There’s little point in arguing that John Ford’s 1956 adventure isn’t one of the most influential Westerns ever produced. Its breathtaking shots of Monument Valley, mature storyline and Wayne’s haunting performance make it unforgettable. Steven Spielberg rewatches The Searchers every time he starts filming a new project, Martin Scorsese has proclaimed it one of his favorite movies ever while George Lucas used its story as the framework for 1977’s Star Wars.
That doesn’t mean the film is always an easy watch, thanks to its implied acts of violence and the pure racial hatred Wayne’s Ethan Edwards exhibits towards the Comanche he’s chasing. Most of Wayne’s movie star characters may have been unambiguous heroes, but while Ethan originally sets out to save his kidnapped niece Debbie (Natalie Wood), it later becomes clear he plans to kill her for joining the tribe. Ethan is easily the most complex character of the actor’s career, and The Searchers was also one of John Wayne’s favorite films of his own.
Why John Wayne’s Searchers Character Shoots The Eyes Of A Comanche
Early on in the movie, the titular search party comes across the dead body of a Comanche. Before riding on, John Wayne’s Ethan shoots out the eyes of the Comanche, stating that without eyes he can’t enter the “Spirit Lands.” This means the Comanche is doomed to “wander forever between the winds.” Before the events of the movie, Ethan spent nearly a decade fighting in various wars – which includes fighting for the Confederacy – and returns to his family a bitter, violent man.
His hatred for Native Americans runs especially deep, and as Scorsese pointed out during a 2013 article about The Searchers for THR, Ethan despises them to the point of learning their beliefs simply to “violate them.” Even other members of the search party are shocked by his maiming of the corpse, and this is merely a preview of how content Ethan is to shoot first. John Ford would wither at the metaphor, but this moment displays how Ethan has become so blinded by rage that he’s later prepared to kill Debbie too, only to realize his love for his niece when they finally reunite.
The Searchers’ Iconic Ending Turns Ethan Into A Ghost
In the movie’s closing scenes, Ethan picks Debbie up and takes her back to a new place she can call home. However, as everyone heads inside, Ethan slowly turns away and heads back to the desert, as the door closes behind him. After his mission to rescue Debbie is complete, Ethan knew he could no longer be part of the family. His side lost the war, most of his family are dead and all he’s known for more than a decade is hate and killing.
In The Searchers ending, Ethan is confined to the same fate he bestowed on the Comanche’s body; he’s now forced to “wander” between the winds too. As Scorsese noted in his aforementioned article, the film becomes a ghost story in its final moments. Wayne’s Ethan has served his function and having no place in modern society, he heads back to the desert he emerged from when the story began.
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