Essay Questions

What is a "code red" order, and why is such an order significant in the film?

Quite plainly, a "code red" order involves someone (usually a superior officer in the military) who orders another person (typically a subordinate solider) to carry out a violent extrajudicial act of punishment (punishment before a trial is conducted by a jury or tribunal). In the film, a "code red" order is portrayed as a group of soldiers who kill another soldier because Santiago (the other soldier) told on another soldier named Dawson for a shooting at the fence at Guantanamo Bay.

What is Guantanamo Bay? Why is it Significant?

Leased by the Cuban Government to the United States Navy in the early 1900s, Guantanamo Bay is a detention facility established in 2002 by the George W. Bush administration for use as a prison for high-value, dangerous prisoners (typically Islamic terrorists captured in Afghanistan, Iraq, and more broadly, the War on Terror.) Although it houses few prisoners, it is one of the most important prisons in the world. Not only is Guantanamo Bay vital to the films story, but it is also vital to the U.S. and its war on terror.