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Human beings, in the main, are herd animals. We congregate in groups, whether they be called clans, tribes, gangs, communities, orders, associations, leagues or just a couple of friends enjoying each other’s company. Most of us take delight in a very strong sense of belonging to a good deal of group or another, oftentimes more than one at a time. We have our families, our schools, workmates and sporting groups. Then there is our broader community and of course our nation. Man has scratched the itch of belonging since he initial shared a cave with other humans. The group afforded each fellow member a better probability of survival, shelter and a part of the feed tracked down and accumulated by all. Is it no wonder then that we find it desirable to belong to a group of like-minded people? Each of us has the innate urge to belong, to congregate and to merge with others. In ‘Witness’, John Book, the hard bitten Philadelphia detective, discovers that desire to belong, even when the group is as opposite to his own as the Amish are to the Philadelphia Police Department. Rachel Lapp likewise has a very keenly developed sense of identity forged by her belonging to the Amish. It is as if the ‘eccentricities’ of this group heighten who she is and who she is most comfortable being amongst. Before she left for Baltimore to visit her sister, there were numerous humourous remarks made in regards to how loose and progressed the Mennonite community that Rachel’s sister married into, have become. Compared to the Amish of Lancaster County, the Mennonites are in truth not so ‘plain’ (which is what ‘amish’ means) as their Amish cousins. This proposes that not only do dissimilar groups attract dissimilar types of people as members, there are also degrees of divergence to take into account. While they may seem almost identical to outsider’s eyes, to the initiated the Amish and the Mennonites are like chalk and cheese. Yet both groups consist of humans who are wholly committed to belonging to that group, even when the main requirement of membership is to cohere to a rigid code that most of us would not even start out to find beautiful let alone obey. While numerous may find membership of uttermost groups satisfying, even stimulating, the reality is that we all need to belong. Why do galore choose to wear leather jackets and denim jeans, ride large, deafening motorcycles and spend entire weekends at drunken parties? How come there are men and women who feel fulfilled in their lives only when they are cloistered away in a heap of remote monastery or convent, living a life of chastity and poverty? The mutual denominator is the strong sense of belonging they have. By belonging to the group of their choice they believe their lives have meaning and purpose. A life without meaning or purpose; or perchance without good meaning and purpose, is a wasted life. In ‘Witness’ this idea is represented by the murderer McFee and the crooked Chief of Police, Schaeffer. Both belong to the same group Book calls his own, the police. The point is made that groups are made up of many, disparate peoples. Not all those in a ‘good’ group such as the police are good, just as not all those in a ‘bad’ group (such as a bikie gang) are bad. The Amish are also shown to be very human, experiencing the same emotions and temptations as any humane being and not always dealing with them totally as their group rules dictate. Each and each one of them though, belongs. They know who they are and where they stand in their community and their lives. The barn raising demonstrated how they bestow to the group as well as how they draw from the group in times of need. Not only is a sense of belonging desirable, it is also beneficial. There have to be gains in belonging to a specific group. It is what attracts us to the peculiar group we join. Book enjoyed the sense of pride and goodfellowship that went with being a policeman. The Amish characters have known no other life but the Amish life and they feel protected, necessitated and of use within their community. In the climactic scene of the movie, Book is cornered by Schaeffer and it appears his luck has run out. This is when the power of the group is demonstrated. Samuel, Rachel’s son, runs to the farm’s bell and rings it. From all the environs farms, Amish come running. Amish farmers and their wives and children all respond to the alarm. All come to aid one of their own in time of trouble and danger. Schaeffer, surrounded by unarmed Amish, perceives he can’t kill them all. He can’t kill Book and escape. He has no choice but to surrender. The power of the group, the true power of belonging, is shown in this scene. This then is why humane beings feel so strongly in regards to belonging to a group. There are responsibilities, but the gains far outweigh these. In times of peril, somebody who belongs is no longer alone, no longer facing the tryouts of life by themselves. They have the combined power and strength of the group. Wanting to belong to such a group; having a strong sense of veritably being a suitable percentage of such a group, is a very positive, generative emotion to have. Schaeffer recognised this but he could never experience it because he was so focalized on his own existence. He had no time for others and so he had no way of benefiting from any such affiliation. |
