In Paths of Glory, Kubrick illustrates the absurdity in the idea that higher up individuals are allowed to dictate unavoidable orders because they know their rank will protect them; this negligent attitude prompts them to make unjust decisions that do not affect them. The more prominent figures Kubrick uses in his film to exemplify this idea are General Mireau and the court. Mireau is shown to be constantly, to the point of being comedic, giving orders that he has no business giving. When he orders the “easy” attack on Anthill, and soldiers were not advancing, Kubrick deliberately makes the audience watch Mireau looking through binoculars, yelling about how the soldiers are all cowards. Yet he himself is standing in the bunker safe and decidedly useless. The attack he ordered has no detriment to him; rather, he may even gain from it if the battle is somehow won.

Furthermore, during the court case against the randomly chosen three soldiers, Colonel Dax defends one of the soldiers by bringing up his (the soldier’s) previous achievements and displays of honor. However, he is ignored because “medals are no defense”. It is absurd and ironic that the President would say this, as he is in a position of power, and “medals” are his defense. But if honor should defend those who truly deserve it, it becomes unfathomable. In that kangaroo court, they made light of difficult tasks because they could never fathom what they do not know: actually putting their life on the line and fighting in the war. To them, there is no such thing as an impossible order, there is only “cowardice in the face of the enemy”: If the order was truly impossible, “[the soldiers] would be dead”. Yet, they are not the soldiers acting as human shields. They are not the ones being regarded as just another necessary sacrifice-- a mere “percent[age]” of people lost for a means to an end that does not even happen.

By the end of the film, the three soldiers have been executed, and General Mireau is happy that they “died very well”: a truly absurd thing to say. And when he is accused by Colonel Dax, he exclaims that he is “the only innocent man in this whole affair” and the “man you stabbed in the back is a soldier”. He may call himself a soldier that does not fight, but in the end, he is the coward hiding behind his rank, not only in the face of the enemy, but also in the face of those above him. There is always someone more powerful, and there is always someone with power that will abuse it.