As America has evolved from an untamed wilderness into a settled country what it has meant to be a man in America has also changed. The movies Last of the Mohicans, Jeremiah Johnson, and Glory each portray men in different areas and time periods in America. Mohican hunters and trappers in Last of the Mohicans, a mountain man in Jeremiah Johnson, and African-American civil war soldiers in Glory. The behavior of the protagonists in these movies illustrates what was expected from them and how they dealt with those expectations. Although the movies were very different they all espoused the need for bravery and honor in a man.

The film Last of the Mohicans, based on a book by James Fennimore Cooper, is the story of a white man named Hawkeye and two Mohican Indians. The film takes place during the French and Indian War. During the war many settlers volunteered or were coerced into fighting for the English. Hawkeye and the Indians are brought into the war when they save two daughters of an English general and agree to take them to an English fort. On the way there they find the family of a friend of theirs murdered by Indians. When they get to the fort Hawkeye tells others settlers about it and they want to leave the battle to protect their families. He helps them do that against the orders of the English; but stays because he has feelings for one of the women he saved although though he knows he will be punished. This illustrates his bravery and willingness to take responsibility for his actions. The fort is captured by the French and as the English are leaving they are attacked and massacred by Indians. Hawkeye saves the girls once again and attempts to escape with them even as they are chased by Indians. They make it to a waterfall where there is no way for them to escape with the women. Hawkeye dives off the waterfall vowing to find and save the girls. An English officer who is with them thinks this is cowardly and Hawkeye should have died rather than abandon the girls. Hawkeye knows the only way of there being a possibility of saving them is to leave so he is being practical rather than blindly courageous. The English soldier later proves his bravery while translating for Hawkeye. He changes the translation to sacrifice his own life rather than Hawkeye’s. The willingness to sacrifice for others is a trait highly respected in any era of American history.

Jeremiah Johnson is the story of a Civil War veteran who apparently disillusioned with society heads for the solitude of the Rocky Mountains to make a living as a “mountain man.” He finds himself at first unprepared for the harsh reality of living in the wilderness but with luck and determination survives. His first break comes when he meets another mountain man, Bear Claw. He stays with him for a while and learns what to hunt and how to live. He seems to be a very tough man without many emotions but when he comes across a family in which half the members where killed by Indians he adopts the surviving boy at the mothers request. This shows he still remains compassionate. Jeremiah makes a life for himself with a Flathead Indian wife and his adopted son. That life is interrupted when a Union captain comes to his house to request his help in locating a lost caravan of covered wagons. He is so removed from society at this point he doesn’t want to help the captain. Jeremiah is also worried for the safety of his family. It isn’t socially acceptable for a white man to be married to an Indian and Jeremiah feels uncomfortable around people who live in society. He finally agrees to help showing his bravery and that he still has compassion for his fellow man. While taking them there he seeing a Crow Indian burial ground, he knows that is hallowed ground and tells them he can’t go through it and will have to go around. The soldiers can’t understand him putting his respect for the Indian burial ground above saving the settlers. He is pursued to continue anyway and leads the soldiers to the settlers, immediately turning around to go home. In doing so, symbolically rejecting any idea of going back to civilization. The Crow Indians take revenge for his traveling through their burial ground by killing is wife and adopted son. Jeremiah in turn attacks and kills a group of Indians, causing a feud. This is an illustration of his independent quest for justice. Although Jeremiah rejects society and tries to run from it he still finds himself trying to live up it’s ideals of male behavior.

The film Glory tells the story of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first all-black regiment in the Union Army. The regiment was made up of free African-Americans from the North and some former slaves from the South. When their colonel gets the news that any Black soldiers captured by the Confederacy will be killed he gives them all the opportunity to desert the military without any consequences. The group proves their bravery by having no deserters. Up to this point in the war Blacks did not have any positions in the Union army that involved fighting. This didn’t immediately change with this addition of this regiment. Many on the Union side only wanted to have an all-black regiment for political reasons and didn’t feel the regiment was capable of doing well in battle. The main reason for this was racism which the movie made very clear was prevalent on the Union side even though it is often only associated with the Confederacy. At first the regiment was expected to dig trenches and clear wood. The motivations of the soldiers for joining were different but all wanted to fight. Colonel Shaw, the white officer in charge of the regiment, managed to navigate the Union bureaucracy and use his parents influence to get the Regiment into battle. When they first traveled to the battleground they find another group of Black soldiers which is really rag-tag group of freed slaves with no discipline. The officer commanding the other Black regiment doesn’t think Blacks can be part of a cohesive fighting unit and treats them like children, shooting one when he grabs a white woman. The 54th proves they are soldiers with honor but not looting and maintaining discipline. In the end they prove that they are equal of not more brave than any white unit by volunteering to head up the attack on a well-fortified Confederate fort. The other regiments know how dangerous this attack is and the 54th finally gets the respect it deserves, making this into an instance when a group of people is able to surpass society’s expectations for them.

Whether in the lust forests of the Last of the Mohicans, the desolate wilderness in Jeremiah Johnson, or the Southern battlefields in Glory men are judged based on their honor and bravery. Being a man in these societies meant putting those ideals ahead of personal safety and physical comforts and being willing to sacrifice for others. Hawkeye’s willingness to risk his life to save a woman, Jeremiah’s helping a search team at his own peril, and the 54th regiment leading an attack are all examples of men meeting and surpassing what society expected from them.

Keywords : Term Paper, Art and Culture, Masculinity in the Cinema

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