Justice In The Petrified Forest

661 Words2 Pages

The Petrified Forest, written by Robert E. Sherwood, is a Noir film that was produced in 1936. The film depicts how a traveling man named Alan Squier, waitress Gabrielle Maple, and gangster Duke Mantee come together, and the unexpected outcome for these characters. The majority of this film takes place at a restaurant/gas-station called the Bar-B-Q located in Black Mesa, Arizona. There are considerable amounts of dramatic scenes throughout the film that involve Squier and Maple; however, when Mantee is introduced the film begins to change course and the drama and crime scenes intertwine. While watching the film I found it interesting how each of the characters interacted with one another. I especially found Squier and Maple’s interaction interesting. At the beginning of the movie Squier is shown walking through the desert; Squier is portrayed as having no money or real purpose. However, despite Squier’s disheveled look and situation Maple is intrigued with him and his intelligence. This can be seen in the movie when Squier …show more content…

The first portrayal of justice occurs when Squier manages to convince Mantee to shoot and kill him. The reason why Squier’s death is justice is because he is then able to help Maple. Squier makes Maple the beneficiary to his life insurance policy, and with that money Maple is free to leave the diner and pursue her dreams of traveling to Paris and becoming a painter. Without Squier’s help Maple would most likely remain at the diner and never be fully happy. The last portrayal of justice occurred when law enforcement officials closed in on Mantee’s location and a shootout began. After the shootout one of the characters claims that the police got Mantee. I interpreted that this meant Mantee was also shot dead. Mantee’s death is justice because he in essence paid for all his wrong doings and he harm he caused to

Open Document