“So we’ll find ’em in the end, I promise ya. We’ll find them just as sure as the turnin’ of the earth” – Ethan Edwards (John Wayne)

An outcast launches an obsessive five-year quest for his niece, who was abducted by Indians.

MILESTONES OF THE JOURNEY

This dark tale transforms the simple Western plot of “the Search” into a rich psychological study of an obsessed Indian-hater, bent on revenge for the death of his only love and the abduction of his niece. What better actor to play Antihero Ethan Edwards than the quintessential Western icon, John Wayne. We desperately want to identify with Wayne and yet are pushed away by Ethan’s savagery.

We also embrace Martin Pawley, the part Cherokee ‘journeyman’ Hero seeking the guidance of his adopted Uncle Ethan. Although Ethan is respected as a Mentor of Indian customs and the wilderness, Martin sees the obsessive revenge and prejudice beneath Ethan’s Mentor-Hero mask, and realizes that the search for Debbie could ultimately bring her death at Ethan’s hands.

THE JOURNEY

Texas. 1868. An unstable ORDINARY WORLD of white settlers attempting to civilize the hostile land. Three worlds clash in The Searchers: Settlers, Indians and Wilderness. Settlers and Indians cannot interact except with hostility and destruction. Both vulnerable to the Wilderness. One man holds the Special Powers to wander among these three worlds: Ethan Edwards.

Ethan is a man of the wilderness and an obsessed Indian-hater, yet knows their language and customs better than his Indian nephew. He is a tragic loner; an outsider to his family, his community and his culture. Although deeply in love with Martha, Ethan has chosen to wander, refusing the homestead and allowing his brother Aaron to marry Martha and settle down. Ethan’s INNER PROBLEM is to seek vengeance for Martha’s dearth and to redeem himself for not being there to save her and Aaron. Ethan’s OUTER PROBLEM is to find his niece.

The adopted son of Aaron and Martha, Martin Pawley was found by Ethan, yet Ethan refuses to accept this one-eighth Cherokee as family. Martin’s OUTER PROBLEM is to save his adopted sister, Debbie. He too wants vengeance, but Martin has the additional INNER PROBLEM of finding love and a home with girlfriend Laurie

In Revenge stories, a wrong disrupts the natural order of things and must be set right. In The Searchers, thi CALL TO ADVENTURE is the massacre of Aaron’s family and abduction of young Debbie. Thi Call can be broken down into two stages:

• Lars Jorgensen’s cattle are stolen, a Comanche ploy to get the men to leave their homesteads vulnerable, allowing
• Chief Scar’s murder raid on Aaron Edward’s homestead.

Ethan returns to the burned ruins of Aaron’s home. He protects Martin from the horror of the butchered, defiled bodies of Martha, Aaron and their son. The discovery of Debbie’s doll confirms that she and sister Lucy have been abducted. This brutal act forces Ethan and Martin THROUGH A THRESHOLD with no opportunity for REFUSAL. The Search for the girls and vengeance must begin. So determined to enter this SPECIAL WORLD, Ethan puts and an abrupt end to the funeral and pushes the Reverend Captain Samuel Clayton and his posse THROUGH THE THRESHOLD. They initatie the Journey’s TEST PHASE during which many will willingly bow to the challenges ahead and return to the ORDINARY WORLD. Some will perish along the Journey’s trail, and two HEROES will rise to the challenge and see the Journey to its end.

The posse erodes under the conflict of RIVAL MENTORS. Clayton (a SHAPESHIFTING MENTOR representing the Bible’s Laws and Society’s Laws – as Reverend and Texas Ranger, respectively) and Ethan (MENTOR of the Wilderness and the Indian Culture) clash over what action to take. Ethan finally rejects Clayton and his posse. He moves on with only Martin and Lucy’s boyfriend, Brad Jorgensen. Soon Brad too cannot survive the Journey’s TESTS. Upon Ethan’s news of Lucy’s death, Brad makes a mad suicide ride into the Indian camp.

Ethan and Martin continue their search for the next two years without success, yet Ethan remains undaunted. The TEST of time has insured Debbie’s safety. She’ll be raised as an Indian until she is of age to be a wife. They return to the Jorgensen’s place, where Martin reunites with Laurie.

The Jorgensens give Ethan a letter from Futterman with a swatch of clothing from Debbie’s apron. This CALL pushes Ethan to resume the search – this time alone. He REFUSES Martin’s participation in the Journey, arguing that Debbie isn’t his blood relative, and leaves without him.

Laurie also tries to keep Martin from continuiing the search, pushing him to remain with her and commit to his Journey of Love and Family. But Martin warns that the stakes of Debbie’s search have been raised.Since Ethan believes that Debbie has been defiled by the Indians, Martin fears his uncle will kill Debbie when he finds her. Laurie can’t argue with Martin’s stubbornness and pushes him back onto the Journey’s road.

Futterman provides the first substantial clue to Debbie’s whereabouts, telling Ethan that she is with a Comanche tribe led by Chief Scar. When Ethan refuses to reward Futterman until Debbie is found alive, the greedy THRESHOLD GUARDIAN plans to ambush Ethan and Martin while they sleep. Ethan anticipates Futterman’s treachery and kills him. This act raises the stakes as Ethan is now wanted for muder.

Years pass and the TESTS continue for Ethan and Martin as they follow Futterman’s lead. These events are described in a a letter Martin has sent to Laurie.

• A SHAPESHIFTER Indian woman, Look, leads them to a Comanche villange, the site of a cavalry raid
• Debbie is neither amongst the dead nor one of the cavalry’s prisoners, hysterical white girls (Ethan reveals his racism when he refuses to accept the girls as white any longer, foreshadowing Debbie’s danger in his hands.)

Laire finishes Martin’s letter. Its completion closes the TEST PHASE of Ethan and Martin’s Journey. Distraught by the letter’s formal ending, Laurie concludes that their relationship has ended; the ORDEAL of their Journey of Love and Family is complete. Laurie will choose a RIVAL rather than wait for her true love to return. If Martin continues, he will find himself on the same tragic Journey that Ethan travels, without commandment to the hearth.

At last Ethan and Martin APPROACH THE INMOST CAVE. With no further leads to Debbie’s whereabouts, fate takes Ethan and Martin into a New Mexico bar, where they find old Mose. this HERALD knows where Debbie is and sets up a meeting with Figueroa (ALLY/THRESHOLD GUARDIAN). Figueroa leads them to Scar’s camp disguised as traders. Chief Scar emerges from his teepee. Ethan faces him – nose to nose – reflections of one another, HERO and SHADOW.

They eneter Scar’s teepee, the INMOST CAVE, where Scar shows Ethan the scals he has taken in retaliation for the massacre of his two sons. Horrified, Ethan and Martin look up and see Debbie holding these symbols of death, and wearing clothing that represents the SHADOW’s people. Ethan’s worst fear is realized: Debbie is Scar’s squaw.

At their camp, Ethan and Martin try to anticipate Scar’s next move. Debbie descends from the ridge, a visual RESURRECTION – we share Martin’s hope that Debbie has been set free. But this is a FALSE RESURRECTION, a REVERSAL. Debbie warns Martin to leave. At one time she prayed that Martin would be her HERO, but now the Indians are her people. Hearing her confess the unspeakable, Ethan threatens to kill Debbie, the ORDEAL. Martin protects her, drawing his gun on Ethan. Ethan will shoot Martin if he has to, but Scar’s men attack, wounding Ethan. Ethan and Martin flee without Debbie and find refuge in a cave.

Martin heals Ethan’s wounds; yet having faced death, Ethan presents his last will and testament. He has failed to kill Debbie and preopares for his ROAD BACK, even if it means accepting his death. Ethan bequeaths everything to Martin and disowns Debbie. Ethan’s REWARD is his acknowledgment that Debbie is no “blood kin”. This is the DAR REWARD that Martin fears. Martin rejects his MENTOR’S gift, and nearly stabs him with a knife, hoping to see the MENTOR die. But Martin’s threat gives Ethan the strength to pull through (a RESURRECTION). Their relationship is at its furthest point. Fully aware of Ethan’s motives, Martin now sees Ethan as his SHADOW. This ORDEAL initiates their ROAD BACK.

They return to the Jorgensens homestead, and interrupt Laurie’s marriage to RIVAL Charlie McCorry. Martin drags Laurie away and vows his love to her. Having denounced his MENTOR, Martin’s deeper REWARD is the awareness that he will not follow in Ethan’s footsteps. He will commit to his love and the hearth. However the RESURRECTION of Laurie and Martin’s relationship is interrupted by Clayton’s demands that Ethan and Martin serve time for Futterman’s murder. But this too is interrupted. This time by a Cavalry soldier requesting support to attack Scar’s camp that the HERALD old Mose discovered. Every time Ethan’s trail is lost, the TRICKSTER FOOL seems to get the Journey back on track.

Usually the ROAD BACK pushes the HERO’s homeward, however, this ROAD Back pushes the HEROES back into the SPECIAL WORLD. They failed the ORDEAL and now Ethan and Martin must renew the Journey and see it to the end. Suspense is heigthened because we know where HERO and MENTOR stand. Instead of supporting his MENTOR’s actions, Martin must stop them.

As they await the dawn attack, Martin pushes his own Journey and convinces Clayton and Ethan to let him sneak in and take Debbie away, beginning the RESURRECTION SEQUENCE. He finds Debbie in Scar’s teepee. She embraches her HERO, the answer to her prayers. Scar finds them and Martin shoots the Indian Chief dead. His gunshots signal Ethan and Clayton’s attack.

Ethan finds Scar’s corpse and scalps him. Although vicious, Ethan’s act mirrors Scar’s belief in taking a scalp for the death of his own. This is Ethan’s only recourse in revenge for Martha’s death. He becomes his SHADOW and scalps his enemy. (This cathartic act actually purges Ethan’s SHADOW allowing him to accept Debbie).

Ethan chases Debbie down. He lifts his niece forcefully and in a beautiful gesture of acceptance carries her away in his arms. (Ethan’s PSYCHOLOGICAL RESURRECTION as well as Debbie’s PHYSICAL RESURRECTION.). This emotional catharsis of his acceptance completes the Journey’s RESURRECTION.

Ethan and Martin return Debbie to the Jourgensen homestead; her reintroduction to her ‘family’ is the ELIXIR. Martin reunites with Laurie, shows his commitment oto her and they share their ELIXIR OF LOVE.

Ethan is left outside, framed by the doorway, the tragic Loner Hero in awkward hesitation. He refuses the THRESHOLD leading to comfort of family and turns to continue his wanderings into the Wilderness. IN a poetic image that bookends with the film’s Opening Image, the door slams shut and the screen goes dark.