What's with the coward guy?


Out of all Seven there was a guy, who did absolutely nothing the whole time, always saying he was in fear all the time. How was he magnificent and why were all the others OK with him "procrastinating"?

-------------------------------------
OCD predator: www.goo.gl/0avZjB

reply

He was a former gunman who had lost his nerve. But then, he decides to return to the town with them, and is able to fight: he guns down multiple bad guys in the final showdown.

reply

Doesn't sound very realistic to me, but maybe it's just me. What's objectively strange is how everybody seem to not notice he wasn't doing anything for the cause (yet still getting the money).

-------------------------------------
OCD predator: www.goo.gl/0avZjB

reply

Yeah I kept expecting a confrontation about that. He hides in that initial shootout, he's nowhere to be found during the celebration following that or the skirmish that happens there. I can't believe no one called him out on that.

reply

Actually, it seems extremely realistic. Imagine trying to earn a living in a job where every working day is kill-or-be-killed! At first you could convince yourself that you're the best of the best, that you're immortal and lucky and you'd never end your working day in Boot Hill. But even the dumbest young man would eventually realize that it's only random chance keeping you alive, and you don't see a way out. So, you lose your nerve, and you probably die before you figure out a good exit plan.

And that's the difference between an Old West gunfighter and the Samurai of the original film. Samurai are trained to stifle and hide their feelings from birth, and to prize their honor over their lives (or anyone else's), while nobody in the cowboy era was brought up to be a gunfighter. If the profession of gunfighter ever existed in real life, it was something men fell into, instead of being trained for from infancy.

reply

He wasn't a coward; he was suffering from PTSD as a result of spending years in a violent, dangerous profession. The others didn't notice him shrinking back during the initial confrontations with the bandits because they were too busy fighting and dodging bullets themselves. He redeemed himself in the final battle.

reply