A Critical Interpretation

After the screening of the “The Searchers”, I noticed a few themes that were valid in developing the storyline as well as character development. As the story unravels, the same themes that are essential in having a well-rounded story are the same ideas that contribute to what we interpret as a stereotypical western film. For example, the role of an “American hero” is apparent in Ethan’s character. As we discussed in class, John Wayne is generally portrayed as the hero in films he is featured in resulting in the American hero theme to be reoccurring. At the same time, the American hero theme creates the foundation in which the storyline builds off. This evidence led me to believe the story was being told through Ethan’s point of view. His lack of remorse for murder, fearfulness, individualism, and elitist attitude are all character traits that made the storyline revolve around his actions.

Indians were represented negatively throughout the entire film. The Indians were responsible for the destruction of the Edwards home, the death of Martha and Lucy, Debbie’s conformity to Indian culture and most importantly provided the fuel for Ethan and Martin’s dangerous quest. Some of the key features mentioned by Kilpatrick were seen in the film. The idea of prey vs. predator is evident during the battles that occur between whites and Indians. The Indians were often silent or did not speak English which Kilpatrick categorized as a reoccurring theme in Native American film. Headdresses were common in the film even though traditional Indians did not often wear them.   The theme of miscegenation is seen early in the film. Martin is judged by Ethan when he admits to being part Cherokee.

Despite the fact Ethan and Martin were together for the majority of their search, I believe their intentions were completely different. Martin tended to be more interested in finding Debbie and Lucy compared to Ethan whose main focus was finding Scar. Revenge motivated Ethan rather than the savior aspect that motived Martin. My main question throughout the film was what drove Ethan to want vengeance when his main focus should be on finding Lucy and Debbie. This may be a long shot, but think about it. Ethan was in love with Martha, whose death drove Ethan to seek revenge on the one responsible, Scar. Evidence for this is seen when Ethan keeps Lucy’s death from the rest of the group. If the main goal of the quest was to find Lucy, Ethan would have opened his mouth immediately after he found her. Instead, he wanted to continue to search for Scar and also created false hope for the rest of the group. Another observation that adds relevance to my theory is Ethan’s irritability when Martin refers to Debbie as his sister. Ethan becomes defensive and demands Martin to stop, despite the fact he was raised by the Edwards’s. This creates the idea that Debbie could be the child of Ethan and Martha. When Ethan first finds Debbie his first instinct was to kill her. The second time he finds her, he holds back his hatred and doesn’t kill her when he had the chance. Throughout the film Ethan shows no remorse for killing Indians, except when he finds Debbie. His love for Martha is also displayed when he noticed her hair on Scar’s collection of scalps. Ethan then gained vengeance by killing Scar and scalping him, as Scar did to Martha.