The Film, Glory - An Analysis

The American drama war film, Glory (1989) was based on the history and story of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry as told by the commanding officer, Robert Gould Shaw during the American Civil War. The 54th infantry totally comprised of African-American men (apart from the officers).Racism has been focused in the film and the biased and discriminating attitude of the whites towards the black has been revealed vividly. But unlike other white officers Colonel Shaw wanted to train this African- American regiment to fight relentlessly in the civil war. The film reveals their fight against injustice and desire to prove

themselves worthy of their country.

The American film, Glory of 1989 is based on the true historical story, of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, as seen through the eyes of the commanding officer Robert Gould Shaw (a white officer) during the American Civil War. The regiment comprised of freed black men fighting for their country. Many were doubtful whether there was any need of such black regiment and also whether these men had capability enough to fight .But some like Fredrick Douglas felt that there was necessity of a black regiment and as many fighting men were there the chances of winning would increase.
The movie exposes many aspects of the civil war. It showed the cruel realities that the soldiers who fought the war had to experience. It revealed the wild and barbaric way of man to man fight that was practiced during the civil war. The film is like a historical testimonial and is also very accurate in description. The black soldiers had not only to fight the war but also deal with their prejudiced fellow white soldiers.
Contrary to other war films of the past the film, Glory is not only about warfare scheme and training but it’s also about comradeship of soldiers, and the valor and courage with which the men fight to achieve their goals. The men of the 54th Regiment although unskilled wanted to give their best to show the North what they can do and this eventually took their lives but they proved to be real heroes.
From the beginning the commanding officer Shaw knowing that these African-American men may never be given a scope to see the fight. From the very beginning he is very serious and strict in his move towards training the regiment and highlights the importance of alertness, momentum and endurance. This

behavior in the film appears to be master/slave relationship but this discipline is essential and expected in war and Gould has seen war and he knows what is required. The film Glory shows that there was not much difference in attitude of the North and the South during the civil war towards the black, as they had towards slavery. The Northern abolitionist wanted to liberate those who were kept enslaved but it is very evident in the movie that they were considered unequal in many ways. These black men in the 54th Regiment wanted to prove their capabilities and the film therefore is a tribute to the real courage, valor, heroism and strong willpower of not just the soldiers but also men who supported their cause and also themselves believed in it.
The southern economy was based on cotton and slavery. The political leaders were therefore against the abolition of slavery as that would bring about the collapse of the socio-economic system. Many of them were themselves slave owners. They felt that if the slave system was abolished and the freed men had to be paid at par with the white laborers then the economy would be much affected. Therefore apart from the moral issue the economic issue was also the cause of the civil war. The 54th regiment was built to make the blacks fight for their own cause. As they were considered inferiors it took so much time for the black regiment to form. Racism which was existent in the North focused in the movie when the black soldiers meet the white and they called the black, niggers and ridiculed them. The film also projects the fact the blacks were not allowed to get trained in military academies and they had white commanding officer to lead them.
Although the white commanding officer Colonel Shaw was biased at the beginning and did not treat them like humans but with the passage of time his views changed and he realized that they were in no way different. He wanted to help them as he started supporting their cause. He therefore inspired them to fight a battle which would bring them admiration and glory. The movie is not only of the blacks having their regiment, but brought about a change in the minds of the public towards the black.