In the midst of a war how people interact with others from different cultures or within their own, may be their making or breaking point. In the book Storming Heaven by Denise Giardina and in the movie Matewan, it is clear to see how the miners have conflict with the company, the scabs, and with themselves, and how the miners come together within their own group and with the scabs. Each of these interactions impact the fight for the miner’s basic human rights against the company men either for bad or for good. The first three-quarters of the book is filled with conflict as people try to figure out what is going on, how to deal with their problems, and who their friends are. The miners realize that they need to stand up and do something to
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CJ’s death would be considered a crisis. A crisis can be defined as “A turning point in the action of a story that has a powerful effect on the protagonist” (Shared Class Files). Typically, after a crisis occurs opposing forces start to work together which can be seen in the novel when the characters see they must come together to survive their hard ships against the coal companies. This realization occurs during the movie, Matewan, as well. As Hillyard’s mother said, “All we got in common is our misery, so we might as well share it” (Matewan). When Hillyard’s mom shared food with the Italian family that she had many arguments with, it becomes clear that these people must look past their differences to keep on the fight and to keep on living. Together they are stronger. A subtler approach to showing all the characters from so many different backgrounds coming together is in the nondiegetic sound. Nondiegetic sound means that it is “sourced outside the story” and that “the characters can’t hear it” (Shared class files). In the first part of the movie, there were certain instruments that are symbolic of each group of people who would be played when the characters were in the scene. A few examples would be a harmonica for the black people, a banjo for the miners, and the mandolin for the Italians. As the story unfolded, all the instruments ended up coming together …show more content…
Some of these interactions may even be the reason why the book ended by saying “The companies still own the land” (Giardina 293) or how the movie ended in a big shootout with no solution to the major issue at hand. By looking deeper into how the characters from each different culture interact readers become more involved with the stories by giving them another way to analyze the text like raising more questions of why some things happened and what impact each and every interaction had on the bigger picture of winning the wars that are occurring.
In both Storming Heaven and Matewan, how the local miners both correspond and have conflicts with in their own community and with others greatly influenced their fight in this on-going war for their land and basic human rights. The relationships both corporative and not can extend into each character’s private lives beyond the war. People are stronger when working together and it is best to get over differences with others to come together as one. It is a wonderful lesson for the characters and for the readers that could greatly impact the world as we know it and create a more loving place for
CJ’s death would be considered a crisis. A crisis can be defined as “A turning point in the action of a story that has a powerful effect on the protagonist” (Shared Class Files). Typically, after a crisis occurs opposing forces start to work together which can be seen in the novel when the characters see they must come together to survive their hard ships against the coal companies. This realization occurs during the movie, Matewan, as well. As Hillyard’s mother said, “All we got in common is our misery, so we might as well share it” (Matewan). When Hillyard’s mom shared food with the Italian family that she had many arguments with, it becomes clear that these people must look past their differences to keep on the fight and to keep on living. Together they are stronger. A subtler approach to showing all the characters from so many different backgrounds coming together is in the nondiegetic sound. Nondiegetic sound means that it is “sourced outside the story” and that “the characters can’t hear it” (Shared class files). In the first part of the movie, there were certain instruments that are symbolic of each group of people who would be played when the characters were in the scene. A few examples would be a harmonica for the black people, a banjo for the miners, and the mandolin for the Italians. As the story unfolded, all the instruments ended up coming together …show more content…
Some of these interactions may even be the reason why the book ended by saying “The companies still own the land” (Giardina 293) or how the movie ended in a big shootout with no solution to the major issue at hand. By looking deeper into how the characters from each different culture interact readers become more involved with the stories by giving them another way to analyze the text like raising more questions of why some things happened and what impact each and every interaction had on the bigger picture of winning the wars that are occurring.
In both Storming Heaven and Matewan, how the local miners both correspond and have conflicts with in their own community and with others greatly influenced their fight in this on-going war for their land and basic human rights. The relationships both corporative and not can extend into each character’s private lives beyond the war. People are stronger when working together and it is best to get over differences with others to come together as one. It is a wonderful lesson for the characters and for the readers that could greatly impact the world as we know it and create a more loving place for