Minister's guilt feelings about shooting a man

It was common, once upon a time, to bleed patients with leeches. It was common to spank children with belts or switches. It was also common for people to slap hysterical people to calm them down. I don't know if you're upset at the character, the writer, the director, or what for allowing such horrible domestic violence. But the character was doing what anyone else from that time period historically would have done. The writer wrote it accurately. The director portrayed it correctly, with Fonda showing no pleasure in the act.

I also like your sexist comment that it is never acceptable for a husband to slap a wife. As a male, I am offended. You are intimating that it IS acceptable for a wife to slap a husband. Your comment should have stated that it is never acceptable for one person to slap another.

I also like how you pick on one line in the film but don't make mention of the ending when the black servant, the white blacksmith, and the Native American all look up to the American flag and the hope for the future. Personally, I didn't even notice the line since the character was a one-dimensional background character with only a handful of lines anyway. But what was she supposed to say? "G'day, papi! Top o' the mornin', to ya, guvnah."

If you dislike what has happened in history, that's one thing. But you should not be offended by a film trying to accurately portray history of which you happen to disapprove since the film is not promoting or endorsing these things you dislike.

The settler is, yes, tied to a wagon of hay with his arms outstretched -- I'm sorry, but I cannot at recall this scene in the original book, only the movie -- and the Indians set fire to the hay. There are only two choices: he can die in the fire in agony, and his family, friends, and neighbors can listen to his death screams, or someone can, in essence, put him out of his misery. That is what the Minister does, and is haunted by his guilt in killing another man, which is why he asks forgiveness. Notice, it is the Minister, and not the others in the fort, that saves this man from an agonizing death -- unless you don't consider burning alive agonizing. The Minister is the only one who shows this feeling towards that settler, and I believe that was director John Ford's point, to show his emotional turmoil at this point.

Granted, the character of Daisy may have been frightened by a jack-o-lantern, but consider the last scene. The settlers have fought off the British and their Indian attackers. The Colonial troops arrive at the fort with the flag of the new country, the flag of the United States of America. One of the characters says, "Is that what we were fighting for?" The flag is grabbed, carried to the top of the fort and hung there. There is then a series of shots showing everyone's reaction to the flag that they have all fought for without knowing it. Blue Back the Indian salutes the flag. The colonists stare. And Daisy wipes away a tear. John Ford's intention in that scene is to show that America is made up of many different peoples. Are you saying that that scene of Daisy wiping away her tear is not symbolic of her part in saving the fort and American ideals?

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