Pearl Diver

I believe that the film, Pearl Diver, portrayed Mennonites as those that do what they think of as the right thing. Marian tells Hannah that she would not base her decision about what to do for Rebecca, her daughter, off of what others think that she should do. When Hannah talks to Isaac, they talk about what Mennonites would do in which she replies, "...turn the other cheek."

The film also portrays the Mennonites as a very caring community. When Rebecca is in the hospital towards the beginning of the movie after she is involved in a farming accident, some of the people from their community come into her room while her parents are in the room, and they sing. During the scene at the church, Isaac says the farming accident involving Rebecca was just that, an accident. The basket is then passed around to collect money that is given to Marian, John, and Rebecca to help pay for medical bills or for the surgery for Rebecca.

I personally found it strange that Marian had a telephone in her house. I thought that because Marian, John, and Rebecca were, in a way, Amish, they would not have any technology except any farming equipment. Another use of technology is the typewriter that Hannah continues to use rather than using a computer.

I think that the film perpetuates stereotypes when it shows the community coming together to help Rebecca and her parents. Since I live in "Amish country," I expect for the Amish to help each other. In October 2007, when the tornado had torn through Nappanee, I saw Amish helping rebuild a barn that was destroyed when I was driving through the back roads to see the damage done.

The story of Dirk Willems was told by Marian at the courthouse for Sam Pope, her mother's alleged murderer. In this story, Willems was fleeing arrest. The man pursuing him fell through the ice. Willems was sent back to jail before being sent to death after he had saved the man. The film shows flashbacks of Marian and Hannah's mother's death throughout. Towards the end of the flashbacks, it tells the story of Sam Pope. Sam Pope finds Young Hannah and tells her to run to the neighbor's farm. He also sees his partner in crime, the murderer of Rachel (the mother) drown in a manure pit. In the end, he was caught and convicted of the murder of their (Marian and Hannah) mother. His story is almost the same as the story on Dirk Willems. Pope does something bad (break into the house) and in the end, he does something good (lets Young Hannah go) before he is wrongly charged with murder (the murder of Rachel). I am not sure if the film referred to any Mennonite stories because I am not a Mennonite (actually, I'm not religious) and I do not know any Mennonite stories. The only story that I know because I have heard it several times in other classes is the Dirk Willems story.

I think that the film suggests that the Mennonite writer is just a human being. They go through the same sad, angry, and happy things. Hannah tells Marian that she wrote a book (currently is just a manuscript) on their mother's death because she thought that everyone else needed to know it. Marian said that the book should not have been written, especially without being consulted by her sister. At one point, Marian tells Hannah about what happened that night. She basically tells her that she made sure their mother's killer was dead (he fell into a manure pit and she pulled a board out of his reach). After Isaac reads the book because Hannah asked him to, he sits down with her and Marian and tells them about being in love with their mother and what had happened (his wife was pregnant and he was gone) the night their mother was murdered because he wanted them to know.