Henry Burby
MHC 10201
3/5/16
The Gods of New York
The characters of Gangs of New York represent many different worlds. In the film, rich and poor, young and old, white and black, and native and foreign all coexist and struggle with each other. each other, as dictated by their backgrounds, circumstances, and worldviews. A person’s traits are often reflected in their personal philosophies, which can be channeled into their religions. By comparing the character’s religions, perspective can be gained on the thoughts and motivations of Amsterdam Vallon, Bill the Butcher, and the philanthropist Schermerhorn. The scene in which the three men pray before the draft riots intercuts and compares their religious perspectives. In this scene, the character’s relationships to the world are indicated by their relationships to God.
Bill the Butcher barely mentions his religious beliefs in the rest of the film. When he does, it is to juxtapose his “Christian Lord” with the “Roman popery” of the Irish. Like most American protestants of the time, his anti-Catholic vitriol is directed more at their culture than at their religion. Bill attacks Catholicism for promoting poverty, corruption, and ignorance, not for its religious doctrine. This doesn’t make him a nonbeliever. He objects to the Irish as a nation, not for their religion, but because he believes in a national God. Bill is an American before all else, and his religion reflects that loyalty. Bill worships a God that, at least, heavily supports America, and at most, personifies his view of America’s essential spirit.[i] Nowhere is this clearer then in his use of an American flag as an altar cloth. His is the God of American exceptionalism, manifest destiny, and white supremacy, an inescapable protector and avenger of the American way. This “God of retribution” supports white, protestant, America, and will vengefully put down any threat to its favored nation. For Bill, national dedication is interchangeable with religious devotion. In one scene, he wraps a flag around his shoulders at night for protection and comfort, benefits often supplied by religion. When used this way, the flag fills the same niche as the Pope’s “pointy hat.” He uses a glass eye with an eagle for a pupil, so he is symbolically half blinded by a twisted vision of America. He sees himself as an agent of his American God, able to ignore the official corruption, law, and morality, to protect the spirit of his country from foreign invaders. God is “The dagger in… [his] hand” in that, by working on behalf of God, he is empowered and justified.
Like Bill, Amsterdam is not obviously religious. Because his life experience has been different, he sees God differently then Bill does. To Amsterdam, God is not personally vengeful, but neutrally just. Unlike the other characters, Amsterdam prays silently, inside his head. This may point to a very strong, personal belief in the existence and power of God, though though Amsterdam usually keeps his distance from this power. As seen when he throws his bible and its protestant ideas into the river, Amsterdam doesn’t think God can be found in the pages of a book. Instead God is a tangible force in the world. Amsterdam’s enemies have wronged him and he plans to take revenge. He is confident that God will crush them because they have done evil, not because they are protestant, or American. However, Amsterdam is clear that he is fighting his enemies for his own reasons, not God’s, and that his sword is his own. He is not following God, but proposing an alliance, of sorts, in which he will use God’s support to kill their mutual enemies. Instead of vowing to be God’s agent, he asks that God to be just. He is asking more to get God’s attention then because he owes him anything.[ii]
Schermerhorn’s religion is strongly influenced by the new testament, making it the most moderate of the three, and the closest to modern day Christianity. He believes in a universally loving God, who both gives and forgives. His wealth and good fortune seem to give him reason to feel this way. In his prayer, he gives thanks to a huge table of food, which he assumes God has provided. God has always provided for him, and he has never had to question that God is on his side. He refers to God in the third person, and speaks directly to a group of other people, because he is not personally connected to God. Schermerhorn sees the Almighty as a reliable, predictable, force of goodness in the universe. To him, self defense and promotion are not God’s will. That is a realm of earthly action, in which the divine has no place. Plus, he has never needed to do so over a long term. Instead, he defends others from oppression, through philanthropy. He intends to lift others up, away from the starvation and squalor which makes them kill each other. Successful or not, these efforts are Schermerhorn’s way of carrying out God’s will on earth.
When comparing the three men by their religions, it is tempting to lump Bill and Amsterdam together, against Schermerhorn. Bill and Amsterdam are men of violent action, calling for support in a battle. Neither are traditionally religious, but their dedication and proximity to their ideals make the men more likely to follow them. Their Gods are brutal, and the actions taken in their names are cruel. However, Amsterdam and Bill are not hypocritical. Schermerhorn doesn’t follow his religion completely in the real world. He claims to represent a merciful, loving God as long as the world is following order. However, to maintain that order, he suggests that one half of the poor can always be hired to kill the other.[iii] On the contrary, Bill and Amsterdam never claim to be anything other than they are, and follow their religious codes, such as they are, to the letter. Bill practices his nationalist religion every day, and Amsterdam follows his belief that God is just.
Though Bill and Amsterdam share many qualities, especially when compared to Schermerhorn, they still have several religious differences. To name one, the two men disagree on the natures of their deities. Neither Bill or his God are interested in right or wrong. Bill exists only to promote himself, and the interests of his tribe, white protestant America, in accordance with God’s wishes. On the other hand, Amsterdam’s God is impartial, sees only right and wrong, and is ready to enact justice on the wicked. Amsterdam and his people have suffered so much that he cannot assume that god is on one side or another. His God is not concerned with earthly bickering, and cares only for ideals.
Despite their differences, all three men are bound by a key characteristic. Their prayers show their faith in a traditional system of order in the world. They are so caught up in old ideals that when the real, messy world intrudes, in the form of the draft riot, they are taken completely by surprise. Schermerhorn knows of the warning signs, but because he is used to a world of order and mercy, he ignores them. Bill and Amsterdam are preoccupied with their struggle of ideals, and don’t know about the riot at all until to late. The film may be suggesting that all three men are wrong. In the riot, there is no ultimate power to provide support, justice, or love. There is only a chaotic force, fueled by rage and self defense, which is put down by another simply because the second is better armed and organised. The beliefs of the three men are drowned out by the chaos around them, and proved wrong. Bill loses his cause, is mortally wounded randomly by the forces of the country he idolizes, and his cause dies with him, a footnote in the dust. Amsterdam gets his revenge, but only after seeing all the friends and enemies he knows cut down arbitrarily. Schermerhorn shows no mercy when defending his house against its wild attackers. The forces of the establishment regain order, and effect the change he never could in the Five Points by leveling them.
[i] Personifications of America are nothing new. Lady Liberty and Uncle Sam are good examples, though Columbia is closer to what Bill worships.
[ii] Another interpretation is that Amsterdam’s God is tied to his father, who used to own the medallion. He only mentions God by name in his last line of prayer, and only in the third person. Therefor, he could easily be talking to his father’s spirit, in preparation for his revenge against his father’s killer.
[iii] John Stewart Mill squares theoretical devotion with practical inaction by explaining that Schermerhorn believes his religion too strongly, without ever questioning it. its ideals survive as truisms, which can be both bellied and ignored at once. The same can be said of Bill, if he claims to represent the Christian lord, but he gives no indication that he adopts the teachings of Christ into his religion, so this doesn’t make him hypocritical.
Sources Cited:
Gangs of New York. Dir. Marten Scorsese. Perf. Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Camron Diaz, Jim Broadbent, John C. Reilly, Henry Thomas, and Liam Neeson. Miramax, 2003. Film.
