In “The Fugitive” Richard Kimble faces a lot of opposition
while trying to defend his innocence and his true character. The train wreck is indeed a good second
chance opportunity for Kimble to defend himself. Throughout the film, the audience does not
see Kimble as a fugitive because we know he is innocent. We also know that he is not a fugitive
because he stops and helps several people along the way. One example of him showing his true character
and his innocence was when he told the officer to give him the keys to unlock
him so he could help the wounded guard. He
genuiwinly wanted to help. The audience
could see this when everyone had gotten off the bus when they saw the train was
going to crash into them. Kimble stayed
behind to save one of the prisoner guards.
He almost risked his own life trying to save another’s life. The fact that he was willing to save the life
of a prisoner guard that was driving him to prison is proof that he is an
innocent man. It almost gives
confirmation that he would not be able to kill his wife if he has shown so many
times throughout the film that he has a passion to save others’ lives.
Kimble really wants to save the man’s life because he does
not just throw him out the window, but carries him in his arms while they
struggle to make it off the bus. He also
gets hurt in the process but takes time to make sure the prisoner guard is
doing alright. This scenes sets the mood and attitude for the rest of the
film because it foreshadows what he might do in later scenes, which is save
people. He is then presumed to be a
completely innocent man because of his work he put in to save the man.
In later scenes, he does the same. When he first arrives to the hospital and
stitches himself up, he tells the paramedics what is wrong with the prisoner
guard, and they wonder to themselves how he knew what was wrong with him before
he even looked. Another scene was when
he was playing a janitor in the hospital and he sent the boy in to have
surgery. The doctor questioned how he
knew the boy needed surgery, but she said it saved his life. At this point, the U.S. Marshall decided that
Kimble was actually an innocent man because a fugitive would not take a risk of
getting caught just to save a child’s life.
He knew he could not be capable of killing his wife because his strong
passion to save people was clearly evident throughout various incidents.
Richard Kimble’s actions really do show that he is an innocent man. I agree with you that from the beginning we know that Kimble didn’t kill his wife, but even if we didn’t know that we would suspect that he was innocent anyway. He doesn’t act as a fugitive. While he doesn’t want to get caught, he still puts himself at risk for others and the people he helps are total strangers. As a doctor he saves strangers lives all the time so it just comes natural to him to help these people in need. If Ford’s character didn’t do these heroic things his character wouldn’t be the same. He is the protagonist because he chooses to save all these people over his own good. He rarely thinks about himself throughout the entire film, which isn’t what a normal fugitive would do. Most guilty men on the run will do whatever it takes to stay free and they often hurt others instead of helping others. Kimble shows his innocence and good nature throughout the entire film and we know the whole time that he is a good man who wouldn’t kill his own wife.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJonathan Lam
ReplyDeleteI think you chose a very good scene because not only did we get to see Richard Kimble's real disposition as being innocent, but he also called to question the police officer's moral convictions. The police officer obviously was walking a thin line between doing the right thing and abandoning them, and in the end, the police officer chose a fifty - fifty route to go by giving them the keys. However, later in the film, the police officer lies about giving them the key and saving his partner, when in actuality, he did none of that. Richard Kimble really does the right thing by staying behind too help the guard too. It is unfortunate that the guard later turns him into the police by identifying him as he went into the emergency room at the hospital. We must remember, however, that we see him as innocent because we are the audience, but from the other characters' perspectives, they can only see him as an escaped fugitive except his closest friends from medical school. I like how you brought up the following scenes where Kimble saved the guard's life and the little boy's life while posing as the janitor. We, as the audience, KNOW that he is innocent, but what about everyone else?