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Headstone inscription explanation for Ethan's hatred?

posted 8 years ago by Maddyclassicfilms
6 replies | jump to latest

Many people consider Ethan to be racist but I think there is another reason for his hatred. When Martha sends Debbie out to hide by her grandparents graves before the raid you catch a brief glimpse of an inscription on the headstones. It says the grandparents were killed by Comanche Indians.

Now I don't know about anyone else but I think that explains Ethan's hatred of Indians, they killed those he loved and so he hated them for that. He doesn't hate them because they're Indian, he hates them because they murdered his parents. The murders could have been done by anyone and I feel certain he would have hated whoever did it.

Any thoughts on this?

Go to bed Frank or this is going to get ugly .

[–] nickm2 8 years ago

Yes, the Commanches have, in fact, killed everyone he cared about or loved. And that is the source of Ethan's basic rage.

Why can't you wretched prey creatures understand that the Universe doesn't owe you anything!?

[–] buddyboy28 8 years ago

I think that's where is basic hatred for the Comanche came from. And I think it was bold of John Ford to not have it spoken about or try and make Ethan sympathetic through it but instead just have a quick shot of the headstone to draw your own conclusions if you catch it. Which it took me many viewings to do.

It's an oldie where I come from

[–] Hairy_Lime 8 years ago

Yeah, Ethan has a great deal of disdain for all tribes, but a vitriolic hatred for the Comanche.

I prize the way that two important back story points in The Searchers are never spoken, but left for the audience to discover: the motive for Ethan's hatred of the Comanche, and his requited but unconsummated love for Martha.

Datta, dayadhvam, damyata.

[–] joegerardi (376) 7 years ago

...and his requited but unconsummated love for Martha.

I disagree. I think it WAS consummated. I think Debbie is actually HIS daughter. That's why there's such a burning desire to find her and kill her: that she was captive, being passed around from buck to buck, defiled. He wanted her dead to expiate her shame.

..Joe

[–] gpmjobs 8 years ago

Absolutely agree, as said on another thread about it, Ethan's relations with the Mexicans and for that matter other tribes suggest he isn't exactly racist the way some want to put it. He has a pathological hatred for one tribe and actually appears to have a similar but not as rabid disgust for his own people from the north. He seems more like a man that bears grudges than just a simple racist.

[–] Edfonypost 7 years ago

The words on the headstone noting that the Edwards' mother was killed by Commanches is in the script, and was no doubt meant to explain Ethan's hatred of the Indians. But John Ford cuts the scene in such a way that, unless you use stop action (which of course was not available in 1956), you cannot read the headstone.

My guess is that Ford wanted Ethan's hatred to be ambiguous; hence, he cut the graveyard scene to hide what the tombstone said, while still having it in the movie, as what is now called, I believe, an easter egg.