The Searchers AP

The Searchers movie not only opens with a scene of the landscape but also closes with one. In the beginning, the desert seems so empty and mysterious, as if anything could come out from behind the rocks or appear in the distance. Ethan, character played by John Wayne, appears in the distance with just the sun shining off of him, riding his horse on dry, hard ground. As Tompkins mentions, "Be brave, be strong enough to endure this, it says, and you will become like this- hard, austere, sublime" (71), one can see those chracteristics in Ethan from the very beginning. Ethan is a tough and dominating character in this movie, which is exactly what Tompkins writes about. She states that the desert "expresses a need to be in control of one's surroundings, to dominate them" (76), which is engrained in Ethan even when he is at his brother's house.
Tompkins also talks about how the desert is never truly blank, but "is wrinkled and folded and written on in a variety of ways" (77). A perfect example of this would be when Ethan finds tracks and splits up from the Martin and Brad to follow them around the cliff. The desert ground seems to be like a page, where people's tracks are recorded and only the heroes can read it.
While trying to track down Debbie, both Ethan and Martin face freezing winter days. These days just add on to the intensity of their journey. However, they do not give up, because they will face the hardships until the end. They are strong men who are ready for all of the challenges of the desert and it's mysterious ora.
Ethan and Martin moved "over the land with an intensity of concentration that turns [their] journey into a drama of exploration" (80). They continuously look into the distance, looking for the one thing they must find in order to finish their search. The audience gets pulled into the search for Debbie and the war chief named Scar.
For most of the movie, we see Ethan and Martin battling the fierceness of the desert and the bad people who they find in it. However, there are parts when they are at a house, the Jorgensens'. This is similar to what Tompkins refers to as "town". This is where the distraction is, where Martin gets attached to a woman. Tompkins states, "Town is a magnet; it draws people" (86). And this is where the journey ends for Martin but not for Ethan. Ethan is a man of the desert, a man who, at the end of the movie, continues into the desert.