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Part A: Set during the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955, The Long Walk Home focuses
on the relationship between one white family and the family of their African American maid. The
film ultimately encapsulates race relations in Alabama in the early stages of the Civil Rights
Movement. The theme that one must act upon ones principles is shown through the films plot.
The movie begins with Odessa Cotter (Whoopi Goldberg) walking into the back door of
the Thompson household and beginning to cook and clean. Miriam Thompson (Sissy Spacek)
explains what needs to be done for the day as her daughter, Mary Katherine, and two other little
girls rush around the house. Norman, Miriams husband and a well-off businessman, leaves for
work after saying goodbye to his wife. Miriam drops Odessa and the children at a nearby park,
where the girls play until a policeman arrives. He immediately raises his voice and insults
Odessa, exclaiming that she must get out of the park as it is for whites-only. Odessa quickly
takes the children and walks home. Upon hearing about the incident, Miriam demands that the
police officer comes to her house and apologize. This is the first incident in which Miriams
actions show that she does not share the same racist values as the whites in Montgomery do,
Soon after word is spread that Rosa Parks has been arrested for refusing to give up her
seat on the bus. The boycott starts, and no African Americans are taking the bus to school or
work. The long walks to and from Miriams house cause Odessa to be late, as well as physical
pain and hardship. Miriam starts to drive Odessa a few times a week, Norman finds out and is
infuriated. He expresses that the boycott is nonsense and that African Americans must be taught
to stay in their place - things Miriam has already heard before. When she stands her ground he
moves his clothes to another room and says that all Miriam is to him is a wife, in other words her
opinions mean nothing.. This is a turning point in Miriams position. She continues driving
Odessa and secretly joins the organized carpooling movement. A group of white community
leaders plans to shut down the organization by starting a riot. They invite Norman out to dinner
and he unwittingly discovers Miriam, Mary Katherine, and Odessa at the scene. While dozens of
white men shout and force the African American women against a wall, Miriam must make a
choice.
Odessa walks forward and the other women begin to sing and join hands. Miriam
watches and holds Mary Katherine from the crowd of yelling white rioters. The movie ends as
Miriam joins the string of African American women, and Norman watches her lamentably from
the crowd.
Even though everyone who surrounded her felt that African Americans were subservient,
Miriam realized that she lived in a bubble. She sacrificed her reputation and possibly her
marriage to stand by Odessa and carpool African Americans to work. Even though boycotting the
public bus system made getting to work and home a daily struggle, Odessa maintained her
fortitude. The African American community in Montgomery banded together against the hatred
and violence that encircled them and made change. The theme that one must act upon ones
principles is enforced by the actions of Miriam and the African American community in The
Part B: The film The Long Walk Home tells the story of two fictional families during the
Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955. This event was not the first boycotting of the public bus
system in the United States, nor an event that singularly kickstarted the Civil Rights Movement,
It was a monumental effort that made its way to the Supreme Court - as displayed at the very
end of the film. The movie begins right as the boycott takes place, but fails to recognize that the
protest was in the works for years before it began in December 1955 (Swarthmore.edu). The
film portrays the boycott as more of a spur of the moment plan than what it was in actuality - a
based. Rather than focusing on the historical significance of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the
film chooses a domestic approach of this point in history (Maslin, New York Times). The
struggles of Odessa Cotter as a mother of 3 are emphasized through the empathy of her son and
husband. She juggles more than Miriam Thompson and still refuses to take the bus. Miriam
Thompson is expected to conform to the standards of a white house-wife in the 1950s. While
Part C: The cinematographic techniques in The Long Walk Home are used to increase the
self briefly narrates a few times throughout the movie. Mary Katherines interjections show the
development of her life. As a young girl she could not fully comprehend the deeply-routed
effects of Jim Crow segregation in the south. She didnt know of her mothers inner views of the
bus boycott or role in the bus boycotting. Her commentation in The Long Walk Home reveals that
as she grew up she developed her own understanding of her childhood in a privileged white
home. This technique creates a sense of historical importance and reflection throughout the film.
The scene in which a police officer yells at Odessa Cotter to leave the park, while she is
caring for Mary Katherine, shows a deeper level of their relationship. The police officer and
Odessa stand in focus in the foreground of the shot. Mary Katherine stands in the background,
out of focus, while the other girls continue swinging. The use of shallow depth of field
establishes that Mary Katherine is confused and absorbing the situation. The relationship
between Mary Katherine and Odessa is overlooked when one sees Odessa solely as a paid
caretaker. Odessa cares for Mary Katherine because it is her job. She raises her from birth, loves
her, and nurtures her because she is a mother. Mary Katherine would not be portrayed as
concerned at all if she thought of Odessa as someone who is cooking and cleaning when
mommy isnt . The cinematographic techniques used in The Long Walk Home provide insight
Works Cited
"African Americans Boycott Buses for Integration in Montgomery, Alabama, U.S., 1955-1956."
nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/african-americans-boycott-buses-integration-montgomery-