The chapter begins with a long quotation from Plato's The Republic. Socrates and a character named Adeimantus are discussing the function of the army. Socrates says a part of the city is courageous, referring to the army. The army's courage consists of "preserv[ing] the opinion about which things are terrible" (190-91).In Socrates' ideal republic, the ruler, or "the lawgiver," educates the citizens about what is terrible and what is not—about right and wrong. The army preserves that teaching.

It is common to think of war as an exception to society's morality. For example, we should not kill, but soldiers do kill. Socrates is talking about something different. In his view, an army uses war to preserve society's morality.

O'Brien describes the battalion executive officer, the second in command, Major Callicles. He is a barrel-chested military man who rose from the ranks to become an officer, "avoiding West Point [officers school] and doing it the hard way" (191). He is obsessed with stamping out certain lax behaviors he thinks are pernicious to the military: "moustaches, prostitution, pot, and sideburns" (191).

Three months after Major Callicles takes over the job of executive officer, the My Lai Massacre story breaks in the U.