The Legend Of The Fall Character Analysis

Words: 1990
Pages: 8

In the film “The Legend of the Fall” There are many examples of the five competences outlined in Sarah Trenholm and Arthur Jensen’s Interpersonal Communication textbook. The five competences include message competence, interpretive competence, role competence, self-competence and goal competence. They are depicted within the relationships of all the characters in the film.
In the Legend of the Fall the primary characters include Tristan, Alfred, Samuel, and Col. William Ludlow. While the secondary characters include Susannah, Stab, and Isabel. The interactions between the characters illustrate the competences that are outlined in the text. When individuals partake in communication the first competence that is displayed is message competence.
…show more content…
This form of competence "involves an individual being able to decipher what is important and not important."(Trenholm and Jensen 2004, 11). Interpretive competence is presented during the last scene when Alfred kills a man in order to save his family. He showcases his awareness of his surroundings by putting his family before his job. Throughout the film Alfred is being presented as the outcast, the brother who is least favored by his father. It becomes where he moves to the city and becomes involved with politics. He is also presented as the successful and more civilized out of family, so the scene where he chooses his family over his career speaks volumes about his character. Alfred realized what was most important to him and by relying on his instincts he came to the right conclusion. Another example of interpretive competence is displayed in the film when Tristan receives a message from one of the foot soldiers regarding his brother Samuel. This is the scene just before Samuel ends up dead and Tristan becomes a different person. Nevertheless, The soldier mentions that he heard Samuel was going somewhere near the line, and Tristan immediately reacted. Tristan is well aware of his brother’s careless actions and overzealous mindset on war. Since Tristan plays the role as Samuel’s protector, he was able to understand what the soldier was talking about in order to try and come to his rescue. In addition, he was able to gather information within the context of the conversation, due to his acute knowledge of his brother and the amount of awareness he has for his surroundings. Once he heard the message he knew that meant Samuel voluntarily wanted to be a part of the front line action. Tristan then ran off into the camp searching high and low for Samuel. During his search, he stumbled