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Western film genre characteristics
How hollywood portrays indigenous people
Western film genre characteristics
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Kathryn Hillis English 1158 03/09/18 Spirit Within “They say that the history of the west was written from the saddle of a horse, but it's never been told from the heart of one” (Spirit). This is the one of the most memorable lines spoken in Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. The movie tells the story of Spirit, a young Mustang, and his encounters with man along with his test of perseverance. The story gives a message of roaming free but always returning home, and an everlasting sense of freedom. In the movie Spirit, a curious stallion, wanders away from his herd, towards a peculiar glow one night not far from his herd, and goes to investigate. He finds bounded, pliant horses and their cavalryman sleeping around a campfire. While he puts his …show more content…
nose inside a boot belonging to one of the men, it gets caught on his snout and in an effort to escape it, he throws it through the air waking up a few of the camper. Seeing the magnificent specimen they grab equipment in order to capture him easily. It wasn’t until a rather intimate scene with an unconscious man did they all finally wake up and began to chase him until the end up capturing him. He is then taken through three new environments where his spirit is tested. First was the US cavalry post where he first encounters the Colonel, who Spirit described as a snake saying “I remember the first time I saw a rattler curled up in my path.
This one didn't look like a rattler, but I was still thinkin' 'snake'...” (Spirit). The Colonel decides to have Spirit tamed, refusing to believe the idea of Spirit being too willful, but Spirit manages to fight off all attempts to break him. To incapacitate Spirit, The Colonel orders him to be tied to a post for three days without food or water. He then encounters a Lakota Native American Brave, named Little Creek, who is also brought into the fort and held captive. The Colonel himself attempts to ride Spirit, who, despite his best efforts, cannot throw him and gives up due to exhausted. The Colonel, while believing Spirit is broken, speaks upon his idea of how any wild horse can be tamed. However, Spirit gets a second wind and in a final show of defiance, grabs the reins, breaks the saddle, and finally throws the Colonel off. Spirit is able through his first trial with man to hold onto his freedom and escape the grasp of the Calvary who tried to tame him, bring along Little Creek. Once free, Little Creek calls his own horse, a beautiful paint mare named Rain, and jumps onto her. Spirit is momentarily distracted and is caught again, this time by the …show more content…
Lakota. They return to the Lakota village where he further tries to interact with Rain, as a stubborn mare who is a companion of Little Creek.
Spirit describes her interaction with Little Creek as “down right unnatural…” (Spirit). During his experience with Little Creek and Rain, he continually resisted Little Creeks’ effort to tame him, even though Little Creek tries to tame Spirit with kindness, but Spirit refuses to be broken. In an effort to tame Spirit, Little Creek ties Spirit and Rain together. After a failed attempt at leaving, Spirit allows Rain to shows him her world. Little Creek tries again to ride Spirit, but he is still unwilling. He comes to the conclusion that Spirit will never be tamed and allows him to return home. Spirit asks Rain to come with him to his herd, but a cavalry regiment led by the Colonel attacks the village. During the brutal battle, Rain is shot by the Colonel, knocking her into the river. The Colonel then tries to shoot Little Creek, but Spirit runs into the Colonel and his horse, deflecting the shot and saving Little Creek's life. Spirit finds Rain dying from her injuries and stays by her side until the Army captures him, again. Watching Spirit being pulled away, Little Creek arrives, vowing to free him to satisfy his
life-debt. Thirdly is the work site of the Transcontinental Railroad, where he and other horses are forced to work pulling a steam locomotive. Realizing that the track will invade on his homeland, Spirit breaks free from the sledge and breaks the chains holding the other horses. Spirit escapes, being followed by the train that had fallen off its sledge and was rolling down the hill back to the work site. Where it comes in contact with another engine causing a fire to engulf the surrounding forest. Little Creek appears in time and saves Spirit from the ensuing wildfire. Then we see when Spirit is running from the Army, he and Little Creek trapped on the top of a canyon with nowhere to turn, Spirit manages to successfully leap across the canyon. Spirit's move astounds the Colonel, humbling accepts defeat, he stops his men from shooting the two allowing Spirit and Little Creek to leave. Spirit and Little Creek return to the newly reconstructed Lakota village and finds Rain nursed back to health. Coming to the understanding that Spirit should be free, Little Creek sets both Spirit and Rain free, leaving Spirit with the name "Spirit…Who-Could-Not-Be-Broken”. The two horses return to Spirit's homeland, eventually reuniting with Spirit's herd. The movie is a wonderful, real world expression of an untamable and unbreakable spirit. Through all of his travels, Spirit is still able to hold onto his wild and free heart, never allowing himself to be broken. As sung by Bryan Adams in the movie, “he flew like an eagle”, an American symbol of freedom and a religious embodiment of the powers and messages of the spirit. Work Cited Adams, Bryan, et al. “Fly Like an Eagle.” Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron: Music from the Original Motion Picture. “Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron.” DreamWorks Home Entertainment, 2002.
Walter Farley began writing his novel, The Black Stallion, when he was in high school. He finished it years later and then had it published while he was attending college. The novel was an instant hit and many adults have read this book as a child. However, I had never gotten a chance to read The Black Stallion so this book report finally provided me with the perfect opportunity to do so.
Peter said “Let’s go soak one last time before we go” Cole and peter whet to the pond and soaked. They had soaked so many times that that they just jumped in the pond with a splash. As they carried the ancestor rock up the hill they paused in their tracks. Less than 6 feet away was the spirit bear. But something was different about the bear, it had open wounds and blood on its white fur.
In the novel All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy, the author shows how important the roles of the horses are in the story and how they relate to John Grady, the protagonist of the novel. The horse has played an important role in the development of America. It has been a form of transportation, easy muscle, and companionship. In the Wild West, it was an essential resource for a cowboy to do his daily chores. McCarthy describes horses as spiritual and as resembling the human soul; meaning that horses came in many different forms. Horses are pretty, ugly, wild, tame, etc. in the story, they have so many different descriptions and different types of personality that they appear to resemble humans. In the story, John Grady is able to communicate with horses beyond a level normal people could. He could look into a horse's eyes and be able to see into its heart; because of this distinct relationship Grady is able to compare the world of horses to the world of humans. Throughout the novel, he learns that what he thinks of men and about his romantic idea of living in the world is completely false and wrong. Therefore, McCarthy's title shows that life can be full of change; and, at times, it can be cruel and ironic. Because of this, McCarthy's title shows how much a perspective can change when a man goes on an adventure and experiences things he did not experience before. Meaning that, McCarthy wanted readers to think before they read the book that life is pretty and easy, but after they read the book he wants the readers to know that life is not always how it seems.
Michael Horse is the fire keeper of the Osage tribe, but he also writes in his spare time. He is an old man who observes everything around him and writes it down in his journals.
In reading “All the pretty horses” by Cormac McCarthy, we are introduced to the protagonist John Grady Cole. At the beginning of the story, John Grady is attending his grandfathers funeral in the ranch that he now shares with his mother. John Grady Cole, grew up in world where being a cowboy meant freedom and a ever growing relationship with the one thing he cared about more than anything… horses. The story seems to unravel in the early 1950s when the old west began to evolve to the new ways of the west and the definition of what made a man a cowboy increasingly blurred. As the story evolves, it becomes evident that the selling of his grandfather’s ranch leaves Grady feeling adrift and incomplete. Henceforth, he deicides to set foot on his own and find a new place to call his home. We see that the loss of his grandfathers ranch and the passing of the old west he knew, serves as a reflection of how John Grady’s character attempts to maintain this cowboy lifestyle that he witnessed growing up . John Grady Cole’s character tough young, serves as a hero in his journey of becoming a man. Combined with his passion and idealistic mentality, his love for horses and the open plains of Texas/Mexico sets him off into new adventures. Realizing that each scenario encountered paves the way towards a journey of harsh reality, this story serves as one of growth and the passionate search of the old cowboy life. Grady sets out on a journey to Mexico with his comrade Rawlins riding off into the sun with hopes of finding a new home; they rode in hopes of regaining their sense of beloning.
All the Pretty Horses, by Cormac McCarthy, is, among other things, an exploration of its main character, John Grady Cole. The author chooses words carefully and sparingly when creating dialogue for Cole. In doing so, McCarthy creates poetic effects and rich meaning from limited verbiage. This novelist lets his readers get to know his main character largely through dialogue instead of through direct description. In this way, readers find the techniques used by McCarthy similar to those used by Ernest Hemingway in many of his books and short stories. Like the dialogue of Hemingway's protagonists, Cole's speech is sparse, but it is indicative of a great deal of meaning.
In ‘horse,’ the speaker describes a horse being betrayed and then killed in a small town in Texas. The first two stanzas described the horse thundering towards outstretched hands being attracted to a field of corn but instead it is attacked by a group of white teenage boys who leave it mutilated. The sheriff of the town does not do anything because he believes that it is in their nature to do so. In the last stanzas the Mexican owner puts the horse out of his misery and someone tries to pay him for the damage. His people are disappointed because they believe that money could not make up for the death of the horse but, they do nothing about it. It would seem the horse in the poem is meant to represent the Mexican culture and how it is being eradicated by the dominant white society in the United States.
The character is emphasising the moral and educational value of stories in human development and understanding by saying that there is always something to learn from stories, even when they are retold repeatedly.
The inevitable outcomes of fate in our lives are like a boundless chain of dominos falling successively. Every action is calculated and deliberate; our lives are a predetermined path that only someone as powerful as God could change. Cormac McCarthy demonstrates both the good and evil that the power of fate brings for his character John Grady in All the Pretty Horses. John Grady’s journey starts in Texas, where he realizes after his grandfather’s death that there isn’t much left for him there. He idealizes a cowboy way of life not found in Texas. He journeys with his buddy Rawlins across the border to Mexico, a lawless desert land where trouble never seems too far away. Fate leads him to a capricious kid named Blevins, whose erratic behavior and rare, expensive, and thought to be stolen horse creates a series of dilemmas for John Grady when he arrives at La Purísima, a Mexican ranch. He finds more than just the cowboy way of life he longs for at the ranch; he also finds Alejandra, the owner’s attractive daughter. As fate would have it, he falls in love with her, but fate would also have it that their love is forbidden. Matters only get worse when John Grady falls in trouble with law insuring only more chaos. The series of events that Cormac McCarthy writes in All the Pretty Horses are meant to unfold as if the hands of fate put John Grady through all the pain, and suffering to be reborn, matured, and find salvation at the end of journey.
While Addie lies dying on her corn-shuck mattress, Darl convinces Jewel to take a trip with him to pick up a load of lumber. Darl knows that Jewel is Addie's favorite child. The trip for lumber is a contrivance- Darl's way of keeping Jewel from his mother's bedside when she dies. A wheel breaks on the wagon, and before Darl and Jewel can replace it, bring the wagon home, and load Addie's body onto it for the trip to Jefferson, three days have passed. By this time, heavy rains have flooded the Yoknapatawpha River and washed out all the bridges that cross it. The river is vicious, and the Bundrens' mules drown. The wagon tips over, and. Jewel, on horseback, manages to keep the wagon and its load from drifting downstream, saving his mother’s decomposing body. When the family finally makes it through the ordeal, they spend the night at the Gillespies' farm. Darl sets fire to the barn where Addie's body is stored in an effort to spare his mother. However, Jewel once again saves her coffin with a heroic act.
...toward the close of the novel that "He had only heard and seen the world as it had always was: no boundaries, only transitions through all distances and time" (246). Ironically, though these transitions, changes in the specific vernacular or ritual may be significant from generation to generation, the underlying theme remains constant: we are inseparable from the universe. "I already heard these stories before... only thing is the names sound different" (260). Within the self imposed boundaries of the text, each story creates new space for thoughts and emotions which are common to the human condition. Perhaps because the story houses the possibility for our ultimate destruction or redemption, Silko describes the story, its creation, its meaning, as the defining moment of humanity.
Certain individuals have a drive that can lead them to achieve what they desire most. In the Short story “The Rocking Horse Winner”, D.H Lawrence showcases this through character motivation and symbolism. He further this using pursuit of desire, and how if you take it to a certain extent it can result in tragedy if the individual chooses not to conform. Paul wants to please his mother because his mother feels that there family has no luck, but Paul proclaims that he is lucky. Paul suddenly becomes consumed with this sudden spree of good luck and feels this is the only way he will be able to gain to the affection of his mother. D.H Lawrence reveals that Paul has a certain flaw that turns him to believe that the only way he will be able to gain his mothers love and affection is by winning money in the horse races. He leads this pursuit of desire to the standards he thought he wanted to, but not to the standards that would have achieved what he wanted, which leads to his down fall. When individuals desire love from another, they may choose to conform their beliefs and actions to that person. At first they may feel successful, however if they sacrifice everything, in pursuing this kind of goal, they may pay a heavy price instead of gaining there hearts desire.
“All the Pretty Horses”, a novel written by Cormac McCarthy tells the tale about a man and his friend travelling the plains of Mexico after leaving their homes in Texas. As the novel’s name alludes to, horses are a central theme in the story as they represent manhood and freedom when John Grady, the protagonist, and his friend Rawlins get thrown in jail. McCarthy’s novel became critically-acclaimed which gained him more recognition, as well as a movie adaptation directed by Billy Bob Thornton. Even though Thornton’s adaption has the basics of the novel’s story it does not appropriately grasps its depth. While Thornton’s version stays faithful to the dialogue from the book’s included scenes it does fall short by having an erratic pace, having
These issues are also raised in "Death and the King's Horseman", but more with showing how important and determinant our culture is for our personal identity. Thus, living in an era where this one is changing, because of the rough imposition of a new one, can torn one's personality, making them doubt all of their beliefs.