Priest Vallon’s death scene was not only essential to the plot of the movie, but it was also very telling about the Irish struggle for emancipation. After Bill stabs Vallon, a horn is blown and and everyone gathers to watch Vallon tell his son Amsterdam, “Don’t ever look away.” I interpreted these last words to mean that Amsterdam should never let injustice happen to his people, that should never look the other way as the Irish immigrants in the Five Points are mistreated. Aside from Amsterdam running to his father’s side, the only other reaction to Vallon’s death was Monk taking money that Vallon owed him from his pocket. His death of the Irishman did not receive any sympathy from anyone other than his son. What amused me is that little Amsterdam grabs the knife on his dead father’s chest and uses it to threaten the crowd around him as he escapes the scene. I was not expecting that at all from the innocent boy. Amsterdam’s actions show us that Vallon, leader of the Dead Rabbits, passed down his vengeance and anger to his son, as it was part of the Irish immigrant culture, I suppose. This reminded me of Peter Quinn’s conclusion about how memories are passed down from generation to generation and heritage is something you can never truly escape or leave behind.
This scene was almost unbearably gory. Many of the people fighting had claw-like fingernails that you’d see in a werewolf movie. The brutality was notable and depicts the gang violence in 19th century New York to be unimaginably awful. I’m not sure whether Hollywood dramatized the violence to give viewers sympathy for the Irish characters, or the feuds were truly that gruesome. This scene gave me a vivid visual that brought life to the readings we have done in class.
