Miller Crusade Blog: The Origins of Indiana Jones

Michael D. Miller

Crusade Blog

Origins of Indiana

            In the opening scenes of the Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade, a young Indiana Jones is a boy scout on a horseback outing with his troop in the Utah desert in 1912. Indiana and a friend begin to explore the caves of a mountain and soon discover grave robbers pillaging the Cross of Coronado. Indiana steals the cross from the grave robbers and rides off with the robbers in hot pursuit. Indiana jumps a circus train and the real excitement begins.

River Phoenix as a young Indy in the film's memorable opening scene Pfeiffer 180.

Indy falls into a snake pit in one of the train cars, where he is engulfed with snakes. This sequence lends to basis for Indy’s fear of snakes in the Raider of the Lost Ark when he has to enter the tomb that is filled with snakes where he is obviously traumatized. Indy continues to evade capture and jumps to the next train car. 

Indy falls into a second train car where a circus lion is being housed. In order for Indy to survive, he finds a whip and uses it to keep the lion at bay. His first strike with the whip causes a cut across his chin, thus explaining the scar on the older Indiana Jones’ chin. When in actuality, Harrison Ford reportedly got the scar when he lost control of a car he was driving while trying to “buckle up.” The whip was also used to hoist Indy out of the “lion’s den” by the grave robbers. The whip appears to have multiple uses and in the hands of a whip master can be utilized very successfully as we see in all of the Indiana Jones films. Conversely, the whip in the hands of an untrained person can essentially be rendered useless. Therefore, Indy has a multi-purpose tool that can and has been used in a number of ways to get him into and out of trouble. 

Indiana evades capture and returns to his home. He tries unsuccessfully to enlist his father, Dr. Henry Jones, to help him with his dilemma but the sheriff arrives with the grave robbers and relieves him of the Cross. The leader tells a young Indy that he lost today, but that he didn’t have to like it and then dons his fedora on Indy’s head. In addition, the leader also wore a leather jacket. This sequence appears to support Indiana’s “uniform” of a fedora with a leather jacket. 

    

Furthermore, the scene where Indy attempts to summon the help of his father and his father makes him recite numbers in Greek, by doing so he essentially ignores Indiana’s pleas for help. Dr. Jones Sr. comes across as the scholar, the historian, and a man of great research into his search for the grail. Indiana possesses thorough knowledge and understanding of history, but moreover he is a man of action. Indy takes the initiative in seeking out ancient artifacts. At one point in the film, Indiana is in the classroom and he explains to the class that much of archeology is done in the library, researching and reading about history. However, Indiana does change his advice in the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls during the motorcycle in the library scene when he tells a student, who poses a question to him, that he has to get out of the library. 

This is also evidenced throughout the movie where Indiana takes the initiative and Dr. Jones Sr. seems to be out of his element and unsure of what to do. For instance, Indy tries to rescue his father from the Nazis. Indy swings into the room where Dr. Jones Sr. is being held captive and a short time later he mowing down Nazi’s with a machine gun. Dr. Jones Sr. is astonished and taken aback by what his son has just done. Dr. Jones Sr. makes a comment that this has never happened to him before and Indy replies that this happens to him all of the time. Together, father and son, the researcher and the man of action, are able to locate and seize the Holy Grail, which is used to save Dr. Jones Sr.’s life.     

              

Dr. Jones Sr. being the scholar that he is has imposed his passion and knowledge of history on his young son. Indy has to some degree followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming an archeologist. Where they differ is that Dr. Jones Sr. is a researcher and a full-time student of history from a library standpoint and Indiana is well versed in history but he takes it to a much higher level because he actually experiences history by actively seeking out historical relics and bringing the items back to the university or museum for people like his father to study.