The other day, I was listening to the Dances with Wolves soundtrack, and I heard a part in the melody that reminded me of a scene---the death Timmons. This scene always has stirred emotion in me, but until now I never really had understood why.
In the beginning of the movie, we are introduced to Timmons, who John Dunbar describes as the "foulest man" he has ever met. Crude act after crude act from Timmons makes us realize that Dunbar is not exagerating, and that Timmons is defintely not meant for refined society. Also, when Dunbar asks about why they haven't seen any Indians on their journey through the prairie, Timmons curses and raves against Indians, stating how grateful he is that they have not seen them.
Which leads us to the emotional scene of Timmons death. In a gruesome scene, Pawnee Indians catch Timmons, unaware of their approach, alone on the plain. The Pawnee leader shoots arrow after arrow into Timmons body, slamming the life out of him bit by bit in one drawn out grueling affair. At the very end of he scene, Timmons, however, shocks us. He does not curse the Indians, he does not shout out in defiance, but rather he pleads, "Don't hurt my mules." The music, which before was a quick tempo, becomes soft and sad.
Besides the softening music and the tragic death, it occured to me what was at the heart of this scene. Here is this vulgar man who ever since we have met him, has given us every reason not to like him--his hatred of Indians, his disregard for the lack of buffalo, and his crudeness, but with his dying words, he shows that at his heart he cares, he cares for the animals that have carried him and provided him with a living. As he suffers a cruel death, he does not think of himself, but rather others. This makes this man real even though he only appears briefly in the first few moments of the movie. The main reason he dies is solely to have John Dunbar out on the prairie alone with no one knowing of his whereabouts. However, as unimportant as this character is, we see briefly something special. Despite Timons crudeness and other frailities, he shows us at death, that most intimate of experience, that in the end he is human, full of his frailities and virtues.
