever actually attends his classes. It's probably meant to be his being in a haze, struggling to reconnect with the world outside the military, especially since he still is in the military. He angers quickly, and often has a different conversation from whoever he's talking to. The whole experience has left him bitter, and he can't quite shake free of it.

'The thought came to him of all those who, down the long tragedy of history, had given themselves smilingly for the integrity of their thoughts. He had not had the courage to move a muscle for his freedom, but he had been fairly cheerful about risking his life as a soldier, in a cause he believed useless.'