Often times in life one must travel a journey. But this journey may not truly be what it seems at first. In John Ford's 1956 motion picture The Searchers, the main character Ethan Edwards, who was played by John Wayne goes through a journey that none could imagine. This film deals with many racial prejudices towards the Native American people. Ethan Edwards must deal with all kinds of challenges in order to recover his two lost nieces. One major challenge that arises is his search for identity. Through the search for identity and the controversial topic of prejudice towards Native American, it makes this movie one of the best westerns theme motion picture. .
In this movie, the main character, Ethan Edwards, returns home. Or at least what he can call home for the time being. But not after long his brothers family, who he was staying with, was horribly massacred by Comanches. Two young girls were taken from the family. Ethan vows to find and return the young girls to society where they will be accepted, but he is unable to say this about himself. Along his journey he discovers one of the young girls, she was already dead. In finding this a small part of him is lost, in the movie he losses his jacket, but truly part of his identity is missing. When Ethan recovers his youngest niece Debbie he brings her home. When all is said and done and Debbie is home, everyone enters the house. Everyone except Ethan, who still doesn't know as to where he belongs. .
Through out the whole movie Ethan is on a constant quest for self discovery. Each step of this journey is a small chapter in helping Ethan to reveal who he truly is. There isn't one person that Ethan feels he truly connects with besides his niece Debbie who was taken from him. When he discovers Debbie living with the Comanche Indians he losses yet another part of his identity. He cannot find self-discovery among the white western civilization, but he also cannot find who is among the Comanches that he has been chasing.