Three Sample "Dances with Wolves" Analyses.

Here are three sample "Dances with Wolves" essays composed by previous writers in this class. Feel free to look over them for ideas, though remember that you must do your own work rather than copy these samples.

You may, if you wish, quote from these three essays in your own essay. If you do, remember that you must provide the writer's name in the text of your own essay, and you must include a citation on your own "Work Cited" page.

Use this format when documenting any student writer you quote:

Model:

Author's name (reversed). "Title of Short Work in Quotation Marks." Title of the Site, Underlined (or italicized). Date Accessed URL in angle brackets.

Example:

Fish, Andrew Russell. "Dances with Wolves: A Response to the Effect of the Film." Three Sample "Dances with Wolves" Essays. 22 February 2002 http://www.andrews.edu/~closserb/215_Dances_Samples.html.

NOTE: Andrew's film analysis is an excellent example of what you might do in your analysis. His lacks a Works Cited section. Be sure you include a "Works Cited" section at the bottom of your last page or on a separate page at the end of your essay. It should include a citation for the film which you can get from the Dances with Wolves study guide, a citation for theone external source you use, and a citation for any citation you may make to any of the essays below.

Dances with Wolves: A Response to the Effect of the Film.
Andrew Russell Fish

In his movie Dances With Wolves actor Kevin Costner tries to do away with any preconceived notions that the viewer might have had about the Native American Indians being a savage and inhuman race. He does this by first unraveling the mysteriousness of the Indians then he brings the viewer to a point of connectedness with the Indians and their culture. We then come to a sincere appreciation for them as human beings and individuals and find ourselves siding with them in matters of allegiance. This movie accomplishes this goal with several tactics and strategies. As the story unfolds we follow the life of John Dunbar (Kevin Costner) and take on his emotions and therefore come to the same realizations that he does.

From the very beginning of the film we have a sense of compassion and empathy for John because he is injured and tries to die heroically. This form of justifiable suicide gives us a sense of his aimlessness and loneliness. Since most of the viewers have experienced some form of these feelings before we naturally want to hop on board with John's emotions and hold on for the ride. The first introduction we have to actual Indians themselves is when we find the Pawnee Indians discussing the idiocy of white men and how they should be destroyed. This band of Indians kill Timmons, a wagon driver who takes John to his new fort, and therefore we feel that our initial stereotypes are justified, however we do not see this through the eyes of John and therefore we are still susceptible to a reforming of our opinions. It is only through John's experiences and feelings that we feel truly attached to what is going on in the film.

Throughout his encounters with the Indians, specifically the Sioux, John begins to see that these people are not just savages but actual individuals that have families and friends, they work and play, they live and breath just like everyone else only in their own specific cultural ways. We see that they are easily frightened at times like when Kicking Bird runs from the naked John who is also just as shocked by the Indians presence however does not want his horse, Sisco, to be messed with. We see through John's eyes how frustrating it is to not be able to communicate with other people and we understand how much trouble this has probably been for the Indians before. We see them as being generous people when John is presented with a Buffalo skin from them as well as their kindness in accepting his gifts. We also see how in John's eyes the Indians are developing personalities of their own as individuals and not just a group of people.

The second thing that must be done in order for the movie to completely change our opinion of these "savages" and bring our allegiances to them instead of the white settlers and army is that we must not only overcome our fears and prejudices we must also now connect with them in such a way that we feel bonded by friendship and love. The best way to accomplish this is through a feeling of belonging. As John becomes more and more involved with the Indians we see more and more of the personalities of the Indians themselves and we begin to see how human they really are. Now John begins to form friendships with these Indians and therefore so do we.

One example of this is John's friendship with Kicking Bird. John and Kicking Bird begin to break down the barriers of their languages and begin to talk regularly and find that they have very kindred spirits. There is a scene in the movie where the tribe goes on a Buffalo hunt and John saves Wind in His Hair's son by killing a buffalo just before in tramples him. This also brings Wind in His Hair and John closer as well as during the post hunt party John and Wind in His Hair exchange gifts with each other which is a symbol of friendship and trust and makes John feel very much at home with the Indians from this point on. We begin to feel that the Indians way of life is in actuality peaceful and quaint. We therefore have in essence completely disassociated these Sioux Indians with all other Indians that we have seen in the past.

Now, we view the Indians as the exception because they are not like the other savages and don't dress up in war paint, therefore we are comfortable with liking them and feeling connected with them because they aren't like other "Indians". This becomes another problem because the intent is to change our entire perception of Native Americans, not just a pocket of one tribe on the great plains that were the outstanding group of the bunch. This is done by showing us through John's eyes that this group of individuals could be just as savage and brutal in their warfare as all the other Indians. This is done in the war with the Pawnee as well as one other example which I will save till last. We see this however as justifiable violence mainly due to it being as a means of defense (however we also are not as horrified by it because it is violence against other Indians not white American settlers). This causes a mix of emotions and inner turmoil for the viewer however because then we begin to wonder if the other typical violence that we see from the Indians in general is not also justified in some way or another, but we don't let this thought tarry to long because we still have a hard time letting go of our biases. Still we feel connected to them so we continue to view it as these Sioux are special and unlike other Indians, after all they don't go around attacking innocent people or raiding wagon trains. So now John had decided to live with them indefinitely but he had to return to the fort for his journal.

This event is the key in our change of allegiance because as he is returning to the fort he finds it inhabited by the army and they see him dressed like an Indian and believe him to be a "savage". They end up shooting Sisco and capturing him as a traitor. This is the pivot point for the viewers because they see the incompetence, ignorance, and violence that the calvary is cable of and it is much worse than that of the Sioux (who remember in the viewers mind are still not typical Indians). Because John is no longer one of the enlisted neither are we. We have gone awol with John and there is no turning back.

Now we the viewers have completely eradicated their stereotypes of the Indian, or have they. There is one last task that must be completed in order for the viewer to complete the enlightenment that was intended. When John is rescued by the Sioux we see that they are capable just like any other tribe of being both brutal, savage, and primeval in their attacks when they are passionate enough about what they are doing it for. In this action we see that the Sioux are therefore not the exception but merely our exception. They show us that the Native Americans were a people unlike any other with a very rich culture, a strong sense of family, and a passion for life that meant you worked hard and played even harder. They were not savages or barbarians in the typical sense they were individuals living together in harmony and strife the only way they knew how, which coincidently worked very well for them until the white man came along.

Shifting Perceptions in Dances With Wolves
Kara Choi

In Kevin Costner's motion picture Dances With Wolves, a white veteran of the Civil War, John Dunbar, ventures to the American frontier, where he encounters a tribe of Sioux Indians. At first, both parties are quite wary and almost hostile to each other, but after some time, Dunbar realizes that they have both grown to love and value each other as friends. As the movie critic Robert Ebert comments, "Dunbar possesses the one quality he needs to cut through the entrenched racism of his time: He is able to look another man in the eye, and see the man, rather than his attitudes about the man. As Dunbar discovers the culture of the Sioux, so do we. " As the viewpoint of the hero gradually shifts throughout the film, it is also paralleled by the similarly shifting perception of the audience- from one of initial, stereotypical fear to a much more positive one, of respect and sympathy. This overall effect on the viewer is accomplished through the skillful use of several techniques in the film, as well as through the use of some memorable scenes, as portrayed through Dunbar's eyes.

In the first several scenes of the movie, the audience is introduced to the hero, John Dunbar, and is instantly able to sympathize with him. Firstly, he is a war hero, and thus, brave and respected. Then, when he chooses to move to the frontier, he reveals his adventurous spirit, and when he toils tirelessly each day to build the post, he also shows his hardworking and disciplined personality. Furthermore, Dunbar is a well-educated man, for he eloquently records his experiences in his journal each day, and his thoughts and insights reveal a man of noble and upright character. Thus, these qualities constitute the foundation of a hero with whom the audience can better sympathize, and through whose view the audience can more readily perceive others throughout the remainder of the film.

When the Native Americans are, therefore, initially portrayed in the film in stark contrast with Dunbar, the audience is, not at all surprisingly, immediately biased against them. While Dunbar is noble and upright, the Indians are wild and brutal; for example, they murder Dunbar's wagon driver Timmons in a most violent and cruel way, by hacking him with knives and tomahawks. Their actions confirm traditional views of Indians as bloodthirsty savages who kill for no better reason than the fact that Timmons was ignorantly tending an open fire on their territory. Another case in point is when Dunbar finds Stands With a Fist by the river, cutting herself with a knife. He immediately tries to help her and gently returns her to the Sioux Indians. The Sioux, however, respond in a quite different manner; instead of being grateful towards Dunbar, Wind in His Hair screams at him and fiercely snatches the woman away from him by her hair. As a result, the audience feels indignation and anger at the Indians, especially for treating its esteemed hero in such an apparently unjust and unwarranted manner.

As the movie progresses, however, the perception of Dunbar and, in turn, the perception of the audience, towards the Sioux, begins to change. Several episodes reveal how Dunbar and the Indians gradually begin to grow closer to each other. Firstly, each party ventures to visit the other and, thus, tentatively begins to build a better understanding of its neighbor. Then, when they are more comfortable together, the two sides begin to extend the hand of friendship; the Indians give Dunbar a buffalo blanket, while, in return, Dunbar gives the Indians some of his food supply and their first taste of coffee. As the relationship between Dunbar and the Sioux becomes much more relaxed, the audience, too, becomes more open-minded and accepting of the Indians. Granted, Dunbar and the Sioux experience several misunderstandings, such as the scene where they are trying to communicate the word "buffalo," or when Dunbar is grinding coffee for his baffled Indian guests. The differences between the two groups no longer cause feelings of animosity or fear, however, but instead add a pleasant element of comic relief to the film.

Some technical elements of the film contribute to this transition, as well. For example, tense, ominous music is replaced by more joyful and melodious sounds, causing the audience to feel a much more relaxed and playful mood. Another major component of the film is its use of symbolism and parallelism. As the relationship between the Indians and Dunbar develops, the relationship between Dunbar and the wolf begins to grow as well. Like the Sioux, the wolf is at first perceived as dangerous and hostile, a beast that Dunbar thinks may attack or harm him at first. As time passes, however, both parties learn to trust the other, little by little, and they soon develop a strong bond of loyalty and friendship. Through the symbolism of the wolf, the film teaches the audience that appearances or stereotypes should not be the sole basis for judgment; for outwardly, although the wolf appears to be very ferocious and bloodthirsty, in reality, it is actually very gentle and kind-hearted, just as the Sioux Indians.

The final stage of the shifting perception of the Indians by Dunbar and the audience occurs when Dunbar actually reaches a deeper level of friendship with the Sioux Indians, beyond mere understanding or respect of differences, to actual emotional attachment. The shift is symbolized in the scene where the wolf, who has always been friendly yet cautious around Dunbar, actually ventures to make physical contact for the first time, and eat out of his hand. Thus, in addition to mere tolerance, the two are able to experience trust in each other. Likewise, Dunbar begins to become more emotionally involved with the Sioux tribe, and comes to realize that they are not simply a tribe whose differences he should merely respect, but rather, a group of people quite similar to himself and very human at heart. Scenes from the movie, such as the one of the Holy Man making love to his wife, of the laughing children playing in the fields, and of the tribal members joyfully celebrating the hunting season, all make Dunbar come to this realization, and he finds himself starting to feel a love and loyalty for the people as if they were his own. In a like manner, the audience also finds itself paralleling the same changing perception of the Sioux as Dunbar.

Ironically enough, Dunbar and the audience not only begin to love the Sioux Indians, but also begin to view the whites with the same resentment and fear with which they once viewed the previous group. Just as the Indians were once contrasted with Dunbar in the beginning of the movie, to make them seem even more evil and savage in light of Dunbar's good character, the whites are now contrasted sharply with the Indians to reveal their own bad qualities. For example, the audience sees how the white settlers carelessly leave buffalo carcasses to rot on the prairies, repugnantly exposed to flies and vultures. On the contrary, the Sioux Indians are respectful of the buffalo, grateful to the animals for providing them with sustenance, and are careful to only hunt those that absolutely needed. In another scene, the film presents the audience with the invasion of the army into Dunbar's camp, and as the audience sees the uniformed soldiers sauntering around, full of insolent confidence and disrespect, it begins to feel a strong emotion of resentment and violation. After so much time learning the ways of the Sioux Indians and their quiet respect for nature, the audience cannot help but feel indignation at the whites' loud and arrogant manner. This reversal in the perception of the whites vs. the Sioux is further reinforced by the way in which the film handles the music- the same tense and dissonant music that was once used in the initial scenes with the Indians, now reoccurs in the later scenes with the appearance of the white soldiers. The same fear and animosity once felt towards the Sioux has effectively transferred to the whites.

By the time the whites capture Dunbar, the audience's allegiance has totally shifted to the side of the Indians. Thus, no remorse is felt when the Sioux slaughter the whites in order to rescue Dunbar. The audience has reached a point where it can completely sympathize with the Sioux's and Dunbar's point of view. In fact, further background research into the injustice suffered by the Sioux, under the hands of the white American armies, would only cause the audience to support the white massacre all the more. For example, according to the website of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, in actual history, the Sioux were forced to relocate several times throughout the Dakota plains, and when they resisted to a direct violation of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, the US Army responded by engaging in a long and bloody war with the Native American nation. The scene in Dances With Wolves, in which the Sioux are impelled to attack a few white soldiers, pales in comparison to the actual massacre of Wounded Knee in 1890, where 300 Indians were killed and left to freeze in the snow by the whites.

Nevertheless, perhaps the intent of the film is not so much to vilify the whites in favor of the Sioux, as it is to simply point out that judgment and stereotypes should not be based upon exterior appearances alone. In fact, not all the white characters in the movie are bad; Dunbar, of course, is the obvious example of one who desires to help the Sioux, rather than annihilate them. Likewise, not all the Indians are as friendly as the Sioux Nation; for example, the Pawnees are clear antagonists in the film, both to the whites and their neighboring Indian tribe. Thus, rather than make an over-simplistic claim that all whites are bad or all Indians are good, the film strives to develop an overriding theme- that all humans possess common emotions, desires, and traits, and that these human elements alone are what should be the distinguishing factors in one's identity, rather than race, gender, or any other external sub-category. Overall, the film causes the audience to change a traditional, stereotypical view of the Sioux Indians, but on a broader scale, it also challenges the audience to view all people from a more humanistic point of view.

Costner, Kevin, dir. Dances with Wolves. Perf. Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, and Rodney A. Grant. 1990. Videocassette. Orion, 1991.

Ebert, Robert. "Dances With Wolves." Rev. of Dances With Wolves, dir. Kevin Costner. The Chicago Sun-Times 9 Nov. 1990.

Standing Rock Sioux Nation. Home Page. 31 Mar. 2000. Standing Rock Sioux Nation. 12 Oct. 2001. http://www.standingrock.org.

Dances with Indians
Kelly Razzouk

To dance with someone is to become one with him. When you dance, you lay selves aside and you try to move as one person. Every step flows cautiously into the next. You never want to step on the toes of the other person and with your hands you guide each other in various directions, but always together. The dance is a journey; one that brings two often very different people together. For that brief time that the two are dancing they act as one person, laying all differences aside.

The film, Dances with wolves, accomplishes this feat. For one hundred and eighty-one minutes it allows us to get caught up in the dance of the white man and the Indians. Dances with wolves, disregards cultural barriers and only focuses on people for who they are as individuals.

At the beginning of any dance, people are cautious. They must first "feel-out" the other person. They must get a sense of who the other person is, and what is meaningful to them. In the film, Dances with Wolves," John Dunbar approaches the Indians with this same apprehension. He is a white America who is alone on the frontier. He may be scared of the supposed "savages," but he never lets on.

The stereotypical Indian is a brutal savage-like beast who kills for the sake of killing and ravages the countryside. In the first scene of the movie, this is the image that I received. It seemed hard to imagine any sense of brotherhood that could be found in the hearts of the Indians as we watched them scalp an innocent American named Timmons.

My initial reactions, however, were disregarded as I continued to watch. I observed the first confrontation between Dunbar and the Indians. It was an encounter much like the moments preceding a dance between couples. Dunbar cautiously approached the Indians, and was at first disregarded. He, however, was extremely determined and tried to befriend them again. This determination is also reflected in the dance of today. With the determination of Dunbar, many will try multiple times to engage their partner in "the dance" before they are successful.

Finally, Dunbar was able to engage in conversation with the Indians, and with a fair amount of caution from both sides they became friends. This stage of friendship slowly chipped away at the stereotype of the Indians. We saw them as generous people. In one instance they gave Dunbar an animal rug as a gift. We saw them as a kind people who had taken an American child in after her parents had been murdered. Finally, we saw them as a people who respected nature. They exemplified the old principle "never take more than you give."

The Indians respected people and animals. They only took enough buffalo to feed their families. We saw a huge contrast between the American hunters, who killed buffalo just for their hides and tongues, and the Indians who would only kill when necessary.

For Dunbar, the stage of friendship was not enough, and he longed to truly "dance with the Indians." As the film unfolded, he more than accomplished this task; and through his accomplishment he proved how wrong our stereotypes of the Indians were.

We saw Dunbar trudging through the grass and dirt looking for buffalo with the Indians. We saw him trying to learn the Indian language, and we even saw him marrying into the "Indian family." Through each of these incidents he was becoming involved in the "dance of the Indian." He began to eat, sleep, and think like the Indians.

One of the most climactic moments of the film was when we saw Dunbar helping the Indians fight a rival tribe. The Indians were fighting to save their women and children; Dunbar sees these same people regardless of their race and culture as his own women and children.

Dunbar gave many parts of himself to the Indians as. He gave them material things like his hat and weapons, but he also taught them how to make coffee and how to speak his language. He brought his heart and soul and was willing to sacrifice for his Indian brothers.

The "dance" between Dunbar and the Indians was tested in many ways. The American soldiers tried to "cut-in" on the dance. They wanted to sever the bond that Dunbar had with the Indians, but they were too late. Dunbar had already become one with the Indians. He had already allowed the Indian way of life to infiltrate in to every part of him, including his soul. It was in this powerful moment that the viewers too got swept up in the "dance of the Indian." When the American soldiers took Dunbar and were going to kill him for treason, we cheered for the Indians as they came to his rescue. We hated the Americans for cutting in on this harmonious dance and we no longer saw the Indians as the savage ones.

In a review of the film Dances with Wolves, Robert Ebert said, "A civilized man is a person whose curiosity outweighs his prejudices, and these are curious men." We see Dunbar and the Indians as both equally curious and by the conclusion of the film both equally void of savage qualities.

Sadly enough, this desire to "dance with the Indians" was not a widespread one. The stereotypical ideas of the Indians as savage beasts that must be slaughtered permeated American society and led to the brutal deaths of thousands of Indians.

Even today, many Native Americans are still calling out to be included in the "dances" of the world. In a 1998 meeting with President Clinton, Native Americans protested the president's race commission. Glenn Morris, a native American delegate, said, " How can you have a national dialogue on race without one American Indian on your board?" Edward James Olmos, another speaker and an acclaimed actor, said, " the indigenous people have not been given a voice ever."

One of the most powerful testimonies came from Valerie Dana:

"I'm the child of an indigenous woman from the Rapahannock Nation in Virginia and an African-American father. I'm married to an Iranian, and I have a Chinese daughter. Now under all of the stereotypes that makes me a double savage married to a terrorist with a scientifically gifted sneaky child. What I want to say, and I ask you to take this back: We must look at racism as a disease. It is a cancer. It is very good and noble that the President has started this initiative. But you cannot put a band-aid on to treat cancer."

Throughout the film and through the powerful testimonies mentioned above we realize the need for us to put stereotypes aside and truly desire to understand the Native American culture. It is only after we have "danced with them" that we can truly know them.

Dances with Wolves. Dir.Kevin Costner. Perf. Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, and Rodney A. Grant. 1990. videocassette.

American Indian Studies. www.jupiter.lang.osaka~v.ac.jp/~krkvls/FinalMovie

PBS News Forum. March 1998. www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/race_relations/jan- june98/denver