There are scenes throughout the film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade that portray the development of Indiana's atonement with his father. At this point in the Indiana Jones Franchise history, Indiana is a well-established courageous hero who has awesome adventures with his signature hat and whip. This last installment in the trilogy brought a new element to his character.
We are first introduced to this dichotomy when Indiana brings the cross of Coronado back to this father to regale to him the adventure he just had. His father won't listen to him. We can see that their relationship is not a very close one. It is made clear that Indiana is not after the Grail. He is going on this quest of sorts to save his father. Indiana sees his father as more than a 'damsel in distress' as he essentially takes down a plane with the birds. It is not until Henry Sr. presumes his son to be dead, after Indiana goes off the cliff wit the tank, that he regrets the ways in which he interacted with his son. He just needed five minutes with him. Clearly, the father had not yet reached atonement with the son at that point. Another instance of atonement occurs when Henry Sr. calls him Indiana and tells him not to reach for the Grail. They value each other over the physical cup. They both contemplatively see the value of humanity over artifacts. Interestingly enough, the Holy Grail is never mentioned in the bible. The idea of the Grail never emerged until the lore of King Arthur. Arthurian Legend is the first record of mention of the Holy Grail.
Bringing in Indiana’s father to the series really did show off sides of his character that we haven’t seen yet. Mostly, seeing our intrepid hero robbed of his dignity and mystique, humbled by the belittling criticisms of his father. Until The Last Crusade, Indy’s had it all, brains, brawn, and charm, making him something of a Mary Sue, so one-dimensionally idealized, but we see him cut down to size. He makes stupid mistakes in his father’s eyes, like bringing the journal back into the Nazis’ reach, or thinking too linearly. It paints Indy as a more human character to see him so comedically belittled.
ReplyDeleteThough the addition of his father does point out Indy’s flaws, the atonement in the latter portions of the film then has more weight. Gaining his father’s approval undoes the damage to his ego and he no longer feels at odds with him after gaining such affection and remedying the shortcomings his father saw in him. The course of events in the climax show that Indy has learned from his father’s instruction, making his way past the critiques and coming out almost reborn as a new hero, complete with his old traits, and now with the new ones instilled by his father.