31 pages • 1 hour read
Jim DeFeliceAmerican Sniper
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2012A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Good versus Evil
For Chris Kyle, combat in Iraq was morally unambiguous. His enemies had little regard for law, order, or human life, and were propelled into combat by influences that were themselves noxious: many of the insurgents used a corrupted and debased version of Islam as an excuse for their actions, and a number of them used drugs to prepare for battle. In sharp contrast, Chris and the other Americans were representatives of law, order, and humanitarian decency. They valued the lives of innocent civilians, and killed only to rid Iraq of those who were threats to Iraqi society—and to the Americans themselves.
Luck
Chris does not see his achievements as a sniper as signs of vastly superior skill. Instead, he attributes his high kill count to factors that were in many cases beyond his control, including the good luck of being constantly in combat and constantly in target-rich environments. Although much of a sniper’s job involves waiting and watching, Chris often found himself in situations that presented multiple targets in quick succession; these gave him the opportunity to eliminate enemy after enemy, becoming a sniper legend.
Duty, Honor, Brotherhood
As they are depicted in American Sniper, the men of the American armed forces form close-knit units. Chris sees the men he fights with not simply as manpower and firepower—important though those qualities are—but as cherished colleagues, as men who share codes of honor. Some elements of this fellowship involve enduring hazing, working cooperatively under duress, and facing danger for the sake of the group. Those who do not adhere to the brotherhood (such as the dishonorable Runaway) are remembered with disgust, while those who do (sometimes at the cost of their lives, as in the case of Marc Lee) are warmly commemorated.
Family Life and Military Life
While much of the action of American Sniper revolves around issues of endurance and survival, one of the book’s main conflicts takes place outside the context of combat. Chris is divided between prioritizing his family (as Taya wants him to do) and fighting America’s enemies overseas (as he understands his duty as a SEAL). The decision is not easy; though Chris excels as a sniper, he also understands the value of family. His own family—his hardworking parents, his younger brother—is a source of both security and inspiration. Although Chris wants to be present and guide his own children’s development by giving them a strong father figure, he is challenged to find a way to do so without (at least in his mind) abandoning the SEALs.
