Gooch- Mosquito Coast and Witness

In both Witness and Mosquito Coast we see the young son or grandson lose his innocence and stray beyond what he has been taught and so long believed in. There comes a point where the child, who once lived and breathed revering his father, begins to see there is more he can believe in, more for him to consider before he dedicates his life to the ideals of his upbringing. In Witness, Samuel has been raised in the midst of the Amish people, and has been especially influenced by his grandfather, the quintessential Amish patriarch. His innocence has been easily preserved since he has not been exposed to the outside world and the corruption of the city. It is not until he ventures out into the city and sees the evil of greed and murder that he begins to question what his grandfather stands for. In Mosquito Coast, Charlie is constantly in awe of his father’s brilliance, and even when all others doubt him, he can still do no wrong in Charlie’s eyes. It is only after months of being worked to death and finally realizing that his father has put his whole family at risk and lost his morals, that Charlie begins to see that his father is very dangerous.

In the scene when Samuel sits on his grandfather’s lap, we can see how Samuel’s beliefs have been challenged by the evil he has seen. The character proxemics between the two is very intimate because his grandfather is desperately trying to maintain Samuel’s innocence and faith. And Samuel still loves his grandfather very much, so even though he timidly challenges what his grandfather is telling him he still remains close. His grandfather looks especially like the typical wise, old patriarch in this scene, the light reflecting off his white hair. The gun that lies in front of them on the table catches our eye, reminding us of what has caused Samuel to lose faith in the belief that it is never okay to hurt someone, even a bad man.

In the scene when the Fox family is watching their machine blow up, we see the beginning of Charlie’s disenchantment with his father. He once worked beside him without hesitation and stood up for him when his father was ridiculed, but now he questions all of that the night his father kills the three men with guns. First there is a close shot of his father’s face, the red flames glimmering off his glasses, giving him a devastating and crazed look. Then we see a close face shot of Charlie, who once stood right by his father, standing away from him now, looking scared and unsure. In the darkness, which shows the darkness of their story, we can almost only see Charlie’s eyes, but that is all we need to see in order to know what is going through his mind. He looks at his father in the darkness, seeing him cry for his invention, and realizes that his father’s vision has become more important that their lives and the lives of other people.