The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel

The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel Summary | Act 1, Part 1 Summary

Set during the Vietnam War in the late 1960's, this play tells the story of a young American soldier's struggle to find a new identity for himself as "a good soldier." Powerful visual imagery combines with raw language to create a vivid sense of atmosphere, while the play's structure and movement back and forth through time defines its meaning through juxtaposition, rather than straightforward narration.

In a bar in Vietnam, Pavlo struggles drunkenly to remain standing, as he talks ramblingly to a Vietnamese barmaid/prostitute (Yen, pronounced Ing) and another drunken soldier. He tells about a girl named, Joanna, that he was involved with, about how his mother wrote Joanna a letter calling her a "slut," and how he lost his temper when he found out.

A grenade is thrown into the room. "Pavlo drops to his knees, seizing the grenade, and has it in his hands" when there is the sound of an explosion, lights change, and Yen screams. In the silence following the explosion, Ardell appears, followed by two soldiers carrying a stretcher. As they remove the bodies of Yen and the other soldier, Ardell tells Pablo to get up. Pavlo jumps to his feet and reports to Ardell in traditional military fashion. He shouts out his name, rank and division. Ardell asks him about his family, and Pavlo reveals that he's got a mother and half brother. Ardell then asks whether Pavlo has killed and whether he enjoyed it, and Pavlo's answer to both questions is "yes."

Finally, Ardell asks what Pavlo was hit with, and where he was wounded. Pavlo describes the grenade, and realizes the explosion killed him. Ardell suggests that being dead makes Pavlo furious, and at first, Pavlo denies it. Then, he admits that he is angry and explains that when he picked up the grenade, he was thinking about throwing it away, remembering when he was eight-years-old and saw how amazingly the coach of a baseball team, visiting his home town, could throw.

A whistle blows loudly, and a squad of army recruits runs on. For a moment, Pavlo doesn't remember them, and Ardell reminds him it's his squad. Pavlo asks whether he's really dead, and Ardell says he's about to be. He then confirms with Pavlo that he's from New York, saying that now he knows who he's talking about, that if someone says the name "Pavlo Hummel," we'll know who is meant.