How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Platoon.
Quote #4
TAYLOR: The village, which had stood for maybe a thousand years, didn't know we were coming that day. If they had, they would have run. Barnes was at the eye of our rage, and through him, our captain Ahab, he would set things right again, that day we loved him.
Taylor illustrates the politics of the platoon. Barnes is in charge. He's the real leader, the one responsible for "setting things right" for his men, just like political leaders are entrusted with setting things right for their citizens.
Quote #5
BARNES: Elias is a water walker, like them politicians in Washington trying to fight this war with one hand tied around their balls. Ain't no need or time for a courtroom out here
Barnes hates politics, even though he's willing to play the political game. He associates politics with total incompetence, a messianic or missionary idea about war that refuses to accept the brutal violence necessary to win.
Quote #6
BARNES: You don't tell me how to run my war Elias… Out here you belong to me.
Barnes makes it clear that he runs the show, even though Wolfe outranks him. This is Barnes's war, and he can conduct however he wants. In a way, he's just like the American politicians back home, running the war however they want.