The Revenant: A Conflict Between Two Opposing Characters
The Revenant is the story Hugh Glass’s personal struggle to have his revenge against the man who left him for dead in the wilderness. Is not only about Glass’s journey to recovery motivated by revenge, but I also found that it showed the differences between Glass and the man who left him for dead, John Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald was only concerned with taking his beaver pelts back for profit. When it was crucial for them to travel quickly in order to escape Fitzgerald insisted on carrying beaver pelts hoping that he could sell them if they did escape. Later, after Glass is injured Fitzgerald abandoned Glass- something that he was not willing to do with his prospective money. Fitzgerald’s greed also motivated him to stay behind with glass. However, instead of staying with him like was supposed to he abandoned him to return and collect his reward.

            A young supporting character, Jim Bridger, was visibly conflicted by his moral obligation to stay behind with Glass and Fitzgerald’s plan to leave and collect the reward. Eventually Bridger was tricked by Fitzgerald and left Glass. When they returned to collect their reward, he did not report what had actually happened. Instead, he collected the reward with Fitzgerald and kept silent. Despite being bothered by what he had done, Bridger showed that it was easier to succumb to greed than to resist it.

            I saw a connection between Fitzgerald’s disregard for the land and Native Americans and his disregard for Glass’ life. His self-centeredness and greed were prevalent. He saw no problem exploiting other people to ensure his own survival or profit. He used the Native American’s land for profit and manipulated Bridger into leaving Glass for dead. His actions showed his disrespect for the land and the people that lived on it. His disrespect was rooted in his greed. It did not matter what the consequences of his actions were as long as he profited. On a more drastic scale, he killed Glass’s son, Hawk, just to ensure his own gain. He was detestable not just because of what he did to Glass, but also because of his self-motivated decisions that did not regard anyone other than himself.

            Fitzgerald’s character was constructed in a way that made Glass’s desire for revenge acceptable. While Glass’s strength to survive outrageous injuries and return for revenge makes an incredible plot, the dislike that people watching the film have for Fitzgerald really fulfills Glass’s revenge against Fitzgerald. When a character is as deplorable as Fitzgerald was, revenge does not seem to be a moral dilemma like it can be in other films. Due to his nature as well as what he had done, few people would question if it was acceptable to despise Fitzgerald.

            The movie shows Glass’s extraordinary survival, but it also shows the conflict between a good man and a corrupt one. When Glass struggled across mountains and through blizzards, he was not just struggling against himself and the land. He was struggling in order to return and kill Fitzgerald- the man who was the antithesis of Glass.