Theme Of Loyalty In Dances With Wolves

Loyalty can be demanding and involve sacrifice. During the Civil War loyalty was always being challenged not just by which side to fight for, but the loyalty people had to their beliefs they grew accustomed to. Loyalty has to be revaluated when the only thing keeping a person loyal is making them fall into insanity. As the Civil War grew and spread the reality of what war truly was, loyalty to one’s self had to be challenged along with their loyalty for what they are fighting for. The true discovery and devotion of what loyalty truly means is seen throughout the film Dances with Wolves directed by Kevin Costner, the film constantly forces characters to question where they are placing their loyalty. In the film Dances with Wolves Lieutenant

John Dunbar, Stands With a Fist and Wind in His Hair all test and challenge their loyalty to their beliefs and force them to question where they need to place their loyalty.
Dunbar’s loyalty is expressed through his devotion to the army and then eventually to the Sioux after betraying the army. Dunbar demonstrates extreme loyalty to the army, waiting at his post and following his orders even though they are irrational. The moment Dunbar comes across his post he mentions to Timmons, the teamster driving the wagon, “Ain’t nothin’ here lieutenant. Everybody’s run off… or got kilt… This is my post! And these are the post’s provisions. Now get your ass off that wagon and help me unload” (Dances with Wolves). Even though Dunbar’s post is deserted he knows he has to stay there as a soldier of the army and follow the orders given to him. Dunbar’s loyalty to the army was seen once again as he senses a lack of communication, “No sign of Captain Cargill’s Command. I don’t know what to do. Communication can only take place if I leave and I don’t want to abandon my post” (Dances with Wolves). Dunbar has all of his loyalty placed on the army and its regulations, there is nothing that can make him, at the moment, alter his mind or make him abandon the post he was assigned to. Later Dunbar shifts this loyalty to the Sioux, betraying his own army with hopes of escaping back to them. As Dunbar spends time at his post he comes to learn that he has neighbors, Indians. Once Kicking Bird spots the fort and the changes it has undergone since Dunbar being there, Kicking Bird notices a difference in Dunbar and hopes to have a talk with him.

As the Sioux become cautious and concerned about Dunbar, Dunbar too starts questioning his post and commitment to the army, “I realize now that I have been wrong. All this time I have been waiting. Waiting for what? For someone to find me? For Indians to take my horse...Since I arrived at this post I have been walking on eggs. It has become a bad habit and I am sick of it” (Dances with Wolves). As Dunbar becomes more involved with the Indians and starts conversing with them, learning their ways and their language he finds it harder and harder to see them as, “beggars and thieves. They are not the bogeymen they have been made out to be” (Dances with Wolves). As time progresses Dunbar is given a proper name, “He thanks Dances With Wolves for coming. Who is Dances With Wolves? It is the name which everyone is calling you now. Dances With Wolves…that’s right” (Dances with Wolves). As more time goes by Dunbar is no longer known by Lieutenant John Dunbar but Dances With Wolves, with his new name he is not seen as a, “white soldier. I see only a Sioux named Dances With Wolves” (Dances with Wolves). As Ten Bears explains, Dances With Wolves may be seen as a traitor to the white army but the only traitor Dances With

Wolves ever was, was with himself. Dances With Wolves knows that all his loyalty is with the Sioux and for that reason he has to protect them, even if that means he must leave, “And when they find me they will find you. I think it would be wise to move the village to another location right now. As for me... I will be leaving. I will be leaving with my wife Stands With a Fist as soon as possible. I must go and try to talk to those that will listen” (Dances with Wolves). The loyalty Dances With Wolves once felt for the army was more than exemplified through his loyalty for the Sioux, he changed his identity and his way of life to be a part of the Sioux tribe by believing and learning the ways of the Sioux. The loyalty he has with the Sioux can not compare to anything else he has been loyal to, the Sioux is everything he has and needs, the Sioux is what makes him Dances With Wolves and only loyalty could ever grant that.
Stands With a Fist tests and challenges her loyalty towards Dunbar after her husband dies along with her mourning. The moment Stands With a Fist and Dances With Wolves encountered Stands With a Fist has been expected to make some form of communication with him and converse with him. Once Stands With a Fist learns to make the white words and converse with Dances With Wolves, she grows to trust and take a liking to him even though she is still in mourning of her husband’s death. As Stands With a Fist grows close and comfortable with Dances with Wolves and Kicking Bird announces, “Stands With a Fist…you will mourn no longer” (Dances with Wolves). With Stands With a Fist mourning no longer she marries Dances With Wolves, placing her loyalty entirely in Dances With Wolves and going with him wherever he needs. Stands With a Fist goes to the extent of deciding to leave the tribe with Dances With Wolves stating, “My place is with you. I go where you go” (Dances with Wolves). With that simple statement, all of Stands With a Fist’s loyalty has been placed in Dances With Wolves and with that loyalty she knows that she is his wife and wherever his life takes him is where she must be. Loyalty from her tribe to her husband signifies her growth and strength in Dances With Wolves and her transition from mourner to free woman.
Wind in His Hair places his loyalty with Dunbar even though he has grown to be against the white man.

Wind in His Hair is loyal to the understanding that the white man is bad and only takes while never giving back, he has been loyal to that thought and stands behind that belief. However once Dances With Wolves reminds Wind in His Hair what it means to have a friend who you can rely and depend on, all of Wind in His Hair’s loyalty and belief shifts. With the bond and loyalty growing between Wind in His Hair and Dances With Wolves, Wind in His Hair explains, “You know, the man she mourned for was my best friend…He was a good man. It’s been hard for me. I am not the thinker Kicking Bird is. But I think he went away from her because you were coming. That is how I see it now” (Dances with Wolves). The friendship gained, the loyalty, the trust and the pride gained from Dances With Wolves is something Wind in His Hair wasn’t sure he’d be able to encounter let alone feel ever in his life. The loyalty Wind in His Hair has placed for Dances With Wolves is seen when Dances With Wolves is leaving and Wind in His Hair echos, “Can you not see that I am your friend?...Can you not see that you will always be my friend?... Dances With Wolves…” (Dances with Wolves). That loyalty is being taken away, but not entirely. He is still with him in his thoughts and memories but he is without a doubt losing a loyal friendship to which he is unsure he will ever be able to regain from a white man.

Loyalty was regained within Wind in His Hair from seeing all white men as dark and cruel to some being some of the best friends he has been privileged and honored to have.
Loyalty is a prominent theme throughout Dances with Wolves, it is a theme that shows the tests and challenges it takes to change everything one has seen as loyal to something completely diverse. Throughout the film each character in their own way and manner had to challenge themselves and ask themselves where was it that they wanted their loyalty to be placed? Loyalty is something that allowed all the different characters to put aside their current beliefs and ideas and give someone so different and opposite a chance to become a part of that loyalty. John Dunbar who grows to become Dances With Wolves places his entire loyalty on the Sioux tribe, because unlike the army the tribe never left him at a post alone and unaware. Stands With a Fist also known as Christine, places her loyalty in Dances With Wolves after she breaks from her mourning and becomes more than able to encompass all the loyalty she felt for her husband in Dances With Wolves, Stands With a Fist is able to trust and be loyal not only to Dances With Wolves but to herself. Wind In His Hair comes to a realization that his loyalty placed in Stands With a Fist’s dead husband, can be replicated and continue his loyalty in the white man whom believes in the Sioux tribe not just as a home but as a place of security and love, where a thing like loyalty flourishes. Loyalty is key to everyone, it is key to everyone who believes in it and realizes its importance and difficulty, loyalty is something that changes along with a person’s beliefs it is something that defines a person for who they are and need to be.