Have another great guest post from reader Daniel F. Mason. This one covers Clint Eastwood’s character Josey Wales and the timeless lessons that can be learned from him. Daniel has been a lifelong Clint Eastwood fan and drawn inspiration from his films. Enjoy!
Life hits us ALL with stuff from time to time. Lots of it can be resolved by making a phone call or breaking out the plastic($). Some of it is low-down dirty. Out-of-the-blue! You may need to seek treatment and/or surgery, hire an attorney or make burial arrangements for family! It can challenge the best of us to ponder “is God picking on me?” The answer, NO, the ‘higher power’ does not have designs on sticking it to you – personally! It’s just life. Simple as that. One must be highly resilient and of strong fortitude to persevere.
Josey’s War Begins
Clint Eastwood’s “The Outlaw Josey Wales”, came out in the summer of ‘76. The character of Josey Wales is one to view, as an example of resilience and fortitude to overcome obstacles thrown at him. The film opens with Josey, a farmer, horrified as the Kansas Red Legs, a gang of Union rabble are about to rape his wife and are burning down his house with his son – in it! Josey scrambles to save his son but is knocked unconscious by a sword to the face. He awakens to devastation, buries his family, recites some prayer, cries and is lost. Now, he could choose to waste away in heartbreak, turn to the bottle, end-it-all or … break out his Colt Walker and take target practice at a fence post. He chooses to FIGHT! My man!
A band of Confederate guerillas ( led by “Bloody Bill” Anderson ) happens by. They’re after the Red Legs to “set things aright.” Josey in vengeance mode, by default, joins them ( his new family ). A stark montage portrays the Civil War until it’s inevitable conclusion, amnesty. The remaining guerillas are cajoled into disarming and take an oath to the Union. But, Josey’s not having any of it ( because, what was the point of it all? ) and heads for the hills. From a perch, he spies through a telescope an ambush about to happen. He comes galloping down the hill to witness the massacre of his fellow soldiers by a Gatling gun! Josey kills as many blue coats ( trying to save his second family) as possible and escapes with a young, wounded Confederate soldier, Jamie. A senator at the Union camp puts out a commission for Fletcher ( Josey’s mentor ) and Captain Terrill ( who killed Josey’s family ) to hunt him down! Josey’s a victim of sorts – AGAIN!
Running For His Life
Josey and Jamie’s best option for survival is to hide out in The Indian Nations ( who side with the gray coats ), give Jamie time to heal up and then later – find/kill Fletcher ( who they suspect became a turncoat ). Along their escape, they encounter a number of colorful characters who’ve heard of the LEGEND and the BOUNTY on Josey’s head. All, desperate for money in the irresolute days of the war’s end. After Jamie’s death ( another familial loss ), Josey rides on. He is stalked by an older Cherokee man, Lone Watie, who he begrudgingly allows to tag along. Lone needs a horse to get to Mexico and suggests a trading post nearby. At the trading post Josey saves a young Navajo woman, Little Moonlight, from a cruel beating by her boss and
rape from 2 patron slobs looking for their payday from him ( Josey dispatches them to the next life(!) ). Afterwards, feeling indebted, Moonlight begins to follow him, much to his chagrin. Josey even allows a “mangy redbone hound” to “ride along with us. Hell, everybody else is.” On route to Mexico, Josey saves a Kansas ‘Jayhawkers-proud’ family from the ravage of comancheros. The group heads off towards Santa Rio, Texas and a mystical home near Blood Butte. His new, eclectic ( third ) family of ‘pilgrims’ is found!
The 5 Stages Of Grief
Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kuber-Ross in her 1969 book “On Death And Dying’, presented the theory of ‘The 5 Stages of Grief’. They are: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance ( as well as others ). She based this work on how the terminally ill cope with dying and impending death. As a BBC article recalls, she described them as “defence mechanisms …coping mechanisms to deal with extremely difficult situations.” Although popularly cited, critics have dismissed the idea for lack of empirical research.
Although, there is no ABSOLUTE linear progression to these stages, as a person who has gone through a few major life challenges ( divorce, parent death, major relationship breakup ), for myself, I can say I’ve experienced many of these ‘grief’ stages, sometimes for years! Like the old adage attests ‘people respond to grief differently’. Again, in the BBC article, Elisabeth’s son Ken Ross said “the five stages are meant to be a loose framework – they’re not some sort of recipe or ladder for conquering grief.” And, grief expert David Kesseler, who worked with Kubler-Ross ( and with the family’s permission ), added a sixth stage ‘meaning’, as how to best process grief.
In Josey’s case, although fueled by vengeance and defending, I believe that is how he somewhat worked through his grief. In 1860’s America, there was an acceptance ( the ‘meaning’ ) that life was hard and could be tragic. If you’re going through an emotional crisis it’s best to not go-it alone with just self-help. Confide in someone you trust, family, friends, support group and/or counseling if necessary. Charles Sledge has some amazing articles to help turn your life around!
At Last, Peace
Having chased Terrill into town, Josey stabs him with the very sword that he knocked Josey out with at the beginning ( restitution for his lost, first family ). Finally, Josey exhausted, wounded, the strength to flee no further, outside the saloon – is given reprieve by his former Confederate mentor, Fletcher. A truce on his ‘own’ terms and a chance to have his life equilibrium restored once more.
Perhaps, when it comes to life altering situations, Josey puts it best ( when rallying his adopted family for a potential onslaught from the Comanche Chief, Ten Bears ), “Now remember …
when things look bad, and it looks like you’re not gonna make it … then you got to get mean. I mean plumb, mad dog mean! Because, if you lose your head and give up, then you neither live nor win. That’s just the way it is.”
