Free John Browns Holy War Essay Example

Many movies touch the cinema screen every year but there are few movies, which are successful to leave a benchmark in the hearts of people. One such movie is ‘John Brown’s holy war’. The movie revolves around a single person namely John Brown who started a campaign against slavery of black people at the age of fifty and was martyred in the cause. John brown is still remembered in the American History but as the first terrorist of the nation. The movie is narrated by Joe Morton and produced by Rocky Collins.
In ninety minutes duration of the movie, the director first presented the failures, which John has to face in his life. He was not successful in running business or doing farming. Hunger and urge for money forced him to do all type of job but ultimately his family suffered from illness. Depressed and frayed, john decided to devote his rest of life to fight against slavery.
John was very committed to his mission and did not use words to curtail slavery, but took serious actions to accomplish his mission. In his mission, he got financial support of wealthy Eastern abolitionist namely Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. These people helped John to become a famous public figure and a group of people joined him in the campaign.
John proved to be an extremist and decided to seize federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry. Although John knew that this action would cost him his life but he thought this action a fundamental step towards the success of mission. He planned to start a nationwide revolt against slavery but was hindered in his mission by Robert E Lee.
John’s plan was to attack the town in Harper Ferry, take the arsenal and free the slaves of the area. Many people were killed by John and his people on the way to achieve the mission but unluckily, John became unsuccessful in the end and the marines under the leadership of Robert E. Lee were successful in arresting the injured extremist.
John continued his protest against slavery in the prison also and after numerous hearings and witnesses, the judge finally ordered death penalty to John. John was hanged to death but his words and actions remained alive in the hearts of people which led to the civil war.
The directors were successful in making a highly engaging movie showing the whole mission of john in detail and depth. They also showed how a normal slave such as John who could have lived an ordinary life otherwise became rebellious and extremist.
The thing, which I loved about the movie, was the sequence in which every action and phase of John’s life was presented. The movie is quite inspiring and persuades the viewers to think about equality of black and white people in America. It was after this movie that even black people thought about equality and to live a better life rather than slavery of white people. In addition, it is quite impressive to watch a great message perfectly delivered in just ninety minutes. The movie helps the viewer to understand the concept that how an ordinary man can become a terrorist.
Along with the positive aspects, one drawback in the movie is the violence shown by John. The directors have presented John as a murderer, a madman and an extremist who went through all types of terrifying act to achieve his mission. Therefore, the movie is not a family movie. Moreover, it gives a wrong message to viewers that in order to achieve your aim; you can cross all types of limits be it a murder of an innocent man.