Individualism with Shane as an Example

Shane Essay

The movie represents a lot of things, but the concept of individualism is the one that stands out. Shane is the protagonist who feels the need to serve justice to a small western town while remaining detached from the society. Shane takes on the responsibility of rescuing Joe Starett and his family, as well as the other country men. Bellah’s concept of the mythical individual defines the characteristics of who Shane is. Shane is a mysterious man who remains to himself, even when surrounded by people. The movie’s theme of Individualism reflects why Shane can preserve his ways and stay detached from society while helping it.

Shane is a man not afraid to be himself, he makes his own rules, and decisions as he goes. Since the beginning of the movie you know Shane is a man who came from a trouble past, and he is trying to get away from it. He enters Joe’s home introducing himself as a lonely cowboy trying to rewrite his life. It is clear that he could work for him, but lets him know that he could never be tamed by him or anyone else. In Bellah’s, the concept you have made about violating your thinking or decisions is wrong. This is because you are betraying yourself and not letting your mind express what you are really thinking or what your true ideals are, which can shape and mold the person you became.

Modern Individualism started with people who didn’t want to be ruled by aristocratic governments, which oppressed them and made them do things they did not want to do (Bellah 142). Citizens instead rebelled and had a desire to make their own government. Governments started to change because of this; people began to introduce more into the government issues that could make good to their people. The town in the movie full of farmers and people, who wanted to have a piece of land that they could call their own, were subjected to Ryker. Ryker as a man who wanted to rule the town in a wrong way, causing everyone to grow angry and eventually want to rebel against him. Hollywood genres talk about the image of the Western community changed accordingly, redefining the hero’s motivation and his sense of mission (Schartz 58), civilization puts weight on unreasonable expectation for this kind of hero so Shane in the movie comes into the rescue when he found out about the problem and tries to help in his own way.

Shane had a priority for himself, but also had a