Frank Kearney and The Quiet Man: Fighting to find home

Frank Kearney Image Credit: theletterwritingrevolution.blogspot.com

Frank Kearney is a man who understands what it is like to fight for home and how sometimes it becomes a fight to find home. Soldiers like him often find themselves in situations where death is not a specter but a lord and master. In those moments where life and its end stand on equal ground, any man, however patriotic, may find himself conflicted and utterly lost.

Frank Kearney Image Credit: filmsite.org

This is perhaps one story found in the 1952 film The Quiet Man. Sean Thornton was a professional boxer—not a soldier—who finds himself looking for home when he accidentally puts an opponent to death. He then reclaims his family’s land in the Irish town of Innisfree and realizes something that soldiers, like Frank Kearney, would understand: going home isn’t always quite so simple.

Frank Kearney Image Credit: ferdyonfilms.com

Thornton finds himself a wife, the sister of a squire who bears a grudge after Thornton outbids him for the land beside his farm. Conflict ensues after the town conspires to get Thornton out of his own house so that the sister, Mary Kate, could wed Thornton. The squire discovers the deception and refuses to release the rest of Mary Kate’s dowry. Thornton’s refusal to stand up to the squire and demand his wife’s dowry—a must in Irish custom—leads Mary Kate to run away.

Thornton follows her and hauls her back to Innisfree, where he finally confronts the squire. The squire and Thornton engage in fisticuffs, after which they finally resolve the issue. The dowry, while released, ended in flames by Mary Kate’s own hand.

In the end, Thornton finds home but not after fighting hard for it. The story ought to be familiar to any soldier headed for home.

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