American history usually starts with Columbus and the famous myths surrounding the “founding” of the New World. As children we learn about how Columbus fought against all odds to convince the king and queen of Spain to fund his voyage to prove the world was not flat. As we grow in our understanding of history we find that most of the world, at that time, already knew the world was round. So why do we believe in these myths? We believe in these types of myths because they make the central character or characters appear larger than life, much like a Hollywood blockbuster. In the 2000 film the Patriot, directed by Ronald Emmerich, and distributed by Columbia Pictures; we follow the story of American Revolution as seen through the eyes of a Southern plantation owner, played by Mel Gibson. The Patriot, is a great film that gives the movie watcher a great sense of the turmoil that people went through during the Revolutionary War.
The story begins with Mel Gibson’s character, Benjamin Martin, following the events of the Battle of Lexington and Concord as he must help the Charleston assembly decide if a levy should be passed to help the newly formed Continental Army. Martin is a small plantation owner and father of several children. He decides that he has seen too much bloodshed in his years and returns to his family rather than going off to fight in the upcoming war. His eldest son, played by Heath Ledger, Gabriel Martin decides to join the Continental Army against his father’s wishes. Through unfortunate circumstances Gabriel returns home one day, as a battle erupts around the Martin Plantation between the British Regulars and the Colonial Militia. Benjamin Martin shows compassion by treating all wounded soldiers regardless of which s...
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...ily of your own, you’ll understand.” Gabriel: “When I have a family of my own, I won’t hide behind it.” This exchange of words sums up the plot of the movie well. Martin is fearful of war, for the atrocities he himself had committed during the French and Indian War. He is afraid his family will suffer those same atrocities as payback for the sins he had committed. Throughout the film we see him falling back on those memories but instead of falling back he finds his family there to support him, which reinvigorates him to fight for the greater good, American Independence. The film is a great story about the American Revolution and the events that would lead to the establishment of the United States of America. Although the story is one made for the big screen, the back drop of the Revolution is very real. The Americans suffered greatly to achieve their independence.
As he immerses his audience into combat with the soldiers, Shaara demonstrates the more emotional aspects of war by highlighting the personal lives of the men fighting. For example, when Shaara reveals the pasts of James Longstreet and Lewis Armistead’s, I started to picture them as the men that they were and not as soldiers out for blood. After suffering a devastating loss of three of his children to fever, Longstreet is tossed into battle. In Armistead’s case, he not only suffered the loss of his wife, but also of a friend fighting on the Union side, General Winfield Scott Hancock. Shaara saves his readers a front row seat to the inner turmoil of General Chamberlain regarding his hindering duty as a soldier clashes with his duty to family as he strived to serve the Union as well as protec...
about the war and his lack of place in his old society. The war becomes
The Revolutionary war, sparked by the colonist’s anger towards taxation without representation, was a conflict between the United States and its mother country Great Britain. This event had been considered the most significant event in the American history. It separated the thirteen colonies from the tyrannical ruling of King George. The revolutionary war was not a big war, “The military conflict was, by the standards of later wars, a relatively modest one. Battle deaths on the American side totaled fewer than 5,000”1. However, the war proved that the thirteen colonies were capable of defeating the powerful Great Britain. Over the years there were many Hollywood films made based on the revolutionary war, 1776, Revolution, Johnny Tremain, and The Patriot. But, no movie has stirred up as much controversy as the Mel Gibbson movie The Patriot. The patriot is very entertaining but it is historically inaccurate. Too much Hollywood “spices” was added to the movie for viewing pleasures.
The dramatic realization of the fact that the war will affect a member of the Chance family is apparent in this quote. The amount of sorrow and emotions felt by the Chance family, and for that matter, all families who had children, brothers, husbands, or fathers, drafted into what many felt was a needless war. The novel brings to life what heartache many Americans had to face during the Vietnam era, a heartache that few in my generation have had the ability to realize.
The Return of Martin Guerre written by Natalie Davis gives the audience a rare glimpse into the world of peasant life in sixteenth century France. It also allows a modern day audience a chance to examine and to compare their own identities and questions of self. What makes the story so interesting to modern day viewers and readers is how relevant the story and the people in it are to our own times. This story is about a history of everyday people rather than royalty and generals, history's usual subjects.
...ity of painful experiences endured by our American ancestors, shattering a student’s perception of the struggles he himself is spared. Through the author’s use of symbols, a particular writing style, and the presence of a mental attitude, he convinces readers of the immense struggles of the migrants, effectively educating all who read his message. All of these writing tools add more depth to the overall understanding of the events and attitudes occurring at the time. The Grapes of Wrath inherently defines the true meaning of the American Dream. This once was an evil concept in the 30s that created hope where there was none and naturally left a scar in America's history across the government and it's people. Instead, the American dream is a dream of unity, hope, perseverance, equality, and kindness among all humans that was realized only in the darkest of times.
2. Schweikart, Larry, and Michael Allen. A Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus's Great Discovery to the War on Terror. New York: Sentinel, 2004. Print
There is a scene in this movie where the coach takes the team on a long run in the middle of the night. They end up at the break of dawn at a cemetery. The coach tells the young men of the battle that was fought on that ground. He told of the blood shed on those grounds that turned the whole area red. This can help many people that want to make a difference in this world.
This movie is about war between the English and the scotch rebellion people. A scotch brave knight (William Wallace) comes to lead his people of Scotland to victory in a few battles with the English, which makes a threat to the king of England. The English king sends his French daughter in law to negotiate peace with the savage warier.The scene begins as the warier approaches the beautiful princess with worn out clothes. The princess, have a look of anxiety in her eyes as she recognizes Wallace as a savage person. The princess invites Wallace to her tent to discuss the king's proposals of peace.
Two men, Reuben Bourne and Roger Malvin, have survived the battle and are trying to make their way back home. Both are wounded. As they stop in a forest by “…a young and vigorous sapling stood…,” Malvin entreats Bourne to abandon him and save himself (20). The men are familiar with one another and, at fir...
Although there were many concepts that were present within the movie, I choose to focus on two that I thought to be most important. The first is the realistic conflict theory. Our textbook defines this as, “the view that prejudice...
One of the more prevalent themes of this movie is racism, and how prejudicial mindsets ultimately lead to one’s own demise. The movie outlines how racism, among other things, can adversely affect someone’s judgment. After the father died, we see how the family gradually deteriorates financially as well as emotionally after Derek (the older brother played by Edward Norton) turns to a neo Nazi gang for an outlet, which eventually influences his younger brother Danny (played by Edward Furlong) to follow down ...
... is the brutality of hate and racism. The emotions running high in the movie makes it powerful and moving and the death of Derek’s younger brother Danny Vinyard is shocking enough to bring tears to many viewers’ eyes. The movie ends with Danny’s voice reading his paper out loud and he ends his paper with a very important quote by Abraham Lincoln. This quote shows how Danny’s, as well as Derek’s, mindset changed from the beginning of the movie to the end. When hearing this quote it leaves the viewers in awe that Danny finally started to look past his hateful ideologies but ends up dead because of the lifestyle him and his brother decided to lead. “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained we must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be by the better angels of our nature”.
on America as a whole, and uses the people and setting of the story as
The United States is presently at war in Iraq and Afghanistan where American troops are fighting and dying. At home, cars and homes display solid yellow or red, white, and blue ribbons that call for Americans to “Support Our Troops.” It is patriotic for Americans to support their daughters and sons fighting in a war, but this patriotism does not mean that Americans must blindly support the decision to go to war. Being patriotic means that Americans must do the opposite: they must question their government. Questioning the government, voting, and respecting the rights of others are what makes true patriots in a democratic society; blind following of one’s government creates dictatorships.