Band of Angels Reflection

In class, we watched Band of Angels which was placed during the Civil War. I personally found it more interesting to watch this movie than Gone with the Wind. This movie was set in the south during the Civil War. The main character Amantha grew up living a privileged, white life and found out after her fathers passing that her mother was actually a slave. Amanda was sold into the slave trade and was bought by Hamish Bond. 

In the movie, Amantha at first doesn't like Hamish and living with him after he bought her and she complained about it to those around her. But after Hamish giving her the option to go away and restart, she decides to stay and be with Hamish since she is in love with him. Something that I found shocking was how her hate turned into love. It is almost like she considered herself a guest of Hamish's after being bought new dresses and being treated better than she thought.

I found it interesting that she never seemed to consider how Hamish had had another mistress before her that was still there, but now not living such a great lifestyle as Amantha replaced that. It is a good thing she wasn't treated badly, but how she seemed to move past that or almost forget it after a point in the movie was surprising. 

Something else that I found unbelievable in the movie was with Rau-Ru, who was one of Hamish's other slaves decided to help Amantha when one of the neighbors was trying to rape her, since he was a slave he had to run away. He ended up fighting in the war and we see him later in the movie. He saved Amantha from something bad happening to her, but he would be the one punished and not the one who was trying to rape her.  Rau-Ru had done so much and seemed to be trusted by Hamish, but that didn't seem to be enough during these times. 

Amantha later learns that Hamish had a huge secret which was he working with others to destroy villages in Africa and take those that lived there to become slaves. This upset Amantha so she left him and went back to New Orleans. Around this time, the Civil War begins. After being in New Orleans and having issues with soliders there, Amantha realizes her feelings. With everything Hamish is doing, he ends up getting arrested and we find out the truth about Rau-Ru, which made Amantha realize how she still felt about Hamish. I was shocked to learn that there was a connection between Rau-Ru and Hamish and it made the movie make more sense after learning that.