#mark wheeler

The situation is a little more complicated than we had expected.

Colonel Rumford may be in no mood to make a full confession at this stage, but by choosing instead to state an undeniable fact he is also revealing a weakness that even he cannot yet fully articulate. For Cadet Springer, the unexpected complication comes in Rumford’s use of the first person plural: neither a slip of the tongue nor a deliberate misrepresentation, the inclusive we suggests a collective responsibility where in reality no such unity of purpose ever existed.

In the ideal, self-contained world of Rumford’s imagination, Haynes’ untimely departure would have registered as the tragic, if self-inflicted, accident it clearly was. No one would have raised suspicions, no one would have investigated. Any questions of culpability would have been handled under Rumford’s own military jurisdiction. Springer would have been responsible because he would have cleaned the gun. Above all else, the board of trustees would never have heard of Haynes’ plans for radical change - plans that emphatically do not include Lyle C Rumford. You're so used to playing God you figure nothing's going to work without you, quips advertising man William Haynes Jr, who clearly relishes the prospect of firing his old nemesis but will not live to see the day.

The bespoke method of his execution even has an – almost – ironic twist in the element of divine retribution when Haynes is quite literally hoist with his own petard. But Rumford's attention to decorative detail is strictly limited, both by physical and imaginary boundaries designed to protect Rumford’s ideal self-contained world from the depravities of external temptation.

William Haynes Jr epitomizes the depraved inhabitants of a world beyond the pale; his reading of Rumford’s dilemma however is to the point: the decision to shun the outside world and remain aloof in splendid isolation has not only created mental barriers an top of physical ones, it has isolated Rumford from his fellow officers and other members of the Academy. With no one to share his responsibilities or indeed his principles, Rumford’s chosen path is ultimately unsustainable – unless he can find an eleventh-hour ally in whom he can confide and with whom he can share the burdens of his office.

When he tells his reprobate protégé to expect a murder charge, Rumford's intention is not to intimidate Springer but to appeal to his sense of duty and, crucially, his loyalty. Rumford needs Springer to be that good soldier who is willing to endure the hypothetical adversity of a murder trial  for the sake of a vision that he hopes is as dear to Springer as it is to him personally: the preservation of his beloved, idealized Academy.

Rumford offers to stand by Springer against the evil intrusions of the outside world (aka Lt Columbo) but he does so in the mistaken belief that he is in control of the situation. and that it will help him to remain in control. While it is true that Springer has no insight into what caused the deadly explosion, he knows it could not have been his doing. The advantage is not immediately obvious to Springer, but it is Rumford’s false sense of superiority that will result in a cascade of unintended consequences.

According to Rumford’s logic, Springer was given a task, and therefore Springer is responsible for its proper execution – a closed circuit that begins and ends with the supreme authority of the commandant to assign duties and discipline infractions. By appealing to the good soldier he still wants to see in Springer, instead of winning the young man’s trust Rumford forces him to choose between being punished for not cleaning the gun and being accused of murder.

Instead of manipulating Springer in his favour, Rumford’s declaration of solidarity has exactly the opposite effect: Springer seeks refuge in the outside world. By being a bad soldier Springer demonstrates his true humanity: as a creature of both worlds, he is contaminated by outside influences and far from perfect, yet he speaks the truth and does so with a clear conscience. Ironically, and fatally for Rumford, it is his own – unattainable - ideal of the good soldier which has been diminished, perhaps most substantially by the one individual who we know is struggling to be that perfect soldier, to create that perfect world for himself and his white roses. Who has already lost the fight even though he has yet to acknowledge the fact.