"Far and Away"

In the film “Far and Away” the two main characters, Joseph and Shannon, emigrate from Western Ireland to America. Shannon desires freedom from her very wealthy family because her mother controls her behavior and even her future. She states that she in modern and America is modern, and therefore that it where she belongs. She has a flyer that states that there is free land in America. She wants to live independently, raise horses, and ride them in whatever fashion she chooses. Joseph, on the other hand, is very poor and owns no land of his own. He works the land of Shannon’s father, Daniel Kristi. Joseph, like Shannon, longs for land of his own. After Joseph’s father is killed at the beginning of the film he goes to Daniel Kristi’s house to kill him in revenge. He does not succeed, but it is there that he meets Shannon. Together they leave Ireland and move to America. After losing her mother’s spoons that she stole and brought along to sell she relies on Joseph. They become a team working together to earn enough money to be able to get to Oklahoma and a piece of its land. When they first get off the boat in America a young boy takes them to a man that gets them work and also a small room to stay in. They first work in a chicken factory plucking the feathers from the chicken. Later in the film it’s as if Joseph becomes overwhelmed with frustration because they are making so little. He begins making money boxing/fighting. Joseph is better at it then everyone else and is undefeated for some time. He finally loses a match, but only because he is more interested in protecting Shannon. Although Joseph seemed mostly agitated with the guy that helped them find work, ran his boxing, and gave them the roof over their heads, they owed their survival in Boston to him. However, that guy does kick them out of their room they were staying in after he loses that match. They are then faced with more challenges and hardship with nowhere to stay and nothing to eat. After they sneak into a home they believe is unoccupied, Shannon gets shot in the shoulder when people come home. Fortunately, by this time Shannon’s family has immigrated to America because their home was burned down in Ireland by the rebelling farmers and also because they come in search of Shannon. Joseph takes her to them, where she is given the care she needs. Joseph makes his way closer to Oklahoma and once he is finally there he is faced yet with another challenge. He must buy a horse and race with all the others to get himself (and Shannon) a piece of land. Which, in the end, they get the land that they both dreamed of. While watching this film I couldn’t help but think that although Shannon and Joseph ran into many challenges along their journey they were mostly likely two of the more lucky people. She was fortunate to have him with her because I don't think that she would have known how to survive in America without him. I imagine many immigrants that ran into many more challenges and dead ends then what Joseph and Shannon did. So many people arrived in this country with hopes and dreams as big as they come, only to find disappointment. What do you think it would have been like to arrive in America, or any foreign place, without a plan and only a dream?