The Searchers v. Touch of Evil: A Contrary in Characters

 

            As a viewer of both The Searchers and Touch of Evil—two completely different movies—one can construe some relatively similar traits from their principle characters: Ethan Edwards and Hank Quinlan. While The Searchers may take place post the Civil War and Touch of Evil being present at the time of the film’s release, Ethan and Hank portray similar traits in their respective worlds that are worth taking into account.

            To get this out of the way, both characters are racist—plain and simple; except that it is not. What’s most interesting about this comparison is the way that it is portrayed in their own set of circumstances. The way a person behaves is amicable to the way a person reacts, whether it be towards a person, an environment, or an idea. Ethan Edwards’ racism is very outward and direct. Because he is a man with many morals left to cross, he comes off as aloof, insensitive, and uncooperative. He is the kind of man that likes to take control of a situation and does not care how offensive he is being if it means that his objective is complete. He is outwardly hateful, especially if the thing hates is within him all throughout. Quinlan, on the other hand, is a man whose racism stems from social class. He is a man that takes his job very seriously yet does so in a very esoteric manner. His reputation is his greatest strength as well as his greatest weakness. Sure, he controls people, like Sanchez, by preventing him to defend himself via speaking his native tongue, for he is not very good at English; even going so far as to slap him for speaking Spanish after repeatedly being ordered to maintain English. His relationship with Miguel “Mike” Vargas, a Mexican, is interesting in a way where Vargas is privileged enough to give his own input and work in the same field as Quinlan, yet not enough to be considered equal.

            Additionally, both Ethan and Hank are highly respected in their own community. Even though Ethan’s method’s for getting things done are often ruthless and questionable at best, he is, at most, the life of a party around his family and peers. Especially, in the circumstance a group of Comanche is the main antagonist of the movie, Ethan’s barely gets any moral opposition from his allies since they are all going for the exact same objective: to save Debbie; killing any Comanche soldiers who obstructs them. Quinlan’s circumstance, however, is much more complex and needs to be handled with lots of care. Since his intentions coincide a more compact setting and higher risks, he goes along his merry way, so long as his good name is respective by the people he needs to be respected by and he has something to lose. Quinlan has more to lose for he is an important man in the eyes of the society he inhabits, while Ethan is an outcast and isn’t afraid to take risks.

            Moreover, both men are worth noting from their comparisons, yet have such different backgrounds that it is almost intriguing to the kind of story that could be told if both of their worlds collided.