Robert B. Pippin wrote an article in regards to the John Ford Film the Searchers, and within the article the character Ethan and his motivations or mysteries throughout the movie are outlined. Ethan’s two mysteries are, why does he seek to kill Debbie and why at the end of the film does he not kill Debbie. Through Pippin’s article and his four reasons outlined within the article this paper will explore Ethan’s reasoning’s and relationships that shape his motivations.
Throughout the film the searchers you see the many layers of Ethan’s relationships with his family, Martin, the Comanche, and even with himself. Ethan’s relationship with his family seems to be a distant one at the beginning of the film. Ethan is a war veteran and that could be…show more content… Ethan is confused because the satisfaction of scalping scar for destroying his family so long ago still did not bring them back and still did not change any of the events that have happened in the past seven years. The fourth reason being closely linked to the third, when the end of the film comes and Ethan goes after Debbie he is still pondering in his mind as to why the scalping of scar was not as satisfying as he expected it to be, in those moments Ethan realizes that he doesn’t really know himself (Pippin 2009). The combination of Pippins third and fourth reasons are the most likely explanation for Ethan’s change in heart from his harsh mentality that he wants to kill his niece, to the realization after seeing scar dead and scalping him that his family was never coming back and the only remaining person was Debbie and he realizes that if he kills her the past seven years would be for nothing and his family would truly all be gone.
Clearly through Robert B. Pippin’s article on John Ford’s Film the Searcher, the two greatest mysteries of the film are explored, why does Ethan seek to kill Debbie and why does Ethan not kill Debbie. Throughout this paper these mysteries along with Ethan’s relationships throughout the film are explored and
