When discussing a cowboy and the desert, Tompkins states that “the single most important relationship [he has] is to the land. They are in constant contact with it – thinking about it, using it, enjoying it, fearing it, seeing it, smelling it, touching it, hearing it.” The desert is uncivilized, and as a result, the cowboy is, for the most part, on his own. He learns to survive in the extreme conditions by mimicking them, becoming one with the desert. In The Searchers, Ethan, the hero, is a cowboy who returns to his sister’s home after being alone in the desert for many years. He has characteristics that Tompkins uses to describe the desert: powerful, controlling, hard, unforgiving and hostile. Ethan is powerful and controlling when he leads a search group to find his niece, during which he is unforgiving to the Indians for what they have done to his family and he is hostile with them and anyone who stands in his way of rescuing his niece. The desert is a lonely place and Ethan, after returning his niece to the Jorgensens’ ranch, Ethan leaves and the ranch door closes on him. This shows that he is disconnected from society and belongs with the desert.
When discussing a cowboy and the desert, Tompkins states that “the single most important relationship [he has] is to the land. They are in constant contact with it – thinking about it, using it, enjoying it, fearing it, seeing it, smelling it, touching it, hearing it” (Tompkins 78). The desert is uncivilized, and as a result, the cowboy lives alone. He learns to survive in the extreme conditions by mimicking them, becoming one with the desert. The alpha male cowboy and the land share characteristics and qualities because the cowboy comes from the land. He has characteristics that Tompkins uses to describe the desert: powerful, controlling, hard, unforgiving and hostile. These characteristics describe Ethan, the alpha male cowboy from the film The Searchers. After traveling alone in the desert for many years, Ethan goes to his brother’s home. In the opening scene he is shown traveling to her home, seeming to come out of the land, blending in with his surroundings. While at his brother’s home, the family is attacked by Indians who kill the family except for his niece, whom they kidnap. He is powerful and controlling when he leads a search group to find her, during which he is unforgiving to the Indians for what they have done to his family and he is hostile with them and anyone who stands in his way of rescuing his niece. He rescues her and returns her to the neighbors’ ranch. Then, Ethan leaves and the ranch door closes on him. This shows that he is disconnected from society and belongs with the desert. He is able to return to the desert alone because it is everything he needs: “the hero’s relationship to the environment is stead, knowledgeable, functional, and pleasure-giving…he makes the world answer his primary needs” (Tompkins 81). In this sense, the desert is similar to a wife for the alpha male. He interacts with it the way he would interact with a wife since he “courts it, struggles with it, defies it, conquers it, and lies down with it at night” (Tompkins 81). The cowboy can relate to the desert, sharing its qualities, and is provided for by it. The desert is all he needs.
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