There is a time in history that the southern part of America fought to maintain its honor. These were trying times filled with racism and fear. A time when the Ku Klux Klan reigned. Although this clan has always been portrayed in a negative light, D. W. Griffith came up with a controversial yet innovative way to narrate the story of the southern part while making the Klan appear heroic. In 1915, Griffith produced a play by the name, The Birth of a Nation. The film uses two families to demonstrate the era of the civil war and the era of the reconstruction 1 . Many evils such as racism and sexism are allowed in the film, and it still emerges to be one of the best films in history. Efforts to have it banned proved futile until a point where it was chosen for preservation in the National Film Registry. This essay will analyze the film and explain the message the producer was trying to put out.
The Birth of a Nation is a two-part film that revolves around two families; the Camerons who came from the south and the Stonemans who were from the north. The Camerons comprised of the Dr. Cameron with his wife, two daughters and three sons. The Stoneman family comprised of Austin, his two sons, and one daughter. Part one of the film focuses on the civil war. The sons of both families register for the army so as to participate in the war. During the war, two of the Cameron sons and one of the Stoneman sons are murdered. The youngest of the Camerons, Ben Cameron, manages to perform a heroic deed at siege of Petersburg. However, he is injured and captured. Ben is taken to a hospital where he gets to meet Elsie Stoneman, who he had been idolizing for the longest time.
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The first part ends with the death of the President Lincoln, who had offered a pardon to Ben’s life. The second part of the film focuses on the reconstruction period. Here, Griffith takes us through a time where the Blacks were free to vote and maximized on their freedom by claiming many seats in the government 2 . Ben Cameron decides to form the Ku Klux Klan in order to scare away the Black people. This action jeopardizes his relationship with Elsie Stoneman who backs away in respect for her father. Despite this, Ben continues with his mission, and together with his Klan members, they raid most parts of the cities. On the other hand, a lad named Gus tries to force Flora Cameron to marry him. Flora refuses the offer and claims that she will kill herself if Gus goes closer to her. Indeed, Gus moves closer and Flora jumps off a cliff. This is followed by the murder of Gus by the Klansmen. Towards the end of the film, the Black people wake up and find the Klansmen outside their houses and are intimidated to vote. The film ends with Ben marrying Elsie and Phil Stoneman marrying Margaret Cameron 3 .
In the film, Griffith uses an innovative way to show how the war affects people beyond the battlefield. People are separated from a tender age and are reunited in death. The horrors of the war continue to haunt the soldiers and some believe that those who were dead had found their peace. Even governments are seen to turn against each other. Politicians become a primary target, as seen by Abraham Lincoln, who is murdered. Griffith shows that when people are at war, their main goal is to survive. Therefore, they do not care much about the person they are at war with.
The next message that the producer tries to bring out is that of patience. He uses the young couples to show the essence of being patient in a relationship so as to reap good fruits. Ben Cameron ogles over a picture of Elsie for many years. Even after they meet, he is in no rush to ask her to marry him. The same case applies to Phil Stoneman, who has been in love with Margaret from the beginning of the play. Griffith points out that there are two kinds of love; those that are ordained from above and those that are evil. The proper relationships, like that of Ben and Elsie, take time to blossom and become great eventually. The evil ones, such as Gus who tries to force himself on Flora, come to an end as soon as they begin. The same case applies to a nation. There needs to be some patience to build a great nation from the ashes. Therefore care should be taken from the very beginning and people should be willing to learn from their mistakes.
In 1915, there was a lot of chaos in America, alongside the major racism 4 . The people from the north did not see eye to eye with the people from the south. After the reconstruction policies were implemented, the Black people misused their privileges and handled the Congress poorly. It needed a lot of time and patience to bring things back in order. The white people thought that the use of the Ku Klux Klan was a good strategy. However, this just widened the racism gap. Eventually though, just like in the two families, people started mixing and accepting each other. Thus the Birth of a Nation .
To bring out the mood brought about by the war, Griffith constantly returns his audience to the Cameron house. When the political atmosphere is calm, the people are seen to gather freely in front of this house. Their faces are lit up due to joy. Ben even opens the white gates and people are allowed to pick the beautifully blossomed flowers. Generally, the atmosphere is filled with love, peace, and harmony. However, when the war dawns in, the streets become chaotic 5 . Bonfires are seen all over, people are in a rampage and the streets become dark. After ben returns from the war, he finds many homes have been burnt into ashes, there are no flowers on the streets and only he walks the streets. This is another indication of the chaos in America in 1915.
Although the film makes the Ku Klux Klan look like heroes and the intimidation of the black race, it is still considered as a masterpiece. The producer’s innovativeness and creativity are brought out by the use of symbols such as that of Abraham Lincoln who represents a harmonious reunification process of America, motifs such as the front yard of the Camerons that gives the audience a clear picture of the damage of the war and major themes such as proper courting that makes the audience appreciate patience in the process.
Bibliography
Griffith, D.W. The Birth of a Nation . Motion picture, 1915.
Stokes, Melvyn. DW Griffith's the Birth of a Nation: a history of the most controversial motion picture of all time . Oxford University Press, 2007.
1 Griffith, D.W. The Birth of a Nation (Motion picture, 1915), 9.
2 Stokes, Melvyn. DW Griffith's the Birth of a Nation: a history of the most controversial motion picture of all time (Oxford University Press, 2007), 13.
3 Griffith, D.W. The Birth of a Nation (Motion picture, 1915), 11.
4 Stokes, Melvyn. DW Griffith's the Birth of a Nation: a history of the most controversial motion picture of all time (Oxford University Press, 2007), 17.
5 Stokes, Melvyn. DW Griffith's the Birth of a Nation: a history of the most controversial motion picture of all time (Oxford University Press, 2007), 21.
