Dead Man and the Fragility of Life

William Blake's journey and experience in "Dead Man" is one of the most intriguing and interesting I have seen. When we first started watching the film in class I had a lot of trouble relating the film to the the two books we have read, "Song of Solomon" and "Heart of Darkness." However, after thinking about the film more, and my last blog post about Milkman's maturation, I have realized the extreme growth in William Blake. Blake comes to a new territory, slightly frightened and confused, as seen when he is on the train and is "weirded out", if you will, about the occupants of the train. As Blake takes his Journey, is shot, kills, and makes friends with Nobody, his character changes greatly. He comes to the west as just an accountant from Cleveland, however he has intercourse with the paper flower lady, murders, and survives a gunshot wound. William Blake starts out as a very immature character when he arrives and slowly becomes more of a man, or "serious" person. Another Huge part of Blake's experience is his encounters with the fragility of life, he is from Cleveland, and I can only assume he has never killed a man before, however when he comes to the west he murders and comes to realize the true fragility of the life around him, including his own. This maturation is extremely similar to Milkman's, and it could even be said that it is similar to Charles Marlow's as well. Marlow matures in a way where he realizes the horrors of the Dutch's Imperialistic ways and sees that it is wrong. Marlow, also develops a respect for the native people of the Congo as William Blake does. What other connections between these three tales/journeys do you recognize?