Dunbar is presented as a man that loves life and all the good things about it. He expresses a sentiment of extreme pride when he prefers to die rather than have his leg amputated. Most people have returned to their homes after the war with the desire to have a normal life and a well-paid job. Dunbar, in contrast, chooses to remain in the military to protect an abandoned U.S. garrison on the western frontier. Total isolation does not seem strange to Dunbar and he immediately adapts to life in solitude, interacting only with Cisco, his horse, and Two Socks, his wolf. The Indians name him Dances with Wolves because he frequently plays with Two Socks.
In spite of wanting to make a typical Western, Costner has added some special touches to the script which changed some patterns that normal Westerns had followed. Most early Hollywood Westerns pictured Indians as savages that attacked white settlers. Indians were considered to be against civilization and against all that was perceived to be good. The Sioux tribe in Costner's movie breaks away from the standard image of savage Indians and they prove to be a highly cultured race. The fact that Costner had his actors speaking the Lakota language, instead of bad English as Indians from other Westerns did, also contributes in making the natives seem more intelligent.
Instead of bringing civilization in the west and being a supporter of the Manifest Destiny, Costner ended up joining the Sioux tribe. He did so because he learnt that civilization was in fact perverted, while Indians were authentic free people at peace with the world.
The director manages to transform the west in a fairy-tale land where nature is thriving without any intervention from the white people. The...
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