daniel holt character based ride with the devil

It just is.” In the final scene Holt take his leave from Rodell for one final time. After allowing Mathieson to take his leave on a suicide run into town Rodell sums up his war experience: “It ain’t right and it ain’t wrong. Rodell confronts Pitt Mathieson one final time in what many anticipate will be a shootout. The final sequence follows Rodell, Jewel, and Holt west to start new lives. The changes in Holt’s character take place slowly, but gradually and sets up the viewer for the final scene in the movie.

A bit later, Holt shares with Rodell that he will never be known as “someone else’s Nigger.”

On the trip back to Missouri from Kansas and the loss of George Clyde in battle Holt experiences his first real taste of freedom.

One of the most important scenes for this character comes during the Lawrence Raid where Holt confronts a large pile of free blacks who were murdered by the very men he was fighting with. At one point Holt shares his full name with Rodell as well as his own personal story, including his mother’s sale to Texas. His character sticks close to George and is routinely referred to as “George Clyde’s Nigger.” As the movie progresses Holt emerges from the shadows as a result of George’s leave from the group and his evolving relationship with Rodell. You hear very little from Holt at the beginning of the movie. Holt’s character goes through the most dramatic transformation throughout the movie, but it is a subtle transformation. My favorite character has got to be Daniel Holt, who is a former slave but remains loyal to his former master’s son, George Clyde. One of the highlights of the movie is an excellent recreation of William Quantrill’s raid on Lawrence, Kansas. The movie does a pretty good job of exploring the confusion of the guerilla war along with the intersection of ethnicity and shifting loyalties. The movie follows a small band of “Bushwhackers”, including Tobey Maguire (Jake Rodell or “Dutchy”), Skeet Ulrich (Jack Bull Chiles), and Simon Baker (George Clyde), along with Jewel (Sue Lee) who plays a young widower. Yesterday we finished viewing the movie, Ride With the Devil, which attempts to capture the chaos of the “Border Wars” in Missouri and Kansas. I am confident that my students both enjoyed and profited from the course. We viewed five full-length movies and numerous small videos that span the spectrum from NPS and American Experience documentaries to YouTube videos. This trimester I decided to focus the course on Civil War films. This is my second go around with this particular elective and overall I am pleased with the results. Another trimester of my Civil War Memory class has come to an end.

Daniel holt character based ride with the devil