Tone Techniques: Dances With Wolves

However, in Dances with Wolves, Kevin Costner decided to show another side to that relationship- a friendship (Dances with Wolves). In Dances with Wolves, the main character John Dunbar who is a Lieutenant in the military, finds himself alone and abandoned at his new post, Fort Sedgewick. He is living close to an Indian tribe named the Sioux. Many times they try to steal his horse and make him scared (Dances with Wolves). Despite that, Dunbar finds himself interested in their culture and the way they live.

Dances With Wolves Dances with Wolves offers a cinematic portrayal of Native Americans that is quite contrary to the stereotypical norm. In this film, John Dunbar, goes out to the west where he meets and becomes friends with the Sioux Indians. He is drawn more and more into their community and eventually chooses to side with the humane Indians over his fellow cruel white Americans. In an attempt to change stereotypical views, director Kevin Costner through Dunbar, presents to the audience a different perspective of Indian removal. The film allows viewers to identify and sympathize with the Indians and thus causes a shift of perception towards the Indian problem.

Lieutenant John Dunbar went through several drastic changes to become Dances With Wolves. In his short time with the Indians, he turned enemies into friends and foreign customs into his own. His view of the Sioux changes more severe than he does. No longer does he view them as savages without order, but now he sees them as a civilized group with more heart than anyone he has met before. His experiences with the Sioux help to open his eyes and change him into a man he never was and never thought he’d be.

Ray is assigned to the reservation because he is one fourth Sioux, yet is unaware of what to expect from the locals. Through Ray, the audience gets a sense of what reservations are like, beautiful prairies and mountains are disrupted by impoverished housing and extreme poverty. Ray acts as if he is superior to the rest of the natives on the reservation and is initially too focused on his job. He is accordingly portrayed as insensitive towards, and to an extent judgmental of, N... ... middle of paper ... ...rought the ‘boon’ needed or redeemed the wasteland it to its fullest potential, he became more culturally aware of his identity on his own personal quest. Roy somewhat successfully ends his two-fold quest of redeeming the wasteland and discovering his identity.

The Indian and the White Communites in Dances with Wolves and Machimanito The film Dances with Wolves shares a lot of its content with the story Machimanito. In Dances with Wolves, two nations come to interact with each other. While the white man is dominating the land, the Indians are trying to protect both their land and themselves. In Machimanito, the story describes the epidemic and its effects on the Indians, while describing the ongoing conflict between Indians and the white man. There is a huge cultural difference between the white man and the Indians, which is reflected on their ways of life and communities; each lives a different life style including their interaction with nature and themselves, their authority within this community and finally the resulting conflict the interactions of these two nations.

The Searche... ... middle of paper ... ...tive Americans in the media can be retraced back to outdated Western films. These films had the recurring theme of Cowboys versus Indians. Native Americans have been portrayed as thieving, violent, lazy, hostile, uncivilized savages. The White man thought the Natives undeserved of the lands, when in fact their contributions to their environment changed and enriched our world. Unlike The Searchers, Dances With Wolves captured Native Americans in a realistic way.

Dances with Wolves would continue to immerse himself into the Sioux culture. If he had been studying intercultural communication, it would be said that he was taking an interpretive approach and perspective as “These methods require an individual to spend a great deal of time (months and even years) living and interacting with cultural members” ( Oetzel p. 23). He would even Marry Stands with a Fist. In sum, Dances with Wolfs went through many changes that created a new identity for him. He was intensely effected by the Sioux culture in a top-down effect manner, from the Sioux cultural and societal layers, through to him as an individual.

170). However, it is not until the last half of the film when the audience is introduced to the misconduct and maltreatment of collective white men, including by the US Army against Natives and those who aided these people, such as John, who were charged and convicted as "traitors,” as John is merely representative of the individualized, good, white man. It is here during the last half of the movie when the setting changes from John and the Indians to John and the white men, where he now is abused, disrespected, and treated as a savage, because of his appearance and accomplices with the Indians. This is a stark contrast from the first two hours of the beginning when John was treated with dignity and kindness by the Indians directly,

In the movie Dances with Wolves Lieutenant John Dunbar is a dynamic character; changing throughout the film from a dignified United States Army soldier, to a passionate Lakota Sioux member. On his journey, Dances With Wolves takes in many experiences many have only dreamt about. When he rides Cisco out onto the battlefield in a suicide attempt, he has no idea that he indeed will live and will never lead the same life again. John Dunbar changed in many ways reflected upon in the film, including: mindset, clothing, and his sense of identity; it is though these character traits that Dances With Wolves discovers that inside everyone is a frontier just waiting to be explored. When the Dunbar is first assigns himself to Fort Sedgwick, and sees that it is abandoned, he is still intent on staying, despite the guffaws of Timmons, a peasant who delivers him there.

After Equiano overcomes the fear that his owners are of a supernatural force that may kill and eat him, he begins to try to befriend his masters and act in ways to please them. On his venture to London, he becomes acquainted with Richard Baker. They become close on their trip and are viewed as brothers. His fondness of the white culture sets him apart from the other slaves; therefore, Baker furthers Equiano's studies of English which allows him to become a favorite above all slaves. He states, "I not only felt myself quite easy with these new countrymen, but relished their society and manners" (792).