As
Indiana Jones embarks on each new quest, he progresses and develops his journey
as a knight. Throughout the film,
“Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” Indy is still a mercenary knight
seeking out fortune and glory.
Even during the beginning moments of “Raiders of the Lost Arch” Indy is
still a mercenary knight. The
first moments of the film, Indy is seeking out a golden shrine. This indicates that he still has not
developed into the next stage of the knight’s journey. It is not until Indy
finally pledges to serve the American government does he take a step to
becoming an indentured knight.
At
the start of each film, Indiana has different motives. In “Temple of Doom,” Indy has not
intention of truly helping the village.
He first agrees to it in order to get the valuable stones. It is not
until he sees the children does he feel the need to rescue them. Indian goes on these adventure only
seeking fortune and glory. He
tries to ignore his responsibility to the adults around him. He is constantly getting into trouble
and has no regard for those around him.
The entire film he is dragging Willy around through all of this chaos
and does not even once stop to evaluate her situation. He even goes so far as to risk her life
when she is almost sacrificed.
When he happens upon the destroyed village, he does not venture on this
quest because he wants to save it.
Rather than be concerned about saving it, he is more drawn to the fact
that he will benefit monetarily. In the end however, he cannot break away from
his obligation to save the children.
It is in this film where Indiana can be seen taking steps towards
accepting a higher authority.
The
moment when Indiana Jones moves from mercenary to indenture knight the moment
when he commits to seek out the Arch of the Covenant. He accepts the role as agent for
the government. By doing so,
Indian makes that leap from a mercenary knight who only seeks out fortune and
glory, to a knight that is indentured to a higher government. It is not until
right before the chaotic supernaturally driven climax that puts an end to all
of the villains that Indiana fully graduates to his Indentured Knight title,
(Pfeiffer 117). Prior to this
moment, Indiana heads off the Nazi’s and stops them as they march off with the
Arch and Marian. This is when
Indiana fully realizes and understands his part in the grand scheme of his
journey. He realizes that he can
no longer have an “anything goes” attitude towards life and steps into his new
title.
Michael D. Miller
ReplyDeleteRaiders blog response
Sir Indiana Jones the Knight
I agree to a point that Indiana is mercenary knight in the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but he has a noble cause. He is seeking out the idol to be brought back to the university to be displayed in a museum. I agree he is seeking the fame and glory that goes along with his discovery and recovery of the idol, but very little fortune is involved when a museum purchases an artifact. However, I disagree with your assessment of Indiana becoming an indentured knight when he pledges to serve the American government. I would say that Indiana becomes an indentured knight when he chooses to save Marion from the entombment in the crypt. Indiana chooses to protect the “damsel in distress” or one of the “women in the Lord’s court” as opposed to choosing riches and fortune.
Even though the blog was supposed to be about Raiders of the Lost Ark and not so much the Temple of Doom, I again disagree with your assessment that Indiana Jones has no regard for those around him. I believe that he cares very much about those around him and seeks to do the right thing. Indiana is a man of action; he takes the initiative and is fearless in his undertaking of any task at hand.
The dragging of Willie around through all of the chaos is irrelevant in the Temple of Doom. Her cares and concerns are not poignant to the story. However, this blog was supposed to be about Raiders of the Lost Ark.