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What happened to the gold Ethan gave to his brother Aaron?

posted 9 years ago by kbarada
10 replies | jump to latest

At the start of the movie, Ethan gives his brother two pouches filled with US gold double eagles worth several thousand dollars. Aaron places the apparently uncirculated coins in a hiding place under his chair seat.

Soon after, the ranch house is burned during the Indian attack. Ethan comes back to the burned house to find his brother and wife killed and the two girls missing.

Anyone think that he recovers the gold from under the burned chair? I know not all details can be covered in a 135 min. movie, but it left me wondering.

[–] disinterested_spectator 9 years ago

It is my impression that Ethan retrieved the gold. The Comanches were only interested in rape and massacre. Moreover, we see later that Ethan still has gold to offer for information about Scar. We do not see Ethan recover the gold, because it would not have looked good. Just imagine this scene: Ethan looks around, sees that three of the family have been scalped and killed, and Martha raped as well, and the house burned down. Then he gets the gold out of the hiding place. It would have made him appear to be mercenary, as if that was what he really cared about.

[–] kbarada 9 years ago

Good points d_s. I too felt that as a practical matter he did retrieve the gold from the ashes but that is just something John Ford chose not to show for the reasons you have stated. After all, it wasn't something that was necessary to the story.

As far as Ethan being mercenary, it was hinted at very strongly by the fact that he was awarded a service medal from Maximilian of Mexico. You are right, that would pale in comparison with him digging through the ashes for the gold.

[–] bradford-1 8 years ago

I always thought Scar got some of the gold. Where else did he gets the money to do business with the Mexican and Ethan later in the film?
May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?

[–] momurr43 8 years ago

This is a good post. Anyone who thinks about it afterwards must wonder what happened to the gold.

Ethan should have retrieved it if it was still there. That wouldn't make him 'mercenary'. It would simply have been foolish to leave the gold where it was hidden when it could no longer serve its original purpose. It was supposed to pay for Ethan's future stay with his brother's family. That was now impossible, since most of them were dead and their home was destroyed. But the gold could be used to support Ethan and Martin while they searched for the two missing girls, Debbie and Lucy. Their search lasts five years, and during that time they appear to do no work. Whatever was eventually left over could be passed onto his brother's surviving heirs.

In any event, Ethan must have had some gold which he kept for himself - it's unlikely that he gave it all to his brother. He would have needed some for his own use.

Ethan does make a written 'will' later on, leaving all his worldly goods to Martin but cutting out Debbie. What 'worldly goods' could he have had that would be worth leaving to anyone, apart from his clothes and his horse?

I hope to find a copy of Alan Le May's original novel to see if he deals with this issue. Does anyone know? In the meantime, nobody should be too quick to accuse Ethan of being mercenary. This is hardly a man who doesn't care.

[–] foster11 8 years ago

He retrieves the gold rather early in the book, right after finding the place burned

That's what finances the search

You don't have to stand tall, but you do have to stand up!

[–] kbarada 8 years ago

good info foster. Thanks!

[–] momurr43 8 years ago

kbarada: Received foster11's reply. Thanks for excellent Original Post.

[–] momurr43 8 years ago

Thanks for the confirmation, foster11.

[–] joegerardi (377) 7 years ago

Ethan does make a written 'will' later on, leaving all his worldly goods to Martin but cutting out Debbie. What 'worldly goods' could he have had that would be worth leaving to anyone, apart from his clothes and his horse?

The herd. His brother's herd passed on to him, and Jorgensen was working the herd for him while they were away searching for Debbie.

And the ranch. While the buildings were gone, the land was still his.

..Joe

[–] pankoeken (469) 7 years ago

Ethan had enough gold that Futterman risked killing him for it. Ethan also made sure to take the gold he paid Futterman off of his corpse. It's a safe bet that he retrieved the gold he gave his brother and was using it to live off of during the search.