Air University Review, January-February 1986
Let me have men about me that are fat, sleek-headed men and, such as sleep o’nights. Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look. He thinks too much, such men are dangerous.
William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
Act I, scene ii
WHAT kind of credibility would a military hero in a modern play have if his script read: "I want my staff packed with fat, bald-headed guys who aren't too bright and like to sleep a lot"? There are specific regulations in today's Air Force that militate against chubbiness, and these proposed staff members would not fit our notions of success-oriented hard-chargers. Moreover, most of us would agree that excessive weight can be unhealthy and may even be symptomatic of some greater physical or psychological problem (although the same might be said of someone with Cassius's "lean and hungry look": such a person might be terminally ill or even anorexic).
In any case, the lean and hungry look is in. Our visually oriented, image-conscious society sanctions it. Civilian clothes, as well as military uniforms, are designed to flatter slender people. If you have doubts, take a look at the next overgrossed and maxed-out officer or NCO you see crammed into one of our tapered shirts or blouses. Notice how the smooth blue fabric rolls and folds over and around the superabundance of flesh. Disgusting?
Doubtless many will remember the main characters in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar from having read the play in high school or college. Caesar was a successful general about to crown his career by ascending to the throne. His loyal friend, Marcus Brutus, loved Caesar but hated the tyranny that an imperial ruler might impose. In contrast, Cassius envied and hated Caesar. Like commanders before and since, Caesar had to contend with the milieu of human emotions, aspirations, and contentions that swirled about him. Discerning intentions and fathoming substance behind images was as much a problem for Caesar as it is for today's leaders.
Image can both portray and betray reality. We don't like to think of the grossly overweight Major General William R. Shafter commanding the soldiers that Teddy Roosevelt led up San Juan Hill. Another American military hero, General William T. Sherman, as great a historical figure as he remains today, looked more at home on the porch of a general store than he did at the head of the grand army of the Republic; Sherman was shallow in image but deep in substance.
Shakespeare's Caesar felt that fat, bald-headed men who slept well were satisfied with their lot dealt by the gods and not susceptible to the destructive ambition that drove Cassius. While Cassius's "type A" personality generated career successes, his penchant for reading and his aversion to popular music and the theater worried Caesar. Certainly, Cassius did not fit the "total man" concept--but, of course, he lived 1400 years before the Renaissance gave us that model. No doubt, if Cassius was our contemporary, however, he would find some kindred souls who are "never at heart's reach while they behold a greater than themselves."
The image we see in a mirror may or may not reflect genuine substance. Perhaps the man or woman staring back at each of us is truly a dedicated military professional, properly accoutered and reflecting the benefits of a rigorous physical fitness program. All to the good, then. But what is reflected may be a carefully contrived façade shaped to conform with the neat lines of a tapered shirt and fashioned to fit comfortably into a sanctioned and accepted version of the institutionally promotable image.
Discerning illusory image from substance can be as difficult today as it was in 44 B.C. War, then as now, is the great revealer in the military, slicing through the pretentious to lay bare what is beneath and shattering mere images as surely as a rock breaks glass. The civil war that erupted after Brutus, Cassius, and other conspirators assassinated Caesar revealed the conflicting ambitions of Shakespeare's characters until only Brutus had "the elements so mixed in him that Nature might stand up and say to all the world, `This was a man.’" We are left to wonder at the measure of his girth.
E.H.T.
Disclaimer
The conclusions and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author cultivated in the freedom of expression, academic environment of Air University. They do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, the United States Air Force or the Air University.
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