Theme Of Loyalty In Dances With Wolves

Loyalty can be demanding and involve sacrifice. During the Civil War loyalty was always being challenged not just by which side to fight for, but the loyalty people had to their beliefs they grew accustomed to. Loyalty has to be revaluated when the only thing keeping a person loyal is making them fall into insanity. As the Civil War grew and spread the reality of what war truly was, loyalty to one’s self had to be challenged along with their loyalty for what they are fighting for. The true discovery and devotion of what loyalty truly means is seen throughout the film Dances with Wolves directed by Kevin Costner, the film constantly forces characters to question where they are placing their loyalty. In the film Dances with Wolves Lieutenant

As the Sioux become cautious and concerned about Dunbar, Dunbar too starts questioning his post and commitment to the army, “I realize now that I have been wrong. All this time I have been waiting. Waiting for what? For someone to find me? For Indians to take my horse...Since I arrived at this post I have been walking on eggs. It has become a bad habit and I am sick of it” (Dances with Wolves). As Dunbar becomes more involved with the Indians and starts conversing with them, learning their ways and their language he finds it harder and harder to see them as, “beggars and thieves. They are not the bogeymen they have been made out to be” (Dances with Wolves). As time progresses Dunbar is given a proper name, “He thanks Dances With Wolves for coming. Who is Dances With Wolves? It is the name which everyone is calling you now. Dances With Wolves…that’s right” (Dances with Wolves). As more time goes by Dunbar is no longer known by Lieutenant John Dunbar but Dances With Wolves, with his new name he is not seen as a, “white soldier. I see only a Sioux named Dances With Wolves” (Dances with Wolves). As Ten Bears explains, Dances With Wolves may be seen as a traitor to the white army but the only traitor Dances With

Wind in His Hair is loyal to the understanding that the white man is bad and only takes while never giving back, he has been loyal to that thought and stands behind that belief. However once Dances With Wolves reminds Wind in His Hair what it means to have a friend who you can rely and depend on, all of Wind in His Hair’s loyalty and belief shifts. With the bond and loyalty growing between Wind in His Hair and Dances With Wolves, Wind in His Hair explains, “You know, the man she mourned for was my best friend…He was a good man. It’s been hard for me. I am not the thinker Kicking Bird is. But I think he went away from her because you were coming. That is how I see it now” (Dances with Wolves). The friendship gained, the loyalty, the trust and the pride gained from Dances With Wolves is something Wind in His Hair wasn’t sure he’d be able to encounter let alone feel ever in his life. The loyalty Wind in His Hair has placed for Dances With Wolves is seen when Dances With Wolves is leaving and Wind in His Hair echos, “Can you not see that I am your friend?...Can you not see that you will always be my friend?... Dances With Wolves…” (Dances with Wolves). That loyalty is being taken away, but not entirely. He is still with him in his thoughts and memories but he is without a doubt losing a loyal friendship to which he is unsure he will ever be able to regain from a white man.