Biloxi Blues

Biloxi Blues is a play about Eugene Morris Jerome, who after being drafted into the United States Army during WWII, has to deal with the challenges of basic training along with his fellow recruits in Biloxi, Mississippi. Since the St. Martins Theatre Department is putting on this show later in the year, we read and analyzed the play in my Theatre II class. After doing a basic read through, we delved into each one of the characters. One character in play, Joseph Wyzykowski, was especially rambunctious and quick to fight to defend himself even when it wasn't necessary. When talking about why he was so defensive, we decided that he was just immature. After learning more about the Polish involvement in WWII, I started to consider Wyzkowski's Polish roots as a possible explanation for his defensive stance. Soon I realized that Wyzkowski's attitude represented the attitudes of many in Poland as a whole. Poland wanted so badly to protect their newly found independence that they insisted on fighting until the very end. Just as Poland didn't want to be pushed around, Wyzykowski would do anything to resist being told what to do, even if that meant putting himself and his troop in difficult or annoying situations.