--- Why did Sgt. Howie represent the perfect sacrifice?
--- What other character that we've encountered this semester did Sgt. Howie resemble?
--- What is the significance of the characters' names? (e.g. Willow, Rowan, etc.)
P.S. Take one topic and fully develop it, you don't have to answer each one
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16 comments:
The sgt. was the perfect sacrafice because he came willingly and was the epitomy of a Apollonian society. The children's names are significant because they are all pagan.
Sgt. Howie represented a perfect sacrifice because of his innocence and morality. Despite being a police officer, he seemed to be fairly limited in his world-view, seeing things in black and white, good and evil, much as a child would. These notions also lead him to resist temptation, such as in the scene where the girl is dancing around naked banging on the wall. Yeah, that's a great way to attract someone...
Sgt. Howie was much like Pentheus, because of his arrogant belief that he knew better than everyone else, and that his "superior" morality made him better than others. His eventually giving in to his dark desires is his downfall.
The names of the characters are those of trees, representative of nature worship.
Sgt. Howie was the perfect guinea pig for their pagan rituals, because he was a "virgin." He also resisted temptation (which is crime because she's HOTT).
The Sgt. shared the same characteristics as Oswald. They are both naive in their ways of thinking. For Sgt. his main objective was to find the girl and save her. While, Oswald objective was to marry his half sister Regina. They both work towards their goals, until an unexpected twist caused them their downfall.
Their names just represent how they worship nature.
Sean Ahlenius -
Sgt Howie was naive, a virgin, and was someone who stayed within the lines. His black and white view of the world coupled with his sexual phobia was needed to basically take one for the team. The whole point of a sacrifice is appeasement, and most of the time regardless of whether or not the god or spirit being sacrificed to is good, it needs something good or valued in the sacrifice to ease up/stretch out and chill.
He was the perfect sacrifice for a couple of reasons. First one is that he was a virgin, even though I am not sure how they knew that. Maybe because of how he continually turned down the offers for sex. Another reason they thought he was the perfect sacrifice was because he came there on his own will. And I think the last reason was because he was so against there beliefs and way of thinking which made him a good sacrifice to their god.
He reminds me of Pentheus. One of the main reasons for this is because he thought he was making all of his own decisions but in the reality he was playing right into their hands and doing exactly what they wanted him to do and in the end became a sacrifice to the very god that he did not believe in or acknowledge.
According to Google, both Willow and Rowan are names that give reference to trees. Willow is simply derived from name of the tree, but it is Rowan’s name that I find most interesting. Rowan is derived from the Gaelic word meaning ruadh or red (can anyone say Little Red Riding Hood) or the Norse translation that references the European plant (the rowan tree) with red leaves and berries.
I think that Willow and Rowan were named to associate the rustic nature (i.e. living/surviving off their crops) of the people of Summerisle OR to possibly associate or even foreshadow the large wicker (also a tree) figure that they sacrifice Sgt. Howie in.
Howie represented the perfect sacrifice because he was so innocent. But more importantly he underestimated how smart the townspeople were. Each clue he thought he uncovered was purposely planted to trick him into staying for the pagan worship ceremony. He was extremely naive and couldn't make sense of anything beyond his own beliefs.
Sgt. Howie represents the perfect sacrifice because he behaves in the exact way a faithful servant of Apollo would behave. Apollo is the sun god, he covets truth. Sgt. Howie relentlessly sought the truth behind the disappearance of Rowan. He was over-worked, overly structured, rigid and passionless. The man showed no interest in the bar-maid, even as she dimwittedly made love to his wall. Sgt. Howie proved completely immune to the influence of the people around him. He was a willing sacrifice, because honestly, any normal person knows to never travel to an isolated village like that alone. It’s just asking for something to go wrong.
Sgt. Howie was a perfect sacrifice because of his Appollonian nature and his innocence. He came to the island with a mission to find Rowan and didn't let anything distract him, not even offers of sex with a hot girl. In a way that led to his downfall. He was so focused on his goal that he neglected to be suspicious of his surroundings for his own sake. The townspeople easily were able to control his actions because of his predictable, rigid, Appollonian nature.
*Sgt. Howie was perfect because he was not forced into anything. His Apollonian structure may be his reason for feeling the need to solve the "issue" on Summerisle.
*Sgt. Howie is like Pentheus from The Bacchae. Much like Pentheus, he just knew he could save the people who did not want saving in the first place. Like Pentheus, Howie also felt that his believes were superior and that arrogance led to their downfall.
*I know I don't have to answer all of these but I've already started so here I go:
All of these names are things of the Earth and relate to their believe in coming from the earth and going back into the Earth. Willow is a tree and Rowan is a plant with berries that can be eaten.
Sgt. Howie represents the perfect sacrifice. He represents everything (or mostly everything) Apollonian. He comes from the establishment and he's there to uphold the law. He's so blinded by his faith and his upbringings that it leads to his demise. Sgt. Howie was out of his element when he went to investigate the supposed disappearance of Rowan. It's particularly symbolic at the end when the voices of the Pagan's out sing his own voice to his lord. He pretty much is Pentheus from "The Bacchae" towards the end of "The Wicker Man" when he oversteps( or holds them too true) his Apollonian beliefs and dresses up as one of the Pagans to get into their festivities. Only when he becomes the beast (from the man he was) is when he is killed.
Sgt. Howie is the modern day Pentheus. Like Pentheus, Sgt. Howie allows his sense of duty and curiousity to ignore logic. Despite obvious warning signs Sgt. Howie continues to stubbornly forge ahead because of he is trying to solve a mystery.
As a police offier/detective, it is his duty to look into matters of possible wrongdoing. The pagan people knew that he would come to their remote location without hesitation to find the supposedly missing child. When situations did not add up he did not leave for back-up but instead stayed determine to unsolve the mystery. Pentheus, as king, also felt obligated to know what his subjects were doing and restore order. Unfortunately, for Sgt. Howie and Pentheus, both fell into traps and became human sacrifices to appease the gods.
sgt howie was the perfect sacrafice because he believed in order above all else and did not let other ways of thinking defer him from his ideas of right and wrong. basically he was nothing but appolonian
Sgt. Howie represented the perfect sacrifice because he came of his own free will. This act of ultimately being lead to ones death while fighting for what one believes in makes him a marter. Sgt. Howie is forced to deny multiple sins. One example is when the lady tries to get him to sleep with her. This shows that he is a "virgin" and thus innocent. Also at the end while they are burning him he sticks to his values and prays to his god.
Sgt. Howie shares characteristics with Pentheus. Both while utilizing free will bring about their own demise. Which is also a characteristic of general Greek tragedy.
The characters names are significant because they are all Pagan names. Be it old Pagan cities or the name of a tree.
Sgt. Howie represent the perfect sacrifice because he came there in his own will, also he was pure as a virgin and resisted a lot of temptation that the pagans flaunted him with. Sgt. Howie resemble the character Pentheus from the story Bacchae because they both were stubborn in a way where their belief were better than others and also seeing every views as black and white. The significance of the characters names in the wicker man represent earth elements that the pagans believe in.
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