Glory: The Story of Faith

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The movie Glory is the story of the first African American military unit which fought during the Civil War. This powerful story is told through the eyes of the unit’s leader, Colonel Robert Shaw. The director, Edward Zwick, uses a number of important scenes expressing growth, patriotism and leadership. Whenever there was an obstacle that the 54th regiment needed to overcome faith seemed to be the answer. Faith in their fellow man, faith in their country and faith in God. During the course of the movie, Colonel Shaw is constantly trying to confirm his loyalty and faith he has in his men. He is white and this automatically separates him from his men however, he works at filling the gap between them. The soldiers were not receiving critical supplies from the government. Colonel Shaw went to great measures to get what his men needed. Since Shaw’s father was a wealthy and well-connected man, he asked his father to act as an intermediary with the Governor and President Lincoln and intercede on his unit’s behalf. Ultimately, Colonel Shaw goes to the Quartermaster demanding his supplies and threatens to report him to the War Department. When a cart of shoes is brought back to the camp, the men flood into the scene. The pride they have with every step they take is evident. They felt they were finally being respected and had a sense of unity. The brand new army issued boots were the first shoes some of them had ever owned and gave them a sense of dignity. When the Confederates removed the fallen soldiers’ shoes before burying the men in a mass grave in the final scene, the director illustrated the symbolism of the shoes. In another telling scene, the movie depicts an example of the unity Shaw craves for his unit by telling the... ... middle of paper ... ...bed the flag and shortly after he is killed. One solider after another picked up the flag after the flag bearer falls. It demonstrated the love and dedication they had for their country even when their country at this time wasn’t showing appropriate gratitude toward the 54th regiment and all the other black men and woman. In the heat of the fight, men were color blind. Faith is found to be a very powerful and uniting theme in the movie Glory. Edward Zwick, the director, carefully layered the scenes with turmoil and calmness gradually growing the characters toward unity and faith in each other. In the last few moments of the movie we are left with the apparent impression that the 54th Regiment not only “changed the tides of the war” but also gave faith to Congress that the black man was capable of fighting the Union battle by allowing more of them to enlist.

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