MARY SILLIMAN'S WAR FILM

Name

Course

Date
 2

Mary Silliman's War Film

The film Mary Silliman’s war that was set in 1779 during the American Revolution

unveils Mary’s experiences as she got involved in the troubling events that occurred during the

revolutionary war. Mary was married to Selleck Silliman who was a well-known patriot and

attorney in the state. Silliman undertook the role of prosecuting citizens of Fairfield, who

remained loyal to Great Britain. The film unveils a sequence of occurrence of events right from

the arrest and conviction of local loyalists hence making Silliman to be an object of their

revenge1. Through these occurrences, the film uncovers that the British are not the only enemy,

but also Americans have conflicts among themselves. The film reveals the division of the

Connecticut between those who are loyal to the king of England and the patriots. When Mary’s

husband is kidnapped, she sets out to ensure that her husband wins his freedom.

Mary Silliman’s war film arguably seeks to satisfy many of the possibly conflicting goals

of historians and filmmakers. Right from the beginning of the film, the dramatic and visual

attributes of the film seem so impressive. From the narration of Mary’s experiences, the film

offers a resounding depiction of the 18th century Connecticut. Further, the film is well-cast and

has a good-crafted script, which is full of compelling scenes and dramatic tensions making it

easier to understand the flow of the story. By watching the film, I gained a considerable

depiction of the Fairfield Connecticut community at the time of the revolutionary war. This is

evident from the occurrences that surround Mary and her family. The story revolves around

various thematic threads including moral principles, gender role expectations, religious culture,

and tensions of the revolution war and community relationships among others. Though the film

does not comprehensively elaborate these themes, it manages to explain how various aspects of

the society overlapped and at times contradicted during that time.

1
"Mary Silliman's War," YouTube, September 15, 2018.
 3

Another aspect is that the film deliberates on social history by considering Mary’s

experiences and perspectives on the events that happened during that time as opposed to

considering her as a typical colonial woman. What stood out to me most is the way the film is

remarkably persuasive in its demonstration of the experiences during the revolutionary war. The

film focuses on a single rural community of colonial America. The focus on a single community

was considered helpful as it made economic, political and social decisions more profound. In

addition, the focus on one rural community helped to exemplify the extent to which ordinary

civilians, their families and communities were affected by the revolutionary war.

In conclusion, Mary Silliman’s war film presents educational value to the viewer.

Historically, the dramatization of the story tends to connect acknowledged events. On the

contrary, though the film reveals various themes that lead to various questions surrounding the

configuration of the England society, it fails to resolve issues affecting community relations

including religious beliefs, gender and family relations as well as race and class. More

importantly, the film shows that history can be both be instructional and dramatically moving if

carefully reconstructed.

Bibliography
 4

"Mary Silliman's War." YouTube. September 15, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?

reload=9&v=UT2_Np7Jx0o.