General Ripper Character Analysis

“This man [General Ripper] is obviously a psychotic” and the president was right. Nuclear war with Russia is not something to play around with. General Ripper is definitely careless and crazy to the highest degree especially since I personally like my water heavily fluoridated. However, General Ripper isn’t that crazy considering the conditions he is under. Aside from an obviously paranoid outlook on our water, General Ripper is well intentioned. He wants to protect his country, and has committed his life, soul, and sanity, for the protection of his country. However, everyone shares that same inherent paranoid patriotism that General Ripper expresses throughout the film and this paranoid pride in one’s country permeates throughout the characterization

The common characterization throughout the film revolves around a stoic demeanor within themselves that’s attempting to mask their true self. With the conditions of their role in the United States this shouldn’t be a surprise. Their true emotion tends to permeate and seep through their assumed stoic demeanor. This characterization begins at General Ripper, who is the igniting force of the story. General Jack Ripper declares war with Russia and the communistic ideology by issuing an order to attack parts of Russia with nuclear weapons. His nationalistic fear of a foreign ideology, and their fluoridation of ice cream, smashes the idea that he is a collected individual that can deal with the pressure and the conditions of the Cold War. Confusion of priorities, Alexander Walker analyzes, tends to be at the forefront of General Ripper’s main goal. General Ripper’s job is the protection of the American people as well as the starting a nuclear war with Russia only when necessary. Through his action of beginning nuclear war with Russia, General Ripper shows a lack of awareness of his job as General as well as a lack of self awareness within himself and his conditions. This explains why General Ripper is the only male character in the film