The Rifleman's Creed

by Justin Descallar





Last night, I was watching one of Hollywood’s greatest movies, The Fullmetal Jacket. It was a satirical movie about the Vietnam War and US military culture at that time. At one point in the film the marines under Sergeant Major Hartmann was preparing to sleep, they climbed up their bunks and braised their rifles as if they were hugging them. After that, they began to recite the Rifleman’s Creed. 
“This is my rifle. There are many like it, and this one is mine”
This line made me remember about our lesson of the on the body and of the mind, a topic which is I am racking all my wits against to fully conceptualize. This might be an erroneous description of the topic but perhaps the experience of it is similar. Using the similarity of the experience of having rifle maybe I can approach the feeling of what it is to be fully aware of the subjectivity of my body. Similar to the rifle of the marines in the film, I have a body. There are many other human bodies like this, but this one is mine. Ever since I was born, I am with my body. At first, I did not know who he was. But as I traversed through life with it I began to realize his characteristics. I realized that he did not like to exercise and he was physically weak. Even if “I” know that I can do more, he just wouldn’t run. I, the ever enthusiastic consciousness had to wait for my body to pick himself up. The next lines struck me more.
“My rifle, without me, is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless.”
Without my body, I am useless. I cannot proclaim my existence and be self-aware of the things around me. I cannot run, function and do the things that I love without him. Hence, I have to work out a working agreement with him so we can function well in life. I promised him to sleep a good eight hours a day in exchange of all the abuse that he would have to endure when I am in class, at the playground, and everywhere else my lackadaisical self would want. We would eat a healthy meal three times a day so he could have the sustenance to carry on. However, these feeling of care is not one sided. I know that my body also looks out for me and realized my importance. Without me, he wouldn’t be able to humanly exist similar to that I cannot without him. He tells me when I am in pain and see the world both literally and figuratively.He takes care of me allowing himself to be directed and used so that together we might truly live.
“My rifle and I know that what counts in this war is not the rounds we fire, the noise of our burst, nor the smoke we make. We know that it is the hits that count. We will hit...”
Without my body, I cannot truly philosophise and truly love the sophon. I cannot find my place in the natural order in the universe. Without each other, he and I cannot reach our full potential. Hence, we have to stick together.
“My rifle is human, even as I, because it is my life.”
This line made me remember the relationship between my body and my mind. Without my body, I cannot truly be human because there is no divide between my body and mind. “I” is not only my consciousness but of the oneness of my body and of my mind. Now I am at a crossroads. In this train of thought, I have been trying to treat my body as a subject as the marines have treated their rifles. I have tried to create a bond with my body similar to that of my bond with other humans. However, there is a mistake in my reasoning. By construing my body as a person, I am separating it from myself but there should be no gap. My body is not my bestfriend. He is I. Now I am back to square one. 
In all honesty, I’m really having a hard time construing my mind and my body as having no gap or being “one”. When I revisited this poem from Full Metal Jacket, I had an insight on maybe what Marcel was trying to talk about. Perhaps this is not the most accurate description of the subjectivity of the human person as being both in mind and body but I am getting closer. Am I?