Analysis of the Film the Patriot - Term Paper Example

Analysis of the Film the Patriot One of the major differences between human beings and the rest of the animals is that they are endowed with the gift of speech. Meaning, they can use it as a tool to communicate to one another. This actually provides them with a platform to express their ideas, opinion, ask and respond to questions. However, it is not only speech that helps in communication because it is a diverse activity which can be done using both verbal and non-verbal methods. With this in mind, it should be known that communication is the process of exchanging message between individuals. Without a proper communication, it might be difficult for people to relate together. Everyone needs to have effective communication skills because it is necessary in promoting a healthy interpersonal communication. For example, if one chooses to be a critical listener, one might find it much easier to relate with others. This is due t the fact that one can lend ears to other people as they speak thus encouraging them to have confidence in one another. However, when people can not effectively communicate, it means that they can not do anything including resolving their own conflicts (Mayer, 2012). This paper presents a discussion on the use of effective communication skills by people. It does this by alluding to the film the Patriot and goes ahead to analyze the use of important terminologies like social conflict, interpersonal conflict and conflict management. The Patriot is a film which was written by Rodat Robert, produced by Gordon Mark, Garry Levinson and Delvin Dean and directed by Emmerich Roland. The 2000 released 175 minute-long film features Mel Gibson (Benjamin Martin); Heath Ledger (Gabriel Martin); Logan Lerman (William Martin); Gregory Smith (Thomas Martin); Joely Richardson (Charlotte Selton); Trevor Morgan (Nathan Martin); Tchéky Karyo (Major Jean Villeneuve); Jason Isaacs (Colonel William Tavington); Mika Boorem (Margaret Martin); Bryan Chafin (Samuel Martin); Joey D. Vieira (Peter Howard); Lisa Brenner (Anne Patricia); and Chris Cooper (Colonel Harry Burwell). Although it was composed much later, the film depicts a real story of the events that took place in the colonial America during the American Revolutionary War. The setting of the story is done in the heart of a rural Village in York County, South Carolina. It brings a story that revolves around the life of Benjamin Martin, an ageing widower who was now left with the responsibility of bringing up his nine children. After retiring from the army, Benjamin opts to enjoy a quiet life in his village as a farmer. Since he is now haunted by the evil and ruthless atrocities he committed during his time as a soldier in the French-India War, he feels that it is better to engage in farming and take care of his children because, in his opinion, it is the best thing to do. He does not want to fight Great Britain because he believes it is a strong nation whose battle can not be won. He also wants his sons to refrain from joining the army to fight in favor of South Carolina which was seriously struggling to be liberated from the imperial Great Britain. However, as a defiant son, Gabriel goes against his father’s directions and instead, chooses to enlist himself in the Continental Army. After a serving the arm for nearly 2 years, he disserts the service and returns to his home before he is eventually traced and arrested by Colonel William Tavington who also orders his ruthless British Dragoons to kill his younger brother Thomas and then sets his father’s plantation and house on fire before wounding a large number of Americans. This provokes Benjamin and prompts him to take arms and join the war. However, because he knows that hid old tactics are no longer applicable in the military, he rallies behind many peasants, slaves and other people to form a militia group in which they wedge a war against the British. In a nutshell, Benjamin who had served in the military later opts to go back to the battlefield to liberate his newly formed nation from the ruthless hands of the British imperials. This was particularly after personally getting affected when he lost his son Thomas, house and plantation. As already hinted, the Patriot is mainly about the revolutionary struggles of the people of South Carolina who were committed about liberating their nation from the yoke of oppression put on them by the ruthless and brutal British colonizers. Naturally, no single native would sit down and watch their country being taken over by these colonizers. The patriotic minds like Benjamin could not sit back and let their country and countrymen to be ruled by the colonizers. This brought antagonism between them. Social conflict refers to a disagreement that arises between different sections of the society (Mayer, 2012). Wherever human beings are, disagreements do arise because people have different opinions, worldviews and interests. Obviously, the capturing of South Carolina by the Europeans brought a social conflict between them and the native populations. As depicted in the film, the conflict ensued between these parties because they were fighting for resources as well as political control. On their part, the native people disagreed with the colonizers because of the numerous problems that had been elicited to them. First, they were stripped of their independence that they had been enjoying since time immemorial. As recounted in the film, independence was lost immediately after the seizing of power by these British imperialists. People like Benjamin had to prove their patriotism by enlisting in the military so as to fight for their country. It is because of their anger that they had to fight very hard so as to free their country from oppression. Besides, the native populations were unhappy because they had lost their resources like land which was given to the European settlers. This is the type of social conflict which is recorded in the film. May be, it can be attributed to poor communication between the parties. If there was an effective communication between them, no one would bother resorting into war because it is not the best way of dealing with a conflict in the society (Bambacas & Margaret, 2008) While the native populations were blaming the colonizers for causing problems to them, the colonizers on the other hand were not happy about them. It is recorded in the film that the imperialists had taken a full control over the land. Upon colonizing it, no one else rather than their government would rule the land. Therefore, they were to take the people’s land and other resources even if they did not agree. In fact, no one including the natives would be authorized to prevent them from exercising their authority. After all, it had become their rights to be number one citizens while considering their hosts as second class people who could not be allowed to protest, but to be ruled without any revolution. This explains why the Europeans were serious about ruling the land and could not allow anybody to challenge them thus establishing a very strong army to fight any resistance. On the other hand, the concept of interpersonal conflict also features in the film. By definition, interpersonal conflict, as the name suggests, simply refers to a disagreement between individuals. Anyone who watches the film can not fail to notice interpersonal conflict which of course features in the film as a dominant theme. The first instance of interpersonal conflict is seen between Benjamin and his son Gabriel (Thompson & Parrott, 2002). As the first born, Gabriel believes that he is a grown up who should not be controlled by anyone including his own father. So, he disagrees with his father when he tells him that he cannot join the army. Instead, he violates him and goes ahead to enlist in the Continental Arm so as to join other patriotism the full liberation of South Carolina from colonial rule. By doing this, he conflicts with his father who as a parent feels that he should direct his son on exactly what to do at any given time. Later, further interpersonal conflicts ensue between other characters in the film. After disserting the army, Gabriel is followed up to his home by Col. William. When he reaches home, a very serious conflict arises between him, Thomas, Gabriel and Benjamin. This becomes quite fatal because it causes a long-lasting painful experience that totally changes this family. The arrest of Gabriel by Col. William angers Thomas who seeks to save his brother from being taken away. This in turn angers Col. William who shoots Thomas, an action that elicits a painful feeling on Gabriel who also wants to revenge on the colonel (Barnlund, 2008). However, before he does so, the colonel orders his troop to kill Gabriel’s wife Anne Patricia. As if this is not the end of the agonies in this family, Col. William in anger, orders for the burning of Benjamin’s house and crops. This in turn angers Benjamin who can no longer relax at home, but has to join the army so as to revenge on the British army. Last, but not least, conflict management also features in the Patriot. In simple terms, conflict management simply refers to the process of handling conflicts and using all the fair, just and rational ways to minimize them from occurring and causing more problems to the society. Whenever a conflict occurs, there is need for people to come together and look for the best way possible to resolve them. This is a necessary thing to do since no one needs to shy away from facing conflicts. It is normal for human beings to disagree as it is not a sin or a criminal offense. It only proves that each person or group of persons has diverse opinions from one another. However, to make the world a better place, conflicts need to be resolve because it is only through their solution that peace can be attained. Actually, there are very many ways of managing conflict. They include dialogue, avoiding, arbitration or violence. Even if none of them is the best, people should be advised to resort to violence as the last resort particularly when all the other options have been exploited. Conflict management was an issue in this film because it appears in different scenes. After coming into a reality with all the disagreements, the characters in the film looked for how well they could deal with them. However, it was unfortunate that they had to resort to violence as their preferred way of eliminating further conflicts and advocate for peace and harmony in South Carolina. If there was an effective communication, no one would bother resorting into war because it is not the best conflict resolution alternative (Bambacas & Margaret, 2008). The first instance of war is noticed in Benjamin who had no choice rather than enlisting himself in the French-India War from which he emerged as a respected hero. Since he was committed to bringing sanity in his family and nation, he had to join the guerilla warfare so as to solve the conflict between South Carolina and British on one hand, and between him and Col. William who had inflicted a lot of pain to him. To a character like Benjamin, violence would be only way through which he would manage his conflicts. A similar observation was made on other characters such as Gabriel, Thomas, local slaves and peasants who were also not happy with whatever was happening in their country. Gabriel thought that he was supposed to join the army so as to fight for his country. To him, joining the military would be the best choice to manage the conflict faced by his community (Thompson & Parrott, 2002). He also resorted to violence when he launched an attack Col. William who had killed his younger brother Thomas and wife Anne Patricia. A similar reaction was demonstrated by Thomas who, in his decision, thought that it was only violence that would help him to manage the conflict between him and Col. William who had used his soldiers to arrest his elder brother. As the story unfolds, violence is adopted by other characters like the salves and peasants who are lured by Benjamin to join the guerilla out fit so as to deal with the problem of British imperialism. In conclusion, communication, as demonstrated in the film the Patriot, can be a very important skill that every human being should possess. Effective interpersonal communication is a noble skill that when cultivated in anyone, can make them to be a right caliber of individuals who might be very easy to interact and work with. Also, it can be a key tool in the management of conflicts that might arise in the course of interaction. All these are clearly captured in the film the Patriot in which different characters engage in fierce conflicts and resort to all forms of ways to manage them. However, even though these violent tactics employed by the Martins never brought peace to them as a family, it was pleasing to learn that it was an appropriate initiative which eventually brought peace South Carolina and America as a nation. Had it not been for it, no political independence would have been attained. Indeed, the Patriot is an example of an insightful film which can be relied upon to provide a lot of information about communication. It is a clear example of how effective communication process can be an invaluable tool in the society. References Bambacas, M. & Margaret, P. (2008) "Interpersonal communication skills that enhance organisational commitment", Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 12 Iss: 1, pp.51 - 72 Barnlund, D. (2008). ‘A transactional model of communication’ In. C. D. Mortensen (Eds.), Communication theory (2nd ed., pp47-57). New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction. Mayer, B. (2012). The Dynamics of Conflict: A Guide to Engagement and Intervention 2nd Ed. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Thompson, L. & Parrott, R. (2002). Handbook of interpersonal communication 3rd Ed. Ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publishers. Wilmot, W. & Jouyce Hocker. (2007). Interpersonal conflict. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies. Read More