too. Despite this, Martin M. Winkler’s view, is that the reason some viewers may still see Ethan as a hero is because he is “played by the actor who more than anybody else in screen history embodies the western hero” making his role as a ‘hero’ ambiguous. 105 Winkler goes on to assess Ethan’s characteristics, and argues that it is Ethan’s “savagery and increasing obsession and madness” which “undercut Ethan’s heroic qualities.” 106 Some of Ethan’s actions also, go against the traditional hero depiction, since there is a scene where he kills three men whilst they are running away, which could arguably be seen as cowardly. Winkler states, it is “an action incompatible with the unwritten code of behaviour for western heroes.” 107 It can be seen that Ethan therefore, doe s not follow Homer’s example and does not embody the nature of a hero. This can further be seen Ethan is also a racist figure. Not only is it “his extreme racism that keeps him from being a hero” but it is not the actions of the Native American’s which m ake him racist towards them, as he can be seen as “a racist before the murder of Martha.” 108 Nevertheless, although not the embodiment of the traditional hero as represented by Homer, the casting of John Wayne makes the viewer see him as a kind of “troubled hero” and “feel pity… and sympathy for a murderous racist.” 109 Since the viewers will still imagine Ethan as a hero because of the actor who plays him, it is likely that many will associate Ethan as a hero, despite his more negative characteristics. It is therefore the viewers who make him into a hero, as it was not John Ford’s intentions. It is the culture of today, 105 Martin M. Winkler, ‘Homer’s Iliad and John Ford’s The Searchers ,’ in The Searchers: Essays and Reflections on John Ford’s Classic Western, edited by Arthur M. Eckstein and Peter Lehman (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2004), p. 151 106 Winkler, ‘Homer’s Iliad and John Ford’s The Searchers ,’ p. 152 107 Ibid., p. 155 108 Corkin, Cowboys as Cold Warriors , p. 137; Edward Buscombe, The Searchers (London: BFI Publishing, 2000), p. 18 109 Buscombe, The Searchers , p. 24; p. 26
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