“They have skimmed milk in their veins instead of blood.”
Why it's great
One metaphor turns cowardice into thin, bloodless fluid, and it sticks.
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Informal
Use it yourself
He has excuses in his veins instead of effort.
00:00 / 03:51
00:00 / 03:51
Generals Choose Three Scapegoats, Explained
Paths of Glory · 1957
Chapter 7 of 17 · 3'51"
The meeting after the failed attack turns into a fight over blame. Mireau wants the whole regiment punished; Dax defends the men as not cowards. Broulard ends the argument with a compromise: "All we want to do is to set an example," settling on three soldiers to be tried and shot.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:26–0:52
Dax Disputes Mireau's Cowardice Charge
26s - 1:56–2:23
Dax Offers Himself as the Example
27s
Generals Choose Three Scapegoats, explained
What happens
After the attack fails, Broulard and Mireau meet with Colonel Dax to fix responsibility. Mireau calls the troops cowards who never left the trenches; Dax insists they attacked but could make no headway, and that some were pinned down. Broulard rejects mass punishment, then proposes an example: three men, one from each company.
What's really going on
The scene stages the difference between an army's two jobs: winning and covering itself. Mireau needs the failure to be cowardice, because otherwise it is his plan that failed; that is why he calls the men scum and insists the trenches were full of shirkers. Dax answers with facts and then with sarcasm, asking why, if everyone is a coward, they should not shoot the entire regiment. Broulard, who cares only about appearances, cuts the argument short: "All we want to do is to set an example." The number shrinks from a whole regiment to twelve to three, as if justice were a matter of haggling. What is settled is not truth but the story that can be lived with.
Key lines & what they mean
- “They have skimmed milk in their veins instead of blood.”
- Mireau's contempt for the soldiers: he calls them bloodless cowards to justify punishing them.
- “We can't leave it up to the men to decide when an order is possible or not.”
- Broulard's rule of the system: soldiers must obey regardless of whether an order is actually possible.
- “We don't want to slaughter the French army. All we want to do is to set an example.”
- Broulard's stated aim: not to punish the army wholesale but to make an example of a few.
- “one man will do as well as a hundred.”
- Dax's sarcastic logic: if the goal is an example, the number hardly matters, which exposes how arbitrary the choice is.
- “Oh, well, if it's an example you want, then take me.”
- Dax volunteering to be shot, to show that the executions are theater rather than justice.
- “We're not talking about the past. We're talking about the present.”
- Broulard dismissing the men's past courage as irrelevant to the failure of today's attack.
Theme
- Justice — Punishment is decided by bargaining, not evidence: the number of men to execute shrinks from a regiment to three.
- Power — Mireau needs the men blamed for his failure, and Broulard ends the debate with the authority of a compromise.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
Review right after watchingMy level3/7
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
Language points
Click a card to jump to its moment in the videoGolden lines
A great line in its own right — why and how to use it“We can't leave it up to the men to decide when an order is possible or not.”
Why it's great
It states the military rule coldly: soldiers do not get to judge an order.
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Formal
Use it yourself
We can't leave it up to the interns to decide the budget.
“We don't want to slaughter the French army. All we want to do is to set an example.”
Why it's great
The denial and the euphemism together show how casually lives are weighed.
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Formal
Use it yourself
We don't want to fire anyone. All we want to do is to set an example.
“one man will do as well as a hundred.”
Why it's great
Reducing a life to an interchangeable number is the film's coldest arithmetic.
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Formal
Use it yourself
One sample will do as well as a dozen.
“Oh, well, if it's an example you want, then take me.”
Why it's great
Dax accepts their logic and offers himself, turning their euphemism back on them.
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Neutral
Use it yourself
If it's a volunteer you want, then take me.
“We're not talking about the past. We're talking about the present.”
Why it's great
A mirrored sentence cuts the debate down to the present, where the cost is real.
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Neutral
Use it yourself
We're not talking about blame. We're talking about the deadline.
Up next · 08draw lotsThe scene: Dax Prepares the Accused SoldiersTakeaways
What you walk away with- Dax argues about character; the generals argue arithmetic.
- The phrase 'set an example' hides a decision to kill.
- Calling his men scum is Mireau's real confession.
- Once and for all means someone stops listening.
People also search
Questions, then the linesWhy does Mireau want the soldiers punished?
He blames the failure on cowardice, claims half the men never left the trenches, and calls the regiment scum rather than take responsibility for the plan.
What does Dax argue in defense of the men?
That they did attack but could make no headway under heavy fire, that some were pinned down, and that if they were not cowards, staying in the trenches must have been necessary.
Why does Broulard settle on only three men?
He wants an example, not a massacre, and says they should not overdo it. The number is whittled down until one man from each of three companies is chosen.
What does "set an example" mean here?
It means punishing a few soldiers to warn the rest of the army, rather than for the sake of justice. Broulard uses it to justify selecting scapegoats.
Why does Dax volunteer to be the example himself?
To expose the logic of the meeting: if the point is an example and one man serves as well as a hundred, then the officer who ordered the attack is the more logical choice.