Farewell to the king essays

Farewell to the king essays When I first watched Farewell to the King, I simply thought that it was just the story of how an American GI, through a series of unusual circumstances, became the king of Borneo and then was forced to lead his tribe into a war that he no longer wanted any part of. Upon further analysis, it became evident that this was really the story of Nigel Fairborn who comes into the story with a strong sense of British superiority, loyalty to the King of England and the desire to be a successful military leader. As the story unfolds, Nigel becomes less aware of his superiority, is torn between his loyalty to England and his new found loyalty to King Learoyd, and the reality that he is no longer able to lead. It is evident that Nigels character represents an attitude of British superiority. It is not by accident that the only soldier that accompanies him to Borneo is his radio operator named Tinker, a black man from Africa. In two scenes the viewers attention is directed to the racial difference. The first time is when the two of them are brought before King Learoyd. When Nigel discovers that the tribes king is white, he makes the comment that he is as white as we are. As he says it, he turns to Tinker. Tinkers face displays an expression as if to say, what do you mean by that? Nigels expression changes from that of amazement to that which says, well you know what I mean. This shows that when Nigel made the comment, Tinker was not part of we as he perceived it. Or more specifically, Tinker was something less because he was not white. Next is a scene where Nigel and Tinker are standing in the river rinsing their clothes. They are discussing the situation and Nigel tells tinker that he should not let the seemingly utopian life lure him in, Nigel says, remember you are British. Tinker responds by saying that he is not British, but African. Finally there is one more scene that fo...