Contents
I. Summary
II. Interpretation
a. Clash of two worlds
b. Differences between the Indians' and the white peoples' culture
c. Development of the relation between Dunbar and the Indians
III. Characterization of the main and important minor characters
a. Dances With Wolves
b. Stands With A Fist
c. Kicking Bird
d. Wind In His Hair
e. Ten Bears
IV. Comparison of the novel with the movie
a. Conversion of the novels' main ideas in the movie
b. Purpose of the producer of the movie
I. Summary
The novel "Dances With Wolves" by Michael Blake tells the story of an American soldier, Lieutenant John Dunbar, who is posted in an abandoned fort on the frontier of Indian and white territory during the Civil War where he gets in contact with an Indian tribe. In the course of time he gets more and more familiar with their way of life down to joining them after having struggled between the two totally different cultures of the white people and the Indians.
John Dunbar is a soldier of the Federals fighting in the War of Secession. Having been badly injured at his foot he decides to take his life and volunteers for a suicide mission which he happens to survive. By getting proper medical aid afterwards his foot is saved and he is rewarded for his deed by getting his wish fulfilled to be posted on the frontier. However, arriving at his post Dunbar and his companion find the fort abandoned. The Lieutenant doesn't want to return because he decides to fulfil his duty whereas his companion doesn't see any need for staying and leaves. Since the major who has sent Dunbar to that fort dies a few days later and Dunbar's companion gets killed, there are no records about the Lieutenant being sent to his post.
Since the fort is run down and in bad condition Dunbar is kept busy fixing and renewing things. On the one hand he feels kind of lonely out there but on the other hand he enjoys his freedom. Every other day he makes entries in a journal about the things he has been doing. Dunbar's first contact with an Indian occurs when Kicking Bird, a Comanche, wants to steal Dunbar's horse. The Indian comes up with the idea that Dunbar might be some kind of god as he has been frightened by the soldier's appearance. Since two more of the Indians' attempts to steal Dunbar's horse fail their opinion of the Lieutenant being some god is intensified.
However, one woman of the camp, Stands With A Fist, knows that Dunbar is not a god. She actually is a white woman who has been living with the Comanche ever since she was a child. As her husband has recently died she mourns and wants to commit suicide. After having been prevented from taking her life once she starts a second attempt further out in the country. That's where Dunbar finds her when he rides across the prairie having decided to take the initiative to find the Indians' camp. He takes Stands With A Fist back to her village which causes a great tumult among the Indians.
Being impressed by this action and anxious about getting to know if there will be more white people coming the Indians want to get in contact with Dunbar by sending two warriors to the fort, Kicking Bird and Wind In His Hair. The conversations between Dunbar and the Indians are greatly hampered by the language barrier, though. In order to make communication possible Stands With A Fist is supposed to interpret which is pretty tough for her since she hasn't been talking English for a long time. So, Stands With A Fist and Dances With Wolves regularly meet to practice. Later on, they fall in love with each other and get married. Having totally refused the Indians' way of life after his first contacts with them Dunbar gets more and more involved in the things going on in the camp. When he is seen playing around with a wolf that lives near the fort and that he has become friendly with Dunbar is given a new name: Dances With Wolves.
By the time the Comanche want to start their winter move Dances With Wolves remembers his journal in the fort which is the last proof of his existence, so he wants to take it with him. However, arriving at his post he finds it being occupied with soldiers. As Dances With Wolves almost looks like an Indian he is caught and they don't believe that he actually is a Lieutenant of the US-army. In order to get rid of him he is supposed to be taken to another Fort. On the way up there the Comanche free him and they come to the conclusion that some day they will be forced to leave their country since there are too many white people coming.
In the winter camp Dances With Wolves decides that it's best for the Comanche that him and his wife leave the camp because the soldiers will probably come after him which means danger to the Indians. Nevertheless, Ten Bears, the Comanches' chief, tries to convince Dances With Wolves to stay. Finally, it's not clear whether Dances With Wolves and Stands With A Fist leave the camp or not.
II. Interpretation
The basic topic of the novel is the clash of two worlds, of civilization of the whites and the Indians' primitive culture. It's the clash of two cultures which seem to be irreconcilable as they keep on fighting each other and since they differ from each other by their way of life and their behaviour.
This novel shows the slow but continuos development of the relation between a group of Comanche Indians and a single white soldier, the coming closer of two different cultures which can be put down to the mutual willingness to respect other ways of life and to adapt to them.
In the beginning Dunbar is quite anxious to see some Indians. He is interested in getting to know them and their culture for he is an open minded person. Having had the first contact with Kicking Bird, though, Dunbar is kind of disappointed since the Indian was going to steal his horse but was scared away by his appearance. Some major differences between the Indians' and the white peoples' way of life are described by Kicking Bird pondering about the white soldiers. The white peoples' culture must seem to be very strange to the Indians as this quotation shows: "They were a great mystery to Kicking Bird, these white people. He could not think of them without getting his mind baffled."1 Furthermore, the following examples describe the Indians' view of the soldiers in great detail: The soldiers are called "hair mouths" by the Indians, they are "so rich in goods, so poor in everything else", they are "supposed to be the white man's warriors, but they weren't alert", they "lived without families", they "lived without their greatest chiefs", and they "were so dirty".2 These descriptions clearly show the huge difference between the cultures of the white people and the Indians by hinting at their different ways of life.
Later on, when Dunbar happens to find Stands With A Fist and takes her back to her camp he is profoundly impressed by the atmosphere and the harmony of the village. "Lieutenant Dunbar sat on Cisco, holding the woman he had found, his senses crushed by the power of the ageless tableau spread out before him, spread out like the unraveling of a living canvas. A primal, completely untouched civilization. And he was there."3 At that moment he realizes why he had wanted to be posted on the frontier. "This, without his knowing it before, was what he had yearned to see."4 Dunbar is fascinated by the appearance of the village and he experiences "the feeling of eternity"5. As the Indians' way of life is so different to the one he has been used to he has never seen something like this before which makes it so special to him. On the other hand, after having returned Stands With A Fist, he feels lost among the Indians since he doesn't even know their language. At that point of time he can't imagine to live with these people ever: "These were not his people. He would never know them."6
Dunbar also comes to the conclusion that his expectations of getting in contact with the Indians have been far too high since he had expected the coming closer to be a lot easier.
Being impressed by Dunbar's action the Indians suspect him to be a great man. They are kind of surprised by his deed as Dunbar doesn't show the qualities that they had found out to be typical of white people. He actually came in peace with the purpose of saving one of the Indians' life. "And he had obviously come with a single intention... not to steal or cheat or fight but to return something he had found, something that belonged to them."7 However, that's not the only reason why they decide to get in contact with him. In their opinion he also might be an influential person among the white people and having proofed himself to be honest and peaceful he might reach some proper agreements with them. "A man like this was someone with whom agreements might be reached. And without agreements, war and suffering were sure to come."8 The Indians have been viz deceived earlier by white people breaking agreements that had been made with them. Nevertheless, the Indians realize that they will have to fight some time in the future but not yet, though. They are aware of the fact that it's just a matter of time until white soldiers are going to drive them out of their territory. This is what Ten Bears tells Kicking Bird and Dances With Wolves when they talk about more white people invading the Indians' country: "Our country is all that we have. It is all that we want. We will fight to keep it."9
In the course of time Dunbar feels more and more comfortable in the Indians' company. It means a lot to him when there are some Indians seeking his company even though he can't communicate with them. He is happy to notice a change in his treatment: "In treating him this way the Comanches revealed an altogether new side of themselves, reversing the stoic, guarded appearance they had presented to him in the past. Now they were an unabashed, thoroughly cheerful people, and it made Lieutenant Dunbar the same."10 Dunbar realizes that there is so much to learn from these people, not in an academic way but concerning their way of life and their behaviour towards each other, concerning their whole system of living together in a community. "Though he was much too white for aboriginal ways, he felt more than comfortable with them. There was something wise about them. Yes, he thought, that's it. There is something to learn from them. They know things. If the army never comes, I don't suppose the loss would be so great."11 Dunbar probably means that the Indians can well replace the army and any bond to the white peoples' culture since he enjoys living the Indians' way of life.
Dunbar becomes "a man who is two people"12 the longer he has been living with the Indians. This means that he more and more gets involved in the things going on in the camp and that he falls in step with the cycle while still remaining a white person as even Stands With A Fist does after having been living with the Comanche for about half her life. "She didn't look back at him, but as the lieutenant's eyes followed her receding form, he could see the two people in her carriage: white and Indian."13 As this quotation shows you can adapt to new ways of life and other cultures but mostly you will be recognized to be a foreigner by the way you look like, for instance. There will always remain some kind of `white' quality no matter how well you have adapted to the people you live with.
When the Indians leave to go hunting for buffalo there is a series of events that on the one hand point out the difference of white peoples' and Indians' behaviour, but on the other hand are an important point of development of the relation between Dunbar and the Comanche. They happen to find 27 buffalo which have been shot dead and the only parts of the bodies that have been taken are the hides and the tongues. There are tons of rotting flesh left. The Comanche suspect the people who have done this to be white and send out a small party to punish them. Hunting the buffalo is a brilliant example of pointing out a difference between the Indians and white people: the Indians go hunting because they really need to in order to survive. They live in harmony with nature, only shoot as many buffalo as they need and take everything of them. "They took everything: hides, meat, guts, hooves, tails, heads. In the space of a few hours it was all gone, leaving the prairie with the appearance of a gigantic, recently cleared banquet table."14 White people like the ones mentioned above go hunting due to their greed for profit or for taking home some kind of trophy like the buffalos' hides. They don't actually need to hunt the buffalo but nevertheless they do and in this way they waste them. They wipe out one basis of the Indians' life: "And now these buffalo lying dead on the ground, their guts spread all over the prairie just because someone wanted their tongues and hides."15
When Dunbar realizes that the Indians have punished the white men by killing them he gets very confused. He leaves the camp and wonders where he belongs to as the following quotation shows: "He did not belong to the Indians. He did not belong to the whites. And it was not time for him to belong to the stars. He belonged right where he was now. He belonged nowhere. A sob rose in his throat. He had to gag to stifle it. But the sobs kept coming up and it was not long before he ceased to see the sense in trying to keep them down."16 This clearly reflects the difficulty of Dunbar struggling between the two cultures. He has a hard time straightening out his feelings and emotions as he has been made unsure by the Indians killing people of his own race so that he even expects to get killed as well.
However, the next day he has got over this and gets back to his life with the Indians. Indeed, after all, these events even seem to have contributed to intensify his feeling of belonging to the Indians and of being part of their society. "Then he had felt the satisfaction of belonging to something whose whole was greater than any of its parts. It was a feeling that ran deep from the start. And in the days he spent on the killing plain and the nights he spent in the temporary camp, the feeling was solidly reinforced."17 Dunbar's sense of belonging to the Indians is a feeling that comes from his heart. It totally differs from the sense of belonging to some organization like the army, for instance: "...the feeling of service to the army had dwelled mostly in his head. Not in his heart. It never lasted beyond the fading, hollow rhetoric of patriotism."18 It's a feeling that he really likes, it's not something that has been forced on him. It has been created by the way the Comanche live. Their way of getting along and their behaviour towards each other mean a lot to him. He gains new experiences by living with them: "The Comanches were different. They were primitive people. They lived in a big, lonely, alien world that was written off by his own people as nothing more than hundreds of worthless miles to be crossed. But the facts of their lives had grown less important to him. They were a group who lived and prospered through service. Service was how they controlled the fragile destiny of their lives. It was constantly being rendered, faithfully and without complaint, to the simple, beautiful spirit of the way they lived, and in it Lieutenant Dunbar found a peace that was to his liking."19 The first part of this quotation shows what most of the white people think of the Indians' world that is "written off" by the whites "as nothing more than hundreds of worthless miles to be crossed". Dunbar, however, knows better. It doesn't matter to him how the Indians are seen by others and he doesn't care whether they are a primitive people or not. He enjoys living with them because in their society he experiences a sense of belonging that he has never been experiencing before.
Another thing that distinguishes the Indians and the white people is one's name. In fact, every name that white people give to their children has some meaning but usually this is not the decisive factor for choosing it. For instance, Kicking Bird keeps on wondering what Dunbar's first name "Jun" as he pronounces it might stand for. In the Indians' mind a name must be given according to one's personality in order to emphasize some act of bravery or a certain kind of quality. So, when Dunbar is seen playing around with the wolf he is given the name Dances With Wolves. To Dunbar this new name means a lot. It intensifies his feeling of being one of the Indians and it seems to be more than just a name to him. For Dunbar it's another step of getting closer to the Indians, of getting further in the new world. "It seemed bigger than just a name. The more he looked at it, the more he liked it. He said it to himself. Dances With Wolves."20
By that point of time, Dunbar has given up the idea of returning to the army. He is held by the pull of a totally different world that he likes and that he wants to explore: "He had discovered a great thirst and he could no more turn it down than a dying man could refuse water. He wanted to see what would happen, and because of that, he gave up his idea of returning to the army."21 This quotation shows how much he enjoys living the Indians' way of life and being part of their society. Their camp becomes the center of his life and only every once in a while he returns to the fort. He gets more and more adapted to their way of life and view of things. The Indians' camp has become a true home to Dances With Wolves. It's a great feeling for him to belong to them and he is proud of having been accepted. "The Lords of the Plains, that's what they were called. And he was one of them."22 Another sign for him getting more and more integrated in their community is this quotation: "A feeling of power was coming over him, increasing with each passing mile. He could feel it in the effortless movement of Cisco's canter and he could feel it in the oneness of himself: oneness with his horse and the prairie and the prospect of returning whole to the village that was now his home."23 However, it needs to be said that Dances With Wolves likes to live with the Indians but that he doesn't want to become one himself. He is fascinated by the way they live. "He did not deceive himself. He did not think of becoming an Indian. But he knew that so long as he was with them, he would serve the same spirit."24 Maybe, this might also mean that he knows that he will never be able to become a real Indian but "two people" at the most, so it's plenty for him to live with them in their way of life.
When a lot of the Comanche warriors are gone on the warpath their village is being attacked by a party of Pawnee. Finally, the Comanche including Dances With Wolves defeat the attackers. In this battle Dances With Wolves realizes again him being part of something and belonging to something great. He realizes what he has been fighting for. The reasons are different from the ones he used to fight for in the army. In this battle he had been fighting in order to protect his village and his home, to protect things that are directly important to him. He didn't fight to carry out the orders of some government as he used to in the army. He was fighting for himself in this battle against the Pawnee. "This killing had not been done in the name of some dark political objective. This was not a battle for territory or riches or to make men free. This battle had no ego. It had been waged to protect the homes that stood only a few feet away. And to protect the wives and children and loved ones huddled inside. It had been fought to preserve the food stores that would see them through the winter, food stores everyone had worked so hard to gather. For every member of the band this was a great personal victory."25
By marrying Stands With A Fist Dances With Wolves' relation to the Indians gets even closer. Some time before starting the wintermove Kicking Bird takes Dances With Wolves to a sacred place of the Indians. However, it has been desecrated by white people. This reflects the behaviour of most of the white people who come to the Indians' country not paying any attention to the people whose culture they destroy. Dances With Wolves is shamed for his own race. In this situation he gets to know the white people from another point of view. Having been living with the Indians for quite a long time he looks with the eyes of an Indian. "I know them now in ways I did not know them before. I'm afraid for all the Comanches."26 Dunbar recognizes the senselessness of the white peoples' deeds which becomes clear in the following quotation: "Everywhere he looked the ground held bodies, or pieces of bodies. There were small animals, badgers and skunks and squirrels. Most of these were intact. Some were missing their tails. They lay rotting where they had been shot, for no apparent reason other than target practice."27
When Dances With Wolves returns to the fort one last time in order to get his journal he is shocked finding his post occupied with soldiers. They shoot his horse, and kill Two Socks, the wolf that he has become friendly with. Dances With Wolves has expected the army to come but actually seeing the soldiers, it's kind of unbelievable for him that they are there. Their presence destroys his new world he had started to live in. Their actions and the things they do don't fit into the world that he lives in now: "As he walked towards the bluff, sandwiched between two soldiers, he found himself repulsed by these men and their camp. He didn't like the way they smelled. The sound of their voices seemed rough to his ears. Even the way they moves seemed crude and ungainly."28 Dunbar probably would have acted in the same way as the soldiers did if he was still one of them but since he changed his way of life to the Indian way he can't do anything but hate the soldiers for that what they do. For instance, this feeling of hate is expressed when Dances With Wolves sees some soldiers who have killed Two Socks and beats them up. When he is supposed to be taken to another fort Dances With Wolves is freed by the Comanche who take him to their winter camp. As Dances With Wolves says later on it was "a good thing"29 to kill the soldiers in this battle which is a contrast to his earlier feelings when he was awfully shocked by the Indians killing people of his own race. This shows again how much Dances With Wolves has identified with the Indians' way of life up to that point of time.
In the winter camp Dances With Wolves comes to the conclusion that it's best for the village if him and his wife leave. He doesn't want to put the Comanches' safety at risk as the soldiers will probably come after him since he is a traitor in their eyes. By Ten Bears trying to convince him to stay it is easy to see that Dances With Wolves or Loo Ten Nant as he is called by the Indians has been fully accepted by the band and that he has become an Indian in their eyes: "The one called Loo Ten Nant is not here. In this lodge they will only find a Comanche warrior, a good Comanche warrior and his wife."30 Finally, it's not clear, though, whether Dances With Wolves and Stands With A Fist are going to leave the camp or not.
III. Characterization
The main characters of the novel are Lieutenant Dunbar or rather Dances With Wolves, Kicking Bird and Stands With A Fist.
As the novels' title says, it's Dances With Wolves who is the most important and significant character since it's him, a single white person, whose coming closer to the Indians is described. Kicking Bird plays quite an important role for he is the one taking care of Dances With Wolves especially at the beginning and because he turns out to be a close friend to him. Stands With A Fist plays a key role in making communication possible and since she is going to get married to Dances With Wolves later on.
Two important minor characters I suppose to be Ten Bears and Wind In His Hair.
In the way that Dances With Wolves is described in the novel it seems that he is a person with through and through positive character traits. Actually, there isn't one situation that shows any kind of bad quality or any inappropriate behaviour.
Dances With Wolves is a person with a high sense of duty and he is orderly and conscientious. For instance, this is clarified when he doesn't want to return to Fort Hays after having arrived at the abandoned post and when he keeps himself busy fixing things at the rundown fort: "Fort Sedgewick is my post, but there is no one to report to. Communication can only take place if I leave, and I don't want to abandon my post. Supplies are abundant. Have assigned myself cleanup duty."31 Dunbar tries to make the best of his situation although he doesn't even know if his efforts will ever be appreciated.
Another quality that is characteristic of Dances With Wolves is the way he acts in dangerous situations. "Dunbar had an inborn sense, a kind of sixth sense, that told him when to be tough. And when this critical moment was upon him, something intangible kicked into his psyche and Lieutenant Dunbar became a mindless, lethal machine that couldn't be turned off. Not until it had accomplished its objective."32 This quality is shown when Timmons, his companion, doesn't want to help him unload the wagon or when Dances With Wolves and the Comanche fight the Pawnee. It can be seen as a positive trait on the one hand but also as a weakness on the other hand. Imagining this kind of `mechanism' getting out of control and being set off in other situations, people who haven't done any harm might get hurt. Furthermore, Dunbar is a single-minded and determined person. He knows what he wants and has the tendency to taking the initiative if things don't seem to turn out the way he expects them to. The following quotation verifies this statement: "He wasn't going to wait any longer. He was going to force the issue. Tomorrow morning he was going to ride out and find the Indians."33
After having been living in the fort for quite a while Dunbar realizes that he likes the kind of freedom to be out there by himself and not having any obligations to fulfil. "He felt wonderful, lying there with nothing to do, and it occurred to him then that, in addition to inventing his own duties, he could also set his own pace."34 Dunbar is free to do whatever he wants to do. However, he also has the feeling of loneliness every once in a while: "At one point the word marooned slipped into his mind. It made him shudder."35 It's quite a scary revelation to him that he will have to be alone probably for a long time and sometimes he wishes to be with others: "He missed the company of people."36
Dunbar also pretty well knows how to get along with animals. He has created bonds to his horse Cisco and to Two Socks, the wolf that he has become friendly with during the time he has spent at Fort Sedgewick. He gets used to the wolf showing up every once in a while and starts taking the short visits of Two Socks for granted. Their familiarity keeps growing, up to even playing together at that point of time when Dunbar is seen by the Indians and is given his new name. Dunbar is happy with these two animals and in his loneliness their presence often is quite important and reassuring for him: "Cisco and Two Socks weren't human, but their unwavering loyalty was satisfying in ways that human relationships had never been."37 Besides, Dunbar is a kind of person that is very close to nature. He enjoys long rides through the prairie, the view over the country and the empty space no matter where he puts his eyes. He is fascinated and profoundly impressed by the countryside which seems to be a "rolling ocean of grass"38 to him.
Another trait of his character is that he is an open-minded and tolerant person. He is interested in getting to know foreign things and foreign people. These qualities are some of the decisive factors for being able to get in contact with the Indians and to deepen his relationship with them. Since it's the clash of two totally different cultures when him and the Indians meet it's necessary to have these kind of qualities. For example, in the beginning Dunbar tries really hard to show that he is interested in getting to know the Indians and that he likes to be around them by talking all the time. He wants them to feel as comfortable as possible and since he keeps on talking it's obvious that he is the driving force and that he tries to take the initiative in order to create a basis for future meetings. He attempts to communicate with them in spite of the language barrier. His whole behaviour and actions seem to amuse Kicking Bird and Wind In His Hair, though. In their opinion he is kind of strange which they explain with the fact that he is white. However, they are fond of him.
By the time that Dunbar gets to talk to Ten Bears for the first time the chief comes to the conclusion that the Lieutenant is well mannered. "He was humble and courteous, and Ten Bears placed considerable value on these traits."39 Dunbar has made a good impression on Ten Bears which smoothes the way for further contact.
The following times Dances With Wolves goes to the Indians' camp he is interested in the things going on there but he doesn't understand very much that happens. This is because he can't understand what the Indians say on the one hand and since he is not acquainted with the Indians' rituals on the other hand. It disappoints him that he is not involved, yet, in everything that goes on. However, he feels comfortable with them and doesn't decrease his efforts to deepen their relation. This also hints at his single-mindedness again, which finally leads him to his goal: Being accepted by the Indians and being part of their society.
Stands With A Fist actually is a white woman. She has been living with the Comanche for half her life since her parents got killed by a party of Pawnee when she was fourteen. By the time she gets to know of Dunbar living close to the Indians' camp she gets scared. She has got used to the Indians' way of life and has almost forgotten about her life as a white girl. When she is told of the white man, though, her emotions get mixed up. "Now, summer was on them again, and all along the trail from the winter camp she had prayed fiercely for the hair mouths to be gone. Her prayers had not been answered, and once again her days were troubled, hour by hour."40
Stands With A Fist doesn't want to be reminded of her life as a white person. She is afraid of being recognized as a white woman and since she likes living with the Indians she doesn't want to return to the white people. However, due to her appearance she will always look like a white person. The following quotation again points out the fact that she is `two people': "To a white eye there would always be something strange about the woman in the once-a-month lodge. Something not altogether Indian. And to the knowing eyes of her own people there was something not altogether Indian, even after all this time."41 Sometimes, it's pretty hard for her to live showing features of two different cultures but she can handle this heavy burden since she thoroughly enjoys her Indian life.
Once, Dunbar is invited to come to the Indians' camp where he meets Stands With A Fist. She is supposed to talk to him. Due to her attitude towards the white people that is explained above, her behaviour towards Dunbar is quite hostile in the beginning and because of a misunderstanding he even gets almost stabbed by her.
Stands With A Fist is a very emotional person. Her hatred of the white people is intensified by the fear of being taken back to their way of life. However, in the course of time she realizes that the white soldier won't do her any harm and she changes her behaviour. She starts enjoying the lessons they have in order to practice the languages and she even starts liking Dunbar. Finally, they fall in love with each other and get married later on.
Kicking Bird is the medicine man of this group of Comanche and therefore has a high reputation in the camp. He is described as a kind and gentle man being honorable and unselfish. He is peaceful and patient and as most of the Indians, he is calmness itself. This is shown, for example, when him and Wind In His Hair have been sent to meet Dunbar and also during the following meetings. Besides, Kicking Bird's power of observation is greatly respected by others.
Being pretty inquisitive Kicking Bird wants to find out more about the white people. His primary matter of concern is to figure out if there might be more white people coming since this means danger to the Indians. "Kicking Bird rode out of camp feeling especially good about the day to come. Everything had gone well with the early stages of his plan. The cultivation was finally complete. Now he could get down to the real business of investigating the white race."42 However, in the course of time he also becomes more and more friendly with Dunbar. Being warm-hearted and sincere he becomes a true friend to the white man. You can see this when he tells Dunbar what he thinks of him: "There are many trails in this life, but the one that matters most, few men are able to walk...even Comanche men. It is the trail of a true human being. I think you are on this trail. It is a good thing for me to see. It is good for my heart."43
To Dunbar Kicking Bird looks kind of wild, but also magnificent the first time Dunbar sees him. Kicking Bird's first impression is that Dunbar is some kind of god. Because of this, because of Kicking Bird being a medicine man and since Kicking Bird often talks of the `Great Spirit' the Indians' strong belief in their god becomes clear.
Wind In His Hair is pretty much the opposite of Kicking Bird. He is a very impulsive young man with an aggressive nature for which he is chosen to deal with Dunbar in the beginning. He is very vain and proud which is shown when him and some fellows steal Dunbar's horse. Since they suspect Dunbar to be some kind of god they were planning to take the horse and leave. Wind In His Hair, however, wants to prove that he is not afraid of Dunbar, tells him a few sentences in Comanche and then takes off. This shows him to be very hot-tempered which Dunbar also writes down in his journal.
Ten Bears is the bands' chief which means that he is its most influential person. He is most venerated for his toughness and his wisdom. In the Indians' society, the oldest people are usually chosen to be the leaders since they are most likely to provide information gathered during the long time they have lived up to that point of time.
When Kicking Bird tells him about Dunbar their conversation is kind of funny. In their opinion he might be some god, and in the way they discuss this question it sounds hilarious to civilized people. For the Indians, though, it is a serious problem that needs to be discussed. When Dunbar returns Stands With A Fist to the camp Ten Bears realizes that this soldier might be an opportunity to find out more about white people coming to the Indians' country. This shows that Ten Bears is a smart and foresighted man.
IV. Comparison of the novel with the movie
Comparing the novel with the movie, there are various more or less significant differences to find out. In some cases the movie provides really good images and a better setting as the novel does but mostly the novel contains far more details.
The images of the countryside in the movie are quite beautiful and give you an impression of what the country looks like. In the novel, though, the author describes everything so it's up to your imagination what things are like. Reading the novel you are free to make up your own mind about everything the author talks about. Each person has a different view of things so each person has a different picture of the characters, of nature and of the surrounding. It's not dictated to you what certain things or characters look like whereas everything is presented to you in the movie.
Another difference is that the Indians in the movie are Sioux and not Comanche as they are in the novel. Maybe, this change has been made because the producer didn't have as much information about the Comanche at his disposal as he had about the Sioux and in order to be able to reproduce their way of living true to life he came up with this idea.
Furthermore, some events of the novel have been changed or left away in the movie, probably with the purpose of increasing tension and in this way providing a better entertainment for the person watching the movie. For example, when Dunbar burns the garbage that he has been piling near the fort, there is a lot of smoke soaring up; in the movie there is a group of fierce- looking Pawnee that sees some smoke but you don't know right away that this is the smoke of some other fire. In addition, the battles and the Indians' hunt for buffalo are shown to be more dramatic and gripping as they are described in the novel. For instance, Dunbar rescues an Indian boy from getting run over by a buffalo which doesn't happen in the novel and the battle against the Pawnee is embellished with more details as the novel gives you.
Besides, there are some explanations and details missing in the movie since actions and descriptions have been shortened. When Dunbar finds Stands With A Fist in the prairie, the author tells the reader why she has been trying to commit suicide out there. Watching the movie, you don't get to know this until Stone Calf tells Dunbar about it later on. In addition, in the movie you don't get to know how Dunbar knows where the Indians' camp is located: Riding across the prairie he finds Stands With A Fist and takes her to the village. The novel tells the reader, though, that Dunbar has been seeing smoke soaring up in one certain direction several mornings in a row so he concludes that the Indians' camp must be located there.
Watching the movie you also don't know what has happened to Cargill and his troops. Dunbar finds the fort abandoned but it's not said where the soldiers have gone. Furthermore, in the movie Stands With A Fist is able to talk in English right away when her and Kicking Bird meet Dunbar for the first time but in the novel, she isn't even able to pronounce Dunbar's name in the correct way the first time they meet. Another difference is that Stands With A Fist's behaviour towards him is not hostile at all at that point of time as it is described in the novel. She is rather shy than anything else when she is supposed to talk to him.
However, in the movie not only this kind of details are missing but also things that I assess to be quite important for following the development of the relation between Dances With Wolves and the Indians. Neither is Dances With Wolves mentioned getting in the canyon and having his dream or vision nor is his way home to the camp described when he feels "oneness with his horse and the prairie and the prospect of returning whole to the village that was now his home"44. Furthermore, the desecration of the Indians' sacred place is not shown either, when Dances With Wolves gets to know the whites "in ways he did not know them before"45.
Basically, in the movie Dances With Wolves has this revelation when they find the buffalo shot by the white people. Dunbar is really shocked and he can't understand why people do this kind of things. He realizes that the Indians are totally confused because they are afraid of what's going to happen to them in the future. They don't know how many more of the white people will be coming. Contrary to the novel, the white people who shot the buffalo are not killed in the movie, though. In the movie it is shown that Dunbar only feels bad because of the Indians' problem whereas in the novel his primary reason for not knowing where he belongs to is the fact that the Indians have killed people of his own race so that he even expects to get killed as well.
Another thing that is different in the movie is that Stone Calf, a good friend of Dances With Wolves, gets killed when the Pawnee attack the village of the Comanche. In the novel, though, this Indian helps to free him when Dances With Wolves is supposed to be taken to Fort Hays. I really wonder why this has been changed in the movie since there is no apparent reason for digressing from the original version.
Right before the wedding of Dances With Wolves and Stands With A Fist Wind In His Hair talks to the groom. He tells Dances With Wolves the reasons for his dislike of him at the beginning. Stands With A Fist's husband had been a good friend of Wind In His Hair so it was hard for him to like the white soldier in the first place. The novel lacks this conversation which might have been added in the movie in order to clarify that Wind In His Hair is a fierce and suspicious person in general but that friendship does mean a lot to him. This is also shown in the way that Wind In His Hair says goodbye to Dances With Wolves at the end of the movie.
The endings of the novel and the movie also differ from each other: At the end of the novel it's not said whether Dances With Wolves and his wife are actually going to leave the camp. Furthermore, there are predictions of that what is going to happen to the Indians in the future and it becomes clear that it's just a matter of time until they will be driven out of their country. At the end of the movie, however, Stands With A Fist and Dances With Wolves definitely leave and the soldiers find the Indians' wintercamp pretty soon. That's when the movie ends. Then, a short paragraph appears on the screen generally telling about the Indians' villages having been destroyed, the buffalo having been almost completely exterminated and the `Wild West' having already been history only 13 years later. The predictions of the novel have come true in the movie. It's not particularly described what has happened to the single village of the Sioux, though. Probably, the producer dispenses with it since there is no use to show the soldiers literally butchering the Indians. The producer confines himself to talking about the development of the Indians' situation in general in order to hint at their situation upon that time and the destruction of their culture and their way of life. He doesn't want to entertain the viewer with a bloody battle but wants the people to realize what has happened to the Indians.
Talking to the crazy Major in Fort Hays in the movie Dunbar had said that he wanted to get to know the `Wild West' before it wouldn't exist any more. Considering the paragraph at the end of the movie you can see how fast the Indians' culture has been destroyed. The passage with the `Wild West' doesn't occur in the novel, though, which shows that the producer's purpose actually is to hint at and to emphasize this problem.
Summarizing the results of this comparison you can see that the main ideas and essential messages of the novel have been converted in the movie. However, in my opinion the novel is the better version. It gives you far more background knowledge and details and you are free to make up your own mind about the setting and location of the places. On the other hand, this doesn't mean that the movie is not good at all. It hasn't been only made with the purpose of entertaining the viewer but to criticize the treatment of the Indians and to point out their problematic situation, as well. It's just very difficult to convert all the contents of the novel in the movie since the movie would be far to long in this way an probably only bore the viewer. In fact, it's a pretty good movie but having read the novel before it doesn't really come up to my expectations.
[...]
1 Michael Blake: Dances With Wolves. Penguin Books 1988. Page 52
2 Page 52
3 Page 99
4 Page 99
5 Page 100
6 Page 103
7 Page 106
8 Page 107
9 Page 289
10 Page 159
11 Page 153
12 Page 213
13 Page 150
14 Page 177
15 Page 162
16 Page 168
17 Page 176
18 Page 176
19 Page 177
20 Page 209
21 Page 211
22 Page 230
23 Pages 229/230
24 Page 177
25 Page 269
26 Page 287
27 Page 284
28 Page 298
29 Page 307
30 Page 312
31 Page 28
32 Page 18
33 Pages 83/84
34 Page 39
35 Page 28
36 Page 44
37 Page 153
38 Page 1
39 Page 125
40 Page 67
41 Page 69
42 Pages 198/199
43 Pages 281/282
44 Page 230
Frequently asked questions
What is the main topic of the "Dances With Wolves" novel analysis?
The analysis focuses on the clash of two cultures: the civilization of white people and the primitive culture of the Comanche Indians. It explores the development of the relationship between John Dunbar, an American soldier, and a Comanche tribe.
What are the key themes explored in the "Dances With Wolves" analysis?
Key themes include the clash of cultures, differences between the Indians' and the white peoples' culture, the development of the relation between Dunbar and the Indians, and the impact of white civilization on Native American life.
Who are the main characters discussed in the characterization section?
The main characters analyzed are Dances With Wolves (Lieutenant John Dunbar), Stands With A Fist, and Kicking Bird. Important minor characters discussed are Ten Bears and Wind In His Hair.
How is Dances With Wolves characterized in the analysis?
Dances With Wolves is portrayed as a person with a strong sense of duty, orderliness, and conscientiousness. He is also described as single-minded, determined, and open-minded, with a growing appreciation for nature and the Native American way of life.
What is Stands With A Fist's background?
Stands With A Fist is a white woman who has been living with the Comanche since she was a child after her parents were killed by Pawnee. This creates internal conflict as she is "two people," caught between two cultures.
How is Kicking Bird characterized?
Kicking Bird is the medicine man of the Comanche tribe. He's described as kind, gentle, honorable, and unselfish. He is peaceful and patient and is greatly respected by others.
What are the main differences highlighted in the comparison between the novel and the movie?
The analysis identifies differences in details such as the tribe (Sioux in the movie vs. Comanche in the novel), specific events (alterations in the battles and buffalo hunt), and omissions (certain explanations and details from the novel are missing in the movie). The movie shortens actions and descriptions.
Does the analysis favor the novel or the movie adaptation?
The analysis suggests that the novel is the better version, offering more background knowledge and detail, allowing for greater individual interpretation. While the movie is deemed a good adaptation and criticizes the treatment of the Indians, it's difficult to include all the details from the book.
What purpose of the producer of the movie is mentioned?
The producer intends not only to entertain the viewer but to criticize the treatment of the Indians and to point out their problematic situation, as well.
Does the analysis conclude what happened to Dances With Wolves and the Comanche tribe?
In the novel, the analysis reports, the fate of Dances With Wolves and Stands With A Fist is left uncertain. The ending shows that future events will be catastrophic for the Comanche tribe. The ending of the movie is slightly more certain than the novel.
- Quote paper
- Lennart Kage (Author), 2000, Blake, Michael - Dances With Wolves, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/97924
