Essay Questions

Why is The Pilot court martialed?

The Pilot has been assigned to fly drones overseas in the war while living in Nevada. She has been following a potential target for weeks in order to kill him. But when the man finally gets out of the car and can be identified she will not pull the trigger because his innocent little daughter is with him, and will be killed as well. Because she disobeyed a direct order she is court martialed.

How is The Pilot "grounded" in the play?

The first way The Pilot is grounded is by getting pregnant. She was on her way to a career as a fighter pilot, instead she is put behind a desk. Next, she returns to duty and is told that she will once again be behind a desk, this time piloting a drone. No more cockpit for this soldier. Finally, she is grounded when she is court martialed for disobeying a direct order by not killing a target, which would have also killed the target's daughter.

What is the significance of The Pilot going to war each day in Nevada?

In traditional warfare, a soldier goes overseas to fight the battles. But, in modern warfare technology has advanced to such a degree that some soldiers do not need to even be on the field of battle to fight. The Pilot is half way around the world in Nevada taking down targets and going on missions. The significance of this is that she must go home from war each and every day. And the effect this plays on her mentally, emotionally and physically begins to crack through and we see that coming home from war is never easy, but to do it every day is alarming.