A person unfamiliar with the Western may think of a typical Western as cowboys and Indians simply participating in gun fights and horse chases. A person most likely would perceive the cowboy as a simple man or a loaner, with no understanding of why a cowboy acts in such a way. Watching The Searchers, gives a new Westerns viewer, such as myself, insight into the influences behind a cowboys personality. In the film, it was evident that the vast, unforgiving landscape of the West had an irrefutable impact on the cowboy, Ethan (played by John Wayne).
By taking on the task of searching for Debbie and living off of the land, Ethan had to be strong to endure the hard, tough landscape. Tompkins discusses in her book, West of Everything, how cowboys such as Ethan are much like the land they live on and travel across, "the qualities that nature implicitly possesses-power, endurance, rugged majesty- are the ones that men desire while they live. And so men imitate the land in Westerns; they try to look as much like nature as possible." It is easy to see many parallel characteristics between the land and Ethan. Both are tough, unforgiving, and extremely difficult to shape. While Ethan's family tried to reason with Ethan against revenge, Ethan could not be reasoned with as his mind was already set on revenge. His mind was impossible to be significantly changed by anyone around him, much like the land at the time.
The land also affected the cowboy, or Ethan in other ways. The landscape is what gives the cowboy his motive for adventure. While most people are against traveling into unknown lands, such as many of the men in The Searchers, Ethan the cowboy is all for it and never unsure. "He can conquer it by traversing it, know it by standing on it." (Tompkins) Only the cowboy is willing to go out alone, because while normal people seek companionship from people, the cowboy sees the land he sleeps on as his companion. "The single most important relationship they have 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) Without the featured Western landscapes in these Western films, the cowboy would have a much different persona.
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A person unfamiliar with the Western may think of a typical Western as cowboys and Indians simply participating in gun fights and horse chases. A person most likely would perceive the cowboy as a simple man or a loaner, with no understanding of why a cowboy acts in such a way. I know that's how I was before starting this class. Watching The Searchers, gives a new Westerns viewer, such as myself, insight into the influences behind a cowboys personality. In the film, it was evident that the vast, unforgiving landscape of the West had an irrefutable impact on the cowboy, Ethan (played by John Wayne).
ReplyDeleteBy taking on the task of searching for Debbie and having to live off of the land, Ethan had to be strong to endure the hard, tough landscape. Tompkins discusses in her book, West of Everything, how cowboys such as Ethan are much like the land they live on and travel across, "the qualities that nature implicitly possesses-power, endurance, rugged majesty- are the ones that men desire while they live. And so men imitate the land in Westerns; they try to look as much like nature as possible" (Tompkins 44). It is easy to see many parallel characteristics between the land and Ethan. Both are tough, unforgiving, and extremely difficult to shape. While Ethan's family tried to reason with Ethan against revenge against the Native Americans, Ethan could not be reasoned with as his mind was already set. His mind was impossible to be significantly changed by anyone around him, much like how the land could not be changed.
The land also affected the cowboy, or Ethan in other ways. The landscape is what gives the cowboy his motive for adventure. While most people are against traveling into unknown lands, such as many of the men in the Searchers, Ethan, the cowboy, is all for it and never unsure of what he wants to do. "He can conquer it by traversing it, know it by standing on it." (Tompkins 47) Only the cowboy is willing to go out alone, because while normal people seek companionship from other people, the cowboy sees the land he sleeps on as his companion. "The single most important relationship they have 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 46) Without the featured Western landscapes in these Western films, the cowboy would have a much different persona. The land shapes the cowboy's image and molds his personality to be has hard and austere as the ground he walks on.