The great expanse of the dessert in The Searchers is the perfect model to show how the Western landscape played a part in the idea of the cowboy. Throughout the movie, the terrain in which the characters tracked the Native Americans on was brutal, desolate and unforgiving. Not just anyone is able to explore, conquer or even survive the West. However, it is the cowboy that is able to master the skills in order to do just that.
John Wayne’s character, Ethan Edwards, is the quintessential cowboy. He is master of desert; only feeling truly free when his is riding all day and sleeping under the stars. His life is mirrored by the land, as Jane Tompkins suggests in her book “West of Everything”. She states that “men imitate the land in Westerns; they try to look as much like nature as possible” (Tomkins 72). Edwards becomes as though part of the land, constantly tracking all over it in search of Debbie. He is more a part of it than any other thing in the world.
While being more part of the land, he is able to overcome normal emotion and thinking in order to conquer his objectives. He meets the requirements that Tompkins puts forth as what is needed to conquer the land, which are “qualities the land itself possesses-bleakness, mercilessness” (Tompkins 73). Ultimately, he is to overcome all obstacles except for being able to be controlled in a civilized setting, just as the desert is unable to be. He would rather wander the plains alone, without emotion or fear, than to settle down with family and friends.
The great expanse of the desert in The Searchers is the perfect model of how the Western landscape played a part in the idea of the cowboy. Throughout the movie, the terrain in which the characters tracked the Native Americans was brutal, desolate and unforgiving. Not just anyone is able to explore, conquer or even survive the western frontier. However, it is the cowboy that is able to master the skills in order to do just that.
ReplyDeleteJohn Wayne’s character, Ethan Edwards, is the quintessential cowboy. He is master of desert; only feeling truly free when he is riding all day and sleeping under the stars. His life is a mirror image of the land, as Jane Tompkins suggests in her book “West of Everything”. She states that “men imitate the land in Westerns; they try to look as much like nature as possible” (Tomkins 72). Edwards becomes as though part of the land, constantly dominating the terrain while tracking over it in search of Debbie. He is more connected to it than he is to any other thing in the world.
Since he has such a dominance over the land, he is able to overcome normal emotion and thinking in order to conquer his objectives. He meets the requirements that Tompkins puts forth as what is essential to conquer the landscape, which are “qualities the land itself possesses-bleakness, mercilessness” (Tompkins 73). Ultimately, he is able to overcome all obstacles that the desert puts forth, while still uncontrolled in a civilized setting, just as the desert is unable to be. He would rather wander the plains alone, without emotion or fear, than to settle down with family and friends.