The film, The Searchers perfectly presents the relationship between the cowboy and the landscape because Ethan, the cowboy,we see this because he spends majority of the film in the desert searching for his niece, Debbie, accompanied by her ' brother,' Martin. The film opens with a landscape shot - just as Thompkins states typical Westerns usually do - followed by the image of someone on a horse coming towards a desolate house. The image shows the vacancy of the desert implying the limitless possibilities that is holds, one of the many reasons I believe it is so appealing to Ethan.
In the beginning scene the cowboy is completly exposed here, because the landscape is so bare and open it allows the cowboy to stand out and be seen especially by those expecting him. According to Thompkins a cowboy shares a special bond with nature, it forces man to be tough and hard, it is clear in the movie that even when Ethan returns home he does not feel at home, he constantly stares out at the horizon and open desert as if that is his real home, that is where he truely belongs.
Another aspect of the landscape that Thompkins emphasizes is how frequent it changes. In the film the seasons would constantly change, showing the variety of difficult conditions that the cowboys had to endure in order to find Debbie. The constantly changing environment are the additional challenges the cowboys must face but the land does not only test cowboys, it also rewards them with rest, food and most of all shelter which we see every time they set up camp and allow their horses to rest.
The film, The Searchers clearly displayed most if not all aspects of a 'typical' Western regarding the relationship between a cowboy and the land.
According to Tompkins "The qualities needed to survive on the land are the qualities the land itself possesses - bleakness, mercilessness. And they are regarded not only as necessary to survival but as the acme of human perfection." Some of the alpha male’s most distinct characteristics are their independence and anti social ways. They are not known as the ‘family man’ because they occupy most of their time in the lonely desert away from civilization. At the end of the day the only human interaction they have is when they stop in town periodically to “…get supplies, to eat, to sleep, to rest their labors…to get a shave, a haircut, a bath, to put on clean clothes and feel human again…get drunk and play cards and ogle the saloon girls” (Tompkins 86).
ReplyDelete“The single most important relationship [he has] is to the land. They are in constant contact with it – thinking about it, using it, enjoying it, fearing it, seeing it, smelling it, touching it, hearing it” (Tompkins, 78).The Searchers perfectly presents the relationship and similarities between the cowboy and the landscape. Through it’s changing environment, unwelcoming nature, vastness and independence. It is clear that The Searchers places great emphasis on the relationship between the alpha male and the landscape as Ethan, the alpha male cowboy, spends majority of the film in the desert searching for his niece, Debbie.
According to Tompkins, a typical Western opens with a shot of the landscape. The Searchers proves this statement by presenting the image of someone on a horse coming towards a desolate house with the vast, open desert as their background. The image shows the vacancy of the desert implying the limitless possibilities that is holds, one of the m any reasons I believe it is so appealing to Ethan. The vastness of the desert is so bare and open it allows the cowboy to stand out and be seen especially by those expecting him. The landscape allows the alpha male to be an individualist because it provides a place for them to be alone while also emphasizing this solitude. It is clear in the movie that even when Ethan returns home he does not feel at home, he constantly stares out at the horizon and open desert as if that is his real home, that is where he truly belongs
Tompkins states that “a man whose hardness is one with the hardness of nature.”A cowboy shares a special bond with nature; it forces man to be tough and hard and is essentially what the cowboy wants to be. The land does not only test cowboys, it also rewards them with rest, food and most of all shelter which we see every time they set up camp and allow their horses to rest.
There is a direct relation between the alpha male cowboy and the landscape, everything the landscape represents are the qualities exemplified by the alpha male cowboy. The desert is dangerous and vast which represents the unwelcoming and unfriendly characteristics of the alpha male cowboy. The changing weather is only natural in the desert just as Ethan’s anger would surface occasionally.
The last scene of the film is very similar to that of the opening scene. Ethan has now rescued Debbie and brought her safely home, he has fulfilled his deed and now it is time for him to return to where he belongs. As the rest of the family goes inside the house, Ethan stays outside and does not pass the threshold. He knows that the home is not suitable for him and he is not suitable for the home. He turns around, leaving his family and returns to the desert because that is where he feels comfortable, he can relate to it and it provides for him. Just as Tompkins says, “in the end, the land is everything to the hero; it is both the destination and the way”.