For Anthony Swofford, the writer and subject of the book-turned-feature film Jarhead, watching the movie based on his time in Saudi Arabia left him slightly unguarded.
“It was really bizarre the first time I was seeing the film,” he said. “One of the first words in the film is my name being yelled by a drill instructor.” Now 34 years old, Swofford said he never intended to write a memoir of his experiences. He had just finished his MFA at the University of Iowa when he began writing the book.
Jarhead chronicles Swofford’s decision to join the Marines, his basic training, time in the Middle East and the return after the war through a series of short vignettes. Beyond the politics, Jarhead studies the soldiers who are out there fighting.
“[The movie] is a vivid representation of how someone who fights in the Marine Corps is made and how the desire for killing and warfare is complicated and there are long term effects,” Swofford said. “Jarhead slows down and gets rid of the gruesome stuff. It allows viewers to spend time in the psychology [of a soldier].”
Swofford said he thinks the film portrays the novel well, and that it is an excellent adaptation of his work.
“The bombs are never going to go off in your hands when you’re reading the book,” Swofford said. “Short of experiencing it, I don’t think that there are limitations for a good book or movie [about war].”
After leaving the Marines, Swofford went to college, where he kept his history as a soldier out of common knowledge. He said at the time he never thought he’d eventually write a novel about the experience.
“I left the Marine Corps at 22. Some close people didn’t even know I was in the Marine Corps,” he said. “I didn’t keep in touch [with other marines] for many years. When I was finishing the book, I tracked a few guys down,” Swofford said.
He said that after the book was published in 2003, other former and current marines-both friends and strangers-contacted him. They all had a positive reaction to the book, he said.
“They recognize themselves and others in the book-there’s something immutable about young men who join the Marine Corps. They appreciate what I’ve done by opening up this privatized world,” Swofford said. “I felt like the quartering off of that culture was dangerous. There needs to be some understanding.”
While encouraging understanding the distanced culture of soldiers is an important objective of Jarhead, Swofford said even he had difficulties understanding the person he once was.
“I started Jarhead when I was 30,” Swofford said. “I just finished grad school. I was 30, and I didn’t understand this 20-year-old, and at times I despised him. I tried to be honest about that version of me. He’s not always an attractive man.”
Swofford said, however, that he was pleased with Jake Gyllenhaal’s portrayal of “Swoff.” He said the Donnie Darko actor correctly captured the person Swofford was 10 years ago.
“I think it was really an intense time for me, and Jake brought that to the screen. He captured the psychology of a kid conflicted bout being in the Marine Corps,” Swofford said.
Currently, Swofford is writing a fiction novel. He said he may eventually return to nonfiction, but Jarhead is “probably enough explicit autobiography for a while.”
– Holly Grande
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