Glory Essay, Research Paper
Glory is the story of the first black regiment to fight in the civil war. Under the name division fifty-four the courageous black troops voluntarily risked their lives for their country. The uneducated men trained hard to led the attack on South Carolina against the confederates at Fort Wagner, but were unsuccessful in there efforts The film portrays the courage and the struggle of the black soldiers, and how no matter how poorly they where treated the kept working harder and harder to gain respect. The troops of regiment fifty four paved the way for all afro Americans.
Matt Broderick plays the commander of the fifty fourth regiment Rob Shaw. It his Shaw s job to make sure the army is well prepared to fight. He sets aside the fact that the men are black. He knows people might think poorly of him but he respects the men and is willing to teach them the tactics of war. The men feel comfortable talking to him and they know that he believes in them. He stands up for them when he finds out the troops have small shoes. He proudly leads then into battle.
One pivotal scene in the movie is when commander Robert Shaw reads to the troops a letter saying that colored men fighting for the south will be forced into slavery, and all colored men serving under the north will be put to death. Shaw gives the men a choice, he will allow them to dispatch or they could stay, the decision was strictly voluntary. When Shaw woke up for roll call the next day he was surprised by the fact that the majority of the men stayed even under the circumstances. This is when the men receive a new respect from Shaw. Shaw realizes that the men have pride and just want the chance to prove themselves.
Another pivotal scene is when the troops are about to receive the checks for their duties. Shaw tells them that because of the fact that they are a colored regiment they will be paid ten dollars instead on thirteen dollars. Trip played by Denzel Washington rallies the troops and convinces them that they were being treated wrongly, as a result the men tear up their paychecks. Commander Shaw said that if his men wouldn t except the money than neither would he and proves his loyalty by ripping up his paycheck also.
The black soldiers in the film were acted upon very unfairly. They were treated as if they were inferior to the white officers. At one point the men didn t even have shoes that fit them causing their feet to bleed. They were talked to as if they weren t even real people always getting belittled and abused. After taking all the abuse and still training hard the white officers finally gave them the respect they deserved.
The historical event depicted in the movie is the civil war. The fact that regiment fifty-four never was able to overtake fort wagner is historically correct. And President Lincoln credited the colored men with helping turn the tide of the war. After the effort of regiment fifty-four congress authorized the raising of black troops throughout the union and over 180,000 men volunteered.
This is probably the fifth time I ve seen Glory and every time it gets better and better. I give the movie a 8.5 out of ten. This is definitely in my top five favorite movies. I love the constant action and how the black men risked their life to prove that they should be treated equal. The story is very inspirational and the actors do a superb job in telling the struggle of the fifty fourth regiment. I think my favorite seen in the movie is on the night before the fight when the men are sitting around the camp fire singing oh my lord lord lord lord and praying together. I thought it was cool how they came together and how they said they were the only family they had. All together this is an awesome movie.