The Searchers

The Searchers is a 1956 epic western film directed by John Ford. It tells the story of Ethan Edwards, a bitter and middle-aged loner played by John Wayne. The story takes place in the year 1868 when Ethan returned home from the American Civil War in which he fought for the Confederacy. He returned home to his brother's house in rural urban Texas. His brother and sister-in-law questions what Ethan has been up to all these years that he has been gone and they suspect he was up to no good, but they no better not to ask.

During his visit, the Camanche raid his brother's home leaving he and his wife dead, burning their home, and abducting their two daughters. Ethan and Martin Pawly, and adopted son of the family, set out on a multiple year journey to rescue Debbie. The Searchers can be viewed as a simplistic action story about the men's rescue mission for the girl and revenge for the death of their family. The film begins with a frontier cabin door opening to the wilderness, this scene presents the visual motif of the framed doorway and the threshold between the two opposite worlds. The interior of the cabin scene represents the values of a settled family and the outside exterior of represents man.

The Searchers adheres to the codes of what a typical Western film would look like. The setting is a desser landscape with a small-knit close community. Cowboys in this age always followed a stricted code of honor to always tell the truth, never cheat an honest individual, and always uphold the manners of a true gentleman. The main protagonist Ethan also struggles with his inner moral beliefs about murdering the kidnapped girl because of the exposure to the Camanche culture. The film deals with themes like racism, individuality, the American truth, and the opposition between civilization and the untamed wilderness.