Ethan saves Debbie in 'The Searchers'

Within the film ‘The Searchers’, the storyline of retrieving Debbie from the Comanche tribe proves to have an impact not only for the supporting characters (such as Mr and Mrs Jorgensen’s family) but also Ethan, the protagonist.

The stereotypical viewpoint of the American West and its portrayal within cinematography is challenged throughout the film. As Frederick Jackson Turner’s hypothesis suggests that the ‘experience of the frontier and the expansion West leads to a memory of civilisation advancing which met declining savagery’ was a primary factor that contributed to the stereotypical cowboy vs Native Indian films,, we do not see this clearly within this film.

Although Ethan respects their rituals and beliefs to an extent, which is seen clearly when shooting the recently deceased tribe member between the eyes, disturbing his journey onto the next life and leaving him to “remain wandering forever between the winds”. However, this goes against the stereotype of the American West identity being seen as expanding West and introducing the Comanche tribe to a mass civilisation instead of a ‘savage’ lifestyle, which is also not the main focal point. His reasoning for going against the tribe is to retrieve Debbie from them after she was kidnapped by the tribe leader.

Upon realisation that Debbie has in fact become part of the tribe and accepted her new way of life and does not wish to return home with him at first, Ethan deems her as ‘She ain’t white’ due to the disgust of integrating herself with the Comanche. This questions the myths of American West lifestyle of the man always ‘rescuing’ the women whereas in this case the woman does not wish to be rescued at all, or at least for now within the film.

In relations to Gene Autry’s ‘Cowboy Code’, he goes against these so-called commandments of ‘respecting women, parents, and his nation’s laws’ and instead follows his own ideas and intentions by rescuing Debbie regardless as to whether she is actually a ‘person in distress’.

Following this, as the film concludes, we see that Ethan rescuing Debbie after successfully wounding and killing members of Scar’s tribe and picks her up as seen in the still image (above). By fulfilling his duty of retrieving Debbie without force and instead picking her up in his arms above his head, it can suggest that it was a personal remembrance that overshadows his own views of murdering her due to going against his beliefs of Debbie becoming one of the tribes woman and instead remembering her as if she were the little girl he looked after all the years before this occurred and takes her home in his arms to Mr and Mrs Forgensen.


Source:
Autry, G., ‘Cowboy Code’, http://www.geneautry.com/geneautry/geneautry_cowboycode.html, 23rd February 2017.
The Searchers, John Ford, C.V. Whitney Pictures, 1956.
Pippin, R. B., “What is a Western? Politics and Self Knowledge in John Ford’s ‘The Searcher’s’”, The University of Chicago Press, (2008).