Motivation In Rob Reiner's A Few Good Men

Motivation is the deciding force that guides a person on any journey. Every action or decision you make is consciously or subconsciously influenced by prior thoughts and events. These thoughts and events can create several different types of motivations in different people. In A Few Good Men, the main character has many turning points because of the challenges presented to him throughout the film. In Rob Reiner’s A Few Good Men, the director uses the mental motivation of Daniel Kaffee in order to examine how an individual’s course of action can be directed.

Initially, we see Lt. Daniel Kaffee as a carefree JAG lawyer who primarily resorts to plea bargains. This is evident in the first scene featuring Daniel as he simultaneously plays baseball

After Dawson refuses to plead guilty in exchange for a plea bargain on the basis of an honour code that Daniel does not understand, Danny even plans on requesting for a new counsel to be assigned to the case. This plan is prompted by his rough relationship with his defendants and his low self-confidence in his own courtroom abilities, albeit thinking Jessup is guilty, which is made apparent when he says, “It doesn’t matter what I believe, it only matters what I can prove.” Up until this moment Daniel is comfortable with lazing his way through all of his cases, but this all begins to change when Joe accuses Dan of being “an ambulance chaser with a rank”. Knowing that he was only assigned the case because it was assumed that he would plea bargain out of it within a few days also starts to affect Kaffee. Consequently, Daniel starts to reassess his entire mindset of being a lawyer and truly upholding justice. He debates between taking the easier and safer route by quitting the case, or actually fighting for the freedom of two men whose honourable mentalities make no sense to him. A major turning point for Daniel is reached when he walks into the courtroom the next day and, instead of asking the judge for a new counsel, enters a plea of not guilty. Feeling proud after brashly stepping out of his

Jessup in court. Finally, it all comes down to Daniel facing off Jessup on the stand with only the presumption that Jessup secretly wants to confess to ordering a Code Red on the basis of him being too proud over how he exerts his power in his position over the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. In a final leap of faith, Daniel officially accuses Jessup of ordering a Code Red on Santiago and refusing to transfer him. Weeks of inner turmoil and external challenges have all pushed Kaffee to this pivotal moment. With an impressive string of arguments in one hand and an assertive steadfast mindset in the other, Daniel ultimately pushes Jessup to confess. As Jessup is being led out of the room to be charged with a crime, Daniel earns his first real trial victory; but the jury’s verdict for the defendants is yet to be decided. Fortunately, Dawson and Downey are found innocent on all charges except Dishonourable Misconduct. Despite no longer being a Marine due to the lone charge, Dawson willingly salutes Kaffee on his way out of the courtroom in response to Kaffee profoundly telling him, “You don’t need to wear a patch on your arm to have