Straw Dogs Sam Peckinpah's 1971 Research Proposal

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Their sex life clearly lacks maturity and mutual respect, and Peckinpah makes it clear early in the film that Amy is frustrated with her dull husband.

Straw Dogs is permeated with symbolism, one of the features that makes the film remarkable. The first and most immediate symbol is one that foreshadows the violent climax of the movie: the antique bear trap that Amy purchases. Being trapped is a motif in the movie, as the couple plus Henry Niles are trapped in their house during the film's climax. Hunting is also a theme. David becomes an ironically literal sitting duck when the local lads take him on a duck hunt, leave him alone to sit on a stone and tell him the ducks will just come on out of the woods and jump into his sack. David is emasculated many times in Straw Dogs, adding further nuance to the film's title and also proving that Peckinpah was in no way condoning the misogyny or violence but commenting harshly on its root causes.

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David emerges as being every bit as misogynistic and cold-hearted as the provincial cads in the movie. He cannot see that his wife was raped, symbolized by his broken glasses at the end of the film. He barks orders at her, tells her to obey his orders, fix coffee, and stop acting like a child while treating her like one. He hits her. David is oblivious to Amy's humanity: a mindset that lays the groundwork for rape and violence against women. Ultimately David abandons Amy and the crazy town she is from. Amy does seem to understand the worldview of her compatriots; she knows their social codes intimately. Straw Dogs speaks volumes about the human condition, about social progress, and about the need to fill the human heart with passion instead of hatred. Violence is a necessary motif in Peckinpah's film, which is why it remains relevant nearly four decades after it was made.

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