Posted by vITA on August 09, 2000 at 09:56:02:
In Reply to: Duncan's sacrifice posted by Lauren on August 09, 2000 at 09:02:04:
: Has anyone else wondered if Duncan's sacrifice was totally selfless? I mean, he never translated Nathaniel's request to be traded and I often wondered what would have happened if the Indians did not think a British Officer was a good enough trade and Cora would have died. I mean he took a big chance considering Nathaniel was saying that his death was a "great honor to the Huron". Part of me thought that maybe he simply could not tolerate being "bested" by Nathaniel again and part of me thought that he just knew that Cora loved Nathaniel and he loved Cora so much he wanted her to just be happy and live. Again, part of me thought that maybe he felt his chances of being accepted in a trade were better than Nathaniel's which was kind of arrogant. Anyway I totally love the whole scene especially "My compliments Sir, take her and get out". Wondered if anyone else felt unsure as to what motivated Duncan...arrogance or love...
Hi!
This is one of my favorite scenes in the film. I believe he made the offer out of love; time was short, he did not really have the time time stop and consider every aspect of hte situation, he figured Cora would be well taken care of by Hawkeye, and of course he knew she loved him, perhaps if there had been more time, he might have paused to think that Hawkeye's chances of being accepted for the flames, was as good as his own, and he might have translated Hawkeye's offer just to raise the stakes in Cora's favor; but as I've said time was grieveously short and situation extremely fluid, he did the best thing he could do under the circumstances to save her from such a terrible end.
And yes, when he said ... my compliments... sir...! ooooohhhhhh!!!!! one of the best scenes ever in film-dom, and what a badge of honor for the collective, good, human soul!
And do men like him exist only in the movies?
That is the next question.
Vita