Esquire Theme by Matthew Buchanan
Social icons by Tim van Damme

22

Nov

Take a good look at the Duke, here. Scrub away any pre-conceived notions you may have about him for the moment. It’s the last scene of The Searchers. Ethan, Wayne’s character, has come full circle on a hero’s journey. It looked pretty shaky there, for a good long stretch. He could have given in to the worst of his human instincts, right up until the last. Murder, racism, brutality. The lot. He was promising to. But then Ethan had a moment that changed everything. A moment of sure holocaust changed in a flash to one of purest love. So now he stands on the threshold, secure in the knowledge that he’s done all he can to put the family, what’s left of it, anyway, back together after enormous effort and personal cost. He doesn’t enter. He stands tentatively with his left hand across his chest, holding his right elbow, as unselfconscious and as vulnerable as a boy, and he peers within. The rest of his stance can be explained by the way a man will favor a ruined knee over a lifetime. The man who stands without is at the mercy of the wind and all that’s inhospitable. His hat brim bends with it. Take a few steps forward, Ethan, and there’ll be no wind in your face. He wheels around, stiffly negotiates the stairs, and walks determinedly across the prairie. He does not look back. It is so painful to see. The door closes. Goodbye, Ethan. Goodbye.

Take a good look at the Duke, here. Scrub away any pre-conceived notions you may have about him for the moment.

It’s the last scene of The Searchers. Ethan, Wayne’s character, has come full circle on a hero’s journey. It looked pretty shaky there, for a good long stretch. He could have given in to the worst of his human instincts, right up until the last. Murder, racism, brutality. The lot. He was promising to.

But then Ethan had a moment that changed everything. A moment of sure holocaust changed in a flash to one of purest love.

So now he stands on the threshold, secure in the knowledge that he’s done all he can to put the family, what’s left of it, anyway, back together after enormous effort and personal cost. He doesn’t enter. He stands tentatively with his left hand across his chest, holding his right elbow, as unselfconscious and as vulnerable as a boy, and he peers within. The rest of his stance can be explained by the way a man will favor a ruined knee over a lifetime.

The man who stands without is at the mercy of the wind and all that’s inhospitable. His hat brim bends with it. Take a few steps forward, Ethan, and there’ll be no wind in your face.

He wheels around, stiffly negotiates the stairs, and walks determinedly across the prairie. He does not look back. It is so painful to see. The door closes.

Goodbye, Ethan. Goodbye.

  1. rgf-storythinking reblogged this from uncledynamite
  2. poguemahone reblogged this from thepathealy and added:
    was well looked into and well thought out, but the reason he stands like that in the mouth
  3. thepathealy reblogged this from uncledynamite
  4. uncledynamite posted this

3 months ago Short URL 22 notes