Here's my interpretation of what the Harvard scenes meant:
When we first see Jim Averill (Kris Kristofferson) he is running late. His tardiness is a character flaw he has throughout the movie. He puts off making a commitment to Ella (Isabelle Huppert) and he hesitates before deciding to join the settlers in their battle against the Association.
The Reverend Doctor (Joseph Cotten) tells the graduating class that they have a responsibility to use their wealth and knowledge to help the less fortunate and educate the nation. In contrast, Billy Irvine (John Hurt) gives an irreverent speech that supports maintaining the established order of things. It shows that Billy and most of his classmates are not serious about improving conditions for the poor and uneducated and are preoccupied with their own self-interest.
The girl that Jim keeps looking at is beautiful, but we don't know much about her beyond that. Jim keeps a picture of her when he is in Wyoming twenty years later. I think Jim's attachment to the beautiful girl from his past prevents him from marrying Ella. In the film's epilogue, we learn that Jim returned to the east after Ella's death, resumed an upper class lifestyle, and reunited with the girl he met at Harvard. However, the girl Jim was infatuated with is now a spoiled and idle woman and he appears to be miserable. I believe she represents the disillusionment of his youthful ideals.
During the Harvard graduation celebrations we see a large group of people dancing in circles. Later in the day a group circles a tree, which degenerates into a brawl as students compete to retrieve a wreath of flowers from the tree. This tree ritual was an actual Harvard Class Day tradition during the 19th century and it foreshadows the violence that the wealthy cattle barons would later resort to in Wyoming. The circle motif is also used in the roller skating sequence and the climactic battle between the settlers and the Association. The splendour of the dance at Harvard contrasts with the hardships faced by the immigrant settlers in Wyoming.
The scenes at Harvard end with Billy lamenting that the joyful time he spent at the university is now over. Twenty years later, Billy and Jim both miss their youth and are dissatisfied with how their lives turned out.
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clockworkorange13
7 years ago
I was sure that there was a clear meaning behind all of it but I felt that the delivery was very disorienting and I disconnected from it completely. But I loved the rest of the movie, which had good acting and has some of the most beautiful images Ive ever seen on film.
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col_rutherford
7 years ago
I believe the Harvard speeches were based on writings from the 19th century. The film's end credits mention "Harvard Class Orations and Poems by: Charles Edward Grinnell, 1862, Frank Sumner Wheeler, 1872, James Holden Young, 1872, Andrew Peabody, 1874". Viewers may have trouble understanding what Cotten and Hurt were saying because of the old-fashioned language being used.
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