The Improbability Locus Theory

A few weeks ago I discussed Joe Haldeman and how his experiences in the Vietnam War influenced his writing (Camouflage: on Humanity's Coming of Age and the Importance of Adaptability)

Today I came across a short story by Haldeman: "The Private War of Private Jacob."

There are a lot of puns in this barely five-page story. The title is a good example. Another pun arises when the soldiers are talking about their sergeant- a man who has never once been hit in battle. Jacob proposes that the sergeant's good fortune is due to the "improbability locus theory." A fellow private jokes that Sergeant Melford "sure is an imperturbable locust." Soldiers facing very grim circumstances need to use humor as an escape.

Graveyard humor is one thing, but the way Sergeant Melford acts is something entirely different. Jacob has serious misgivings about the sanity of the overly cheerful sergeant, who laughs with genuine glee as he leads his men to their deaths.

So- what is this "improbability locus theory?" Is Haldeman just putting some fancy words into a Yatzee tumbler and seeing what comes out? I don't think so.

Try looking up luck on wikipedia. You'll find references to the locus of control. The locus of control has to do with how an individual feels his future will be determined- by external forces beyond his control, or by his own internal resources, and the conditions in which he chooses to live his life. As we learn in "The Private War of Private Jacob," Sergeant Melford's locus of control is a little more complex than we expected...

But on a much more literal level, Sergeant Melford is an "improbability locus" because battle, after battle, after battle, the men around him die, but he is never hit.

I found this short story particularly interesting, because it didn't read like science fiction. Oh, there were a few interesting weapons slid into the brutally realistic depiction of death and violence on the battlefield- but the story read like any mainstream war story. It isn't until Jacob's worst fears about himself are confirmed, that we really enter the realm of science fiction.