Outlaws, Death Penalty, and Daisy Domergue
“Had it not been for slavery, the death penalty would have likely been abolished in America. Slavery became a haven for the death penalty.” — Angela Davis
After looking back at my journal entries — the catalysts to my essays — I figured out what I wanted my Wild Card to consist of. One of the main characters in The Hateful Eight is Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh). From her introduction, we can see that she is a character with a criminal history. She is handcuffed to John Ruth (Kurt Russell) and this creates a mysterious first impression. During this time, there were people referred to as outlaws. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, an outlaw is defined as: a person who has broken the law, especially one who remains at large or is a fugitive [1]. In historical legal systems, this criminal is withdrawn from all legal protection and anyone is empowered to kill or punish them [2]. In this scenario, Domergue is wanted for her participation in crimes and she is being taken across the state to her death sentence. Here are some excerpts from my journal responses that have to do with Daisy Domergue:
“Bloodbath- an event or situation in which many people are killed in a violent manner. My initial impression of the movie was of the contrary to this description due to the slow start The Hateful Eight had. Not having seen any Quentin Tarantino movies before this one, I was not aware of what this movie would be like. Nonetheless, the setting of post-Civil War helped create the general mood of the plot; there was a lot of tension between African Americans and Whites. As lead role, Samuel L. Jackson does an amazing job of displaying how vicious people affected by the war were.
Suspense arises in the chapter of Minnie’s Habedashery because it is obvious that of the eight main characters, we do not know who can and cannot be trusted. Bounty hunters, former Generals, and prisoners are the roles of the characters in this story. To me, the person who stood out the most was prisoner, Daisy Domergue. In the beginning of the movie, she is introduced to Warren while being handcuffed to the man who is taking freedom away from her. She initially comes off as incompetent but later on in the plot her true personality is revealed; she and her brother had a plan all along for her to escape. The biggest turn in the movie for me was when I got to Chapter Five and Jody’s grand scheme was exposed. This was definitely the most interesting part of the movie because this chapter showed what all went down before the bounty hunters arrived to the concealed cabin in the middle of a blizzard.”
“The second Jody from the cellar shot Major Warren from underneath, all hell broke loose. Looking at it from a different point of view, perhaps this was the moment of justice. A series of kills follow this scene where justice and grace is served. For instance, the death of Jody Domergue causes a domino effect; Daisy makes up a lie about a “Jody Domingre gang” to flee the claustrophobic and horrific cabin that the characters are trapped in. Moreover, the second Jody’s head got shot off by Warren allowed Daisy to realize that her own brother died for her life. Also, the death of Jody serves as revenge from Warren because he was castrated in the process of being shot.
Daisy Domergue’s death is actually an interesting scene to analyze. As she is being levied into the air from the strength of Chris Mannix and Marquis Warren, you slowly see how her life is coming to an end. The laughs of the two men create the mood of her death being necessary and comical. Furthermore, the snow shoes in the rear ground give the allusion of angel wings as if there was a grace in her death. Moreover, the soundtrack playing at this instance helps pinpoint the exact moment when she takes her last breath and leaves the earth for good. Simply put, there is an almost upbeat temp playing as she is being lifted and then there is a dramatic pause and drop in tempo as her oxygen supply is cut off from her brain.”
“Now day and night the irons clang and like poor galley slaves / Toil and toil and when we die must fill dishonored graves / Bye and bye, I’ll break m’ chains and to the bush I’ll go / And you’ll be dead behind me, John, when I get to Mexico.” — Daisy Domergue
The scene where Daisy Domergue is being hung by Chris Mannix and Major Warren is very noteworthy out of the entirety of the movie. She dies in the way that she was intended to — thus honoring the life of John Ruth. To provide some background on her death, I researched some articles on the death penalty in history. In 1834, Pennsylvania became the first state to move executions away from the eye and carry them into correctional facilities. During the Civil War, opposition to the death penalty waned and other matters were of focus. Furthermore, the electric chair was introduced at the end of the century and the first execution was performed in New York.
An interesting article published by wordpress.com talks about the 13 top Old West outlaws [3]. Robert Parker, better known as Butch Cassidy was apart of the infamous Wild Bunch. Butch began his career as a cattle rustler and also planned robbers for other outlaws at the time. One peculiar fact is that his death is a mystery. Among the people on this list, a majority of them died in mysterious ways. Outlaws were very difficult to capture, which is why I found it so intriguing to talk about Daisy Domergue’s character in The Hateful Eight. She was a very educated criminal who had a master plan the entire time. She fooled many of the people she spent hours with, and even though she did a lot of harm, she is really admirable for her qualities.
References
[1] The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 2004. Print.
[2] Berger, Adolf. “Interdicere aqua et igni”. Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law. p. 507.
[3] “13 Old West Outlaws.” N.p., 2008. Web. 02 May 2016. <https://fremontlibraries.wordpress.com/2008/02/07/13-old-west-outlaws/>.
