Good versus Evil in the Movie Unforgiven Directed by Clint Eastwood
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The 1992 film Unforgiven, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, has a central theme that is one of good versus evil in which good overcomes evil by bringing justice to those who are evil. Munny has changed from the vicious murderer he was in the past and now wishes to bring justice to evil men who harmed the innocent prostitute Delilah and his friend Ned. The film is not quite the traditional Western film by any means as Eastwood’s character Will Munny has not always been a moral man. Nevertheless, Will Munny through the use of violence sets out to balance out the battle of good and evil by seeing that evil men get what is coming to them, even though Munny is no saint himself. Munny knows that death is what he deserves for all of the…show more content…
They feel that the man deserves much worse than a whipping, he deserves the biggest punishment that exists, death. The women do not care who does the killing. They do not care if it is an honest or noble man or a vicious killer with a terrible and violent past. The idea that extreme violence is the answer to injustice is what makes Unforgiven still fit into the western genre of film. In the film, good eventually wins out by any means necessary, including the use of violence. Will Munny thinks he will not go back to his acting like his younger self, the vicious and violent killer, if he attempts to bring justice. Munny even attempts to act humanely after killing a man who harmed Delilah by telling making sure the dying man gets a final drink of water. However, he is quickly proven wrong when his friend Ned is murdered. Munny and Ned see themselves as just doing the right thing by trying to bring justice but when Munny is beaten and Ned is murdered, it is clear that violence is the only answer for Little Bill and his men. Munny turns back to his gun slinging days and kills all the men on Little Bill’s side without remorse. It could be argued that Munny changes from good to evil in an instant in order to stop more evil, but maybe Munny has always been a bad guy no matter how hard he tries to hide it. Either way, Little Bill as well as his men “gets what is coming to them” as justice is served through violence. Justice through violence
They feel that the man deserves much worse than a whipping, he deserves the biggest punishment that exists, death. The women do not care who does the killing. They do not care if it is an honest or noble man or a vicious killer with a terrible and violent past. The idea that extreme violence is the answer to injustice is what makes Unforgiven still fit into the western genre of film. In the film, good eventually wins out by any means necessary, including the use of violence. Will Munny thinks he will not go back to his acting like his younger self, the vicious and violent killer, if he attempts to bring justice. Munny even attempts to act humanely after killing a man who harmed Delilah by telling making sure the dying man gets a final drink of water. However, he is quickly proven wrong when his friend Ned is murdered. Munny and Ned see themselves as just doing the right thing by trying to bring justice but when Munny is beaten and Ned is murdered, it is clear that violence is the only answer for Little Bill and his men. Munny turns back to his gun slinging days and kills all the men on Little Bill’s side without remorse. It could be argued that Munny changes from good to evil in an instant in order to stop more evil, but maybe Munny has always been a bad guy no matter how hard he tries to hide it. Either way, Little Bill as well as his men “gets what is coming to them” as justice is served through violence. Justice through violence
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