Summary Of The Movie Glory

Ian Pruett-Jones

11-18-2014

Anise K. Strong

History 3015

Second Paper- Glory Battle

Glory is a film that was released in 1989 and is centered on the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first formal unit of the Union Army during the Civil War to be made up entirely of African-American men. The film deals largely with the theme of a group of downtrodden men looking to fight for their freedom and for their country, only to be met with scorn and disdain from almost every person they meet. The film is a testament to how, even though many people believe that the Union Army’s only noble goal was to free the slaves of the South, there was still a massive amount of prejudice held by many of the Union soldiers. In fact, in the entire movie,

In the battle scene, the 54th is pinned down and taking massive amounts of enemy fire, and yet none of the soldiers are making any sort of move to fight back. Their comrades are dying all around them, but the men simply lie there in the sand covering their heads. Thus it falls to Colonel Robert Shaw to be the beacon of courage for his men in order to lead them to glory. While the movie is undoubtedly about the struggles of the African American men of the 54th, it cannot be overlooked that at every turn they require guidance and mercy from their benevolent white colonel. It would be unrealistic for a company of African American men to accomplish what they did in the Civil War without Shaw’s help, but it is still worth noting that in some ways this feels largely like movies where the white man comes to save the savages (e.g. Dances With Wolves, Avatar, The Last Samurai). In fact, it is not until Colonel Shaw heroically sacrifices his life for his men that they are suddenly emboldened to make the charge. It gives the impression that, if it were not for the white man’s noble sacrifice, the black men would not be where they

This is significant in the film because up to this point, Trip has been the most opposed and most standoffish to the whites. The scene where Shaw has Trip whipped in front of the unit is relevant because it is almost possible to feel the hate for the white man emanating off of Trip. Yet here, on the battlefield, he is the soldier who is affected enough by Shaw’s death to take up the flag and rally the men of the