Review Of Lawrence Of Arabia Essay, Research Paper
Review of Lawrence of Arabia
The movie Lawrence of Arabia had many interesting aspects about it and, according to sources, is very historically accurate. Taken place during WW + with the feud between British and Turkish forces over the Suez Canal, the movie reflects a life of an individual who tries to do something about the injustice of the Arabian people. David Lean depicts Lawrence or El Lawrence as the tragic hero of the biography in order to make the story more enchanting to the reader.
Lean depicts Lawrence as the classic tragic hero by first making him of noble race. Lawrence himself is enrolled in the British army and is stationed at Cairo. Lawrence, however, dreams of bigger things and wishes to work with the Arabians first hand. Lawrence being the intelligent young officer with the big background is allowed by his superior to go and find Prince Feisel. Despite the fact that he is allowed to this because his superior can t stand him, Lawrence moves out on a mission to find the prince. On the way to Arabia, Lawrence teams up with a tribesman to help him find his way. To his dismay, the guide is killed when they wonder into off-limits territory for the guide and the guide is killed by Sherif, a member of an opposing tribe of the guide. This strikes a feeling of injustice in Lawrence that will later lead to his tragic flaw. He finds his way to his other superior on the mission by himself and is swamped by the feeling of injustice once again. He sees how Prince Feisel is being tricked and tries to help him but it is hopeless.
Another trait of a tragic hero that Lean depicts Lawrence of having is a tragic flaw. Lawrence s tragic flaw is quite obvious in this biography, it is simply that he believes he can make Arabia an independent state. Little does Lawrence know, because it would seem almost impossible to make all of Arabia agree under one government. Lawrence is displayed as a tragic hero who s only wish is to promote the miracle of Arabian independence. He tries to show the world as well as the British that the Arabians are worthy of independence on a number of occasions. First, he takes fifty warriors from Prince Feisel across the Nefud Desert to Aqaba to take it from land where the Turks would not expect it. Lawrence does this to show everyone that the Arabians are not worthless and deserve and independent state. To the amazement of everyone he makes it across the Nefud Desert and takes Aqaba with the help of a local tribe. Another incident(s) of Lawrence trying to prove the worth of the Arabians is the ambushing of trains. In order to prove the worth of the Arabians, Lawrence tries to involve them in the ambushing of trains, to prove they can survive on their own. To his dismay, the Arabians show him just what is going to happen when, after they loot the trains and take everything they need, they go home.
Lawrence s last two traits of a tragic hero are that of recognizing your flaw and dying as a result of it. Lawrence recognizes that his dream of independence for Arabia was just a dream when none of the Arabians stay with him. During his continuous raids of Turkish trains, Lawrence begins to realize that his dream is impossible. This is because none of his employed Arabians stay with him, most of them leave after they get whatever they followed him for. Lawrence realizes that he cannot lead Arabia to independence when he is caught inside an Arabian city and beaten by the city guards. Afterwards, he realizes that he couldn t possibly unite the Arabian people when he himself cannot even pass as one. As long as he remains a white Englishman, he believes that the Arabian people will never unite themselves through or under him. The Arabians perceive him as an Englishman who is capable of bringing them riches, not as someone who has come to unite them or as someone that they would follow to the death. After many conflicts with this, Lawrence is sent back to England because the English were tired of his complaining. Not directly related to his realizing his tragic flaw, but indirectly, is his death. The fact that he returned to England because he could not unite the Arabians is indirectly related to his motorcycle accident. Had he stayed in Arabia he would not have ridden the motorcycle, and, in effect, wouldn t have died.
In conclusion, the fact that Lawrence thought he could unite all of Arabia was a dream from the beginning to the end. However, the reader/audience is overcome by his perseverance and hopelessness, and as a result feel pity for this tragic hero. All around the traits of Lawrence being a tragic hero make the movie a plus.