Braveheart is one of the most inspiring war films of all times. The chronicle starts with a personal tragedy in the life of the rebel William Wallace, whose story of suffering starts with the death of his father. After this loss, he has to leave his clan to live in another place with his uncle until adulthood. After his return to the clan after many years, his sorrow culminates with the brutal death of his childhood beloved, enacted by the royal guard.
Wallace united and le his clan to conquer strongholds of the English, which had been responsible for the suffering subjected to the Scottish one after the other. One person’s personal move to avenge the deaths of loved ones turned into that of many and soon gave rise to a nationalist zeal to have an independent piece of land of their own. The story of glory kept spreading even further when Wallace’s militia was joined by other clans and kept penetrating through as an indestructible force.
The scene selected for this rhetorical analysis is the transitional first strike by Wallace when Murron- his childhood love and now his secret wife was executed by a royal guard publicly and brutally. This scene has been chosen due to its importance in the transitional function it has thematically in the character and turn in Wallace’s life. This represents the very first instance of his rebirth as the rebel whose personal vengeance and journey to justice gives birth to the first nationalist zeal of the Scots in the middle of English oppression.
Considering that the only observable it is the only observable scene in the screen, it is obvious how much a silent and numb stare can express. The scene begins with a background thudding sound that resembles the ticking of a clock, but in a much stronger and ominous way. The stormy beating of rage in the heart of Wallace seems to echo in that sound effect. The slow treading of the horse reflects the slowly advancing charge of rebellion which is still aloof by that point of time, but will soon rise. The total scene has a halt hanging in the air, which resembles one that would occur just before a storm. Wallace’s appearance from behind the burning fire also hints to the one that is burning in his heart, and may have turned him into who he was at the moment. The stony look in his baffled eyes erupt the numbing pain he feels inside, being charged with unfathomed rage. His eyes again spill out pain and awe at the sight around him. His apparently deceiving gesture of surrender and sloth highlights the fear of the guards through the slight breathing out by them at the sight of him, and only makes their sense of wrong doing even more focused. The inquisitive and careful look by the guard who gets hold of Wallace’s horse is captivating. He rushes after him, puts his hands behind his head and in turn, represents English awareness of all the wrong they have done to the Scots. Wallace’s returned look of indifference shows his stony and blank determination of getting justice.
The guard’s look as an individual also represents a personal detachment with his role in the rule as a non-questioning and all-abiding soldier. Wallace’s fall from the horse and immediate standing up and striking represents the following recovery and uprising of the oppressed Scottish clans. Wallace’s own preparation with very minimal rural farming tools also reflects the upcoming readiness of the clans. The combined attack by his clan upholds the first mass revolt which emerges out of personal vengeance. The rest of his people identify with this situation since the execution was wrong and public. Wallace’s chasing of the fleeing guard is the ultimate indication that no further oppression will go unanswered. Wallace’s taking hold of the stronghold and throwing it down on the archers serves as the first symbolic representation of the overthrow of English oppression.
The story of William Wallace opens in the 13th century Scotland, which was invaded by Edward I and where local noblemen were stretched by the king’s privilege on various arbitrary scores: like Primera Noctics- a savage so called right of noblemen where they can get newly wedded women on their first night of marriage. This was the most brutal form of oppression to ensure that Scotland’s next generation would include English blood. Due to the plan of revolting against English oppression, Wallace had to suffer the brutal murder of his father and elder brother. He was taken away to return as a grown man by his uncle immediately after their death. His uncle also trains him in the art of war, considering his interest in swords.
Wallace returned as a peaceful man and reconnected with friends despite his anger due to loss of family. He fell in love with the girl who gave him a thistle at his father’s funeral. To avoid Primera Noctis, they marry secretly. All Wallace wanted was to lead a peaceful farm life. His wife Murron was attacked by soldiers and he saves her, but their return and brutal public murder of Murron turns his life upside down.
Despite his loss of family, Wallace’s intention was not to take revenge against the English invaders. He could see the brutality of present nobles in his fellow men, but did not raise his voice. He only returned to his father’s farm to start the life that he once had to leave. As an individual, until the point of Murron’s brutal murder, despite his heartache at every instance of oppression, Wallace only found ways of avoiding any sort of clash. The evidence of this avoidance is his secrecy of marriage to escape the magistrate’s harassment. He was drawn against the wall when his effort to build a life was thwarted yet again by the same oppressor who once orphaned him. Wallace led his life away from a father’s affection and a bother’s embrace due to the English who had now destroyed any hope of a normal life. Through his own despair, he could see what his countrymen would go through eventually, hence his question, ‘what will you do without freedom?’ In the scene, that blank stare depicted all of this despair, pain, and the intent to struggle for a future not for himself, but for his fellow countrymen. He wanted an environment where no invader would be able to invade one’s nuptial night or family day.
Every individual lives a life of their own in a specific space and dimension, with struggles and dreams leading to prospects for future. William Wallace was also not an exception. Rationally speaking, after the loss of his mother, the only normal thing Wallace had was the protected farm life; a peaceful and rhythmic chain of activities leading to a deep sleep at night. After the deceitful murder of his family, the same peaceful time returned in the same setting with Murron yet again. Even that prospect was destroyed through her execution. In both cases, there was no apparent or real reason or guilt on Wallace’s part to have suffered these losses. His very personal design was disarrayed and it left no reason for Wallace to go on any further towards any stable future or end. It was only logical for him to soothe and redeem his vengeance and build a safer future for those he once cherished but missed growing up with after one point in his boyhood. With a darkened future, the best anyone could do was endeavor to illuminate the lives of others and go on living in the brighter shades of those serene lives silently. In the scene, the wild destruction of the English is precisely the way it was at the beginning. Though unaware, that quest of spreading the harmony he never had nor could have any more was his goal.
Though spoken extremely little, his body language and gestures say it all in the scene. The scene indeed presents a rebirth of the reason and sentiment behind these actions which is understandable and so acknowledging is the decision and its basis of choosing the transformation of self.
Works Cited
Gibson, Mel, Alan Ladd, Bruce Davey, Randall Wallace, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan, Catherine McCormack, and James Horner. Braveheart. Hollywood, CA N.p., n.d. Print.
