Questions on a film

THE MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON

1) Describe the following characters: Richard Burton, John H. Speke, Isabel Burton, Lowry.

BURTON: Adventurer and explorer that, by the time the audience meet him in the story, has already been to many places that the rest of the characters can't even imagine, just because he has the need to discover new cultures and to get involved with the inhabitants of that places.

SPEKE: At first, a puppet of the British Empire, a man younger than Burton who has no experience in that fields, apart from being a soldier in the colonies. Later on, as the story goes on, he starts to admire Burton way of living and changes his ways.  

ISABEL: A rebel lady for his time. She loves everything about Burton even before he meets him because she has been reading his books and translations. She is a very important support for her husband and would love to be a traveller as well.

LOWRY: He is a publisher who does whatever it takes to get what he wants. A person who loves taking advantage of the others and use their achievements in his own benefit. He plays a key role in the story as he is the one who creates the enmity between Burton and Speke.

2) How would you contrast Burton and Speke? What are their respective motivations to travel and explore? What is the attitude towards other cultures and peoples?

In the case of Speke, there would be two answers for this questions, one for the beginning of the story, and another that appears from the middle until the end. He shows himself cautious at the beginning, even showing some violence to the natives, as he is trying to show who is the one who rules there. Later on, this violence is proved to be fear towards these new cultures. Also, at first he is only thinking in bringing back some data for the Geographical Society, not really interested in experiencing the trip for his own sake, he just wants to finish his job and go back home. But this all changes later on as he becomes closer to Burton.

On the contrary, Burton is not only interested in finding the objective of the trip. He is a person who shows total respect to the people he encounters in his way, as he is more interested in the journey than in the destination. Due to his knowledge of other cultures, he knows how to approach tribes in order to show friendliness. He doesn't show himself as a slavehandler, as he really cares about the people that help him achieve his expeditions.

3) How does each one feel about the other? Do their feelings change in the course of the movie?

The first time they meet, during the battle they fight against the natives, Burton shows some condescension towards Speke, as he has much more experience in situations like that. However, Burton is the one who goes back to him and asks him to go together to find the sources of the Nile. As the story develops, Speke shows some personality, as well as admiration towards Burton, who also learns from Speke. They support each other to live through their experience in Africa, developing a very close relationship. Despite of that, due to the lie Lowry invents, they become enemies by the end of the story.

4) How does Burton contrast with Victorian society?

Burton can be defined as an outcast. He doesn't belong to the Victorian society because of the way he thinks towards other cultures and countries. He shows that in the way he dresses and on the way he behaves towards those who accuse him of being friend of the savages and natives. Burton had seen and experienced things that hardly ever could make him fit in a society again, either Victorian or not.

5) Why is Burton so interested in the slave medicine man? Why does he feel so miserable when he is killed?

Burton is so interested because he considers the slave medicine man a friend. Apart from that, he believes that the man has some secret inside of him, so he has the need to explore what he means with the predictions he makes through the story. Burton feels so bad because he feels responsible for bringing back the man to his old tribe, who treated him as a slave. However, he believes that by dying, the medicine man has finally found freedom.

6) Why doesn't Burton want to try to go to the lake Speke discovered while he was retained at the African Village?

Burton has experienced the horror of seeing his friend diying, and he is feeling really disappointed about the trip when Speke comes back. Now he doesn't have the need to discover the source of the Nile so badly. At the same time, Speke tells him that they don't have instruments for measuring anymore, so there is no point on repeating the same process again. Due to this, he concludes that if that lake is the source of the Nile, it cannot be proved scientifically, and decides not to go.

7) What are their divergent conceptions of the sources of the Nile? Who is right?

Speke believed that the Nile came from only one lake, the one he found at the end of the expedition. He had no measuring instruments, but he strongly believed that he had found the source. On the other hand, Burton thought that the Nile came from more that one lake, from a group of lakes, as his experience in other lake during the journey tells him. At the end Speke is the one who is right, the Nile comes from the lake he named Victoria.

8) Would you say that Burton betrays Speke? If so, why does he do it? And why does Burton react with what appears as passivity?

It is right the opposite. Speke is the one betraying Burton because of a misunderstanding. As Lowry sees that Speke wants to wait for Burton's return to tell the account of their expedition, he invents a lie that makes Speke feel betrayed, and so he does the same to Burton.

Burton himself feels disappointed at the beginning, but prefers to keep his friendship towards Speke than confronting him, that is why he seems to be passive towards the situation. Ultimately, he is convinced to have a debate to discuss the scientific facts that support Speke's theory, which results in the death of Speke.

9) When in one of the last scenes of the movie, Burton leaves the Hall of the Geographical Society, Lowry Oliphant tells him that the journals will call him murderer, that he will see to it that they write that. Burton simply replies: "It's never what they write": What does he mean?

He means that you cannot trust blindly what is written in the newspapers. At the same time, as writer, he goes further than the daily news and applies that to History or Geography books, which sometimes are written without scientific facts or deeper research, as in the case of Speke's theory of the source of the Nile.

10) What is the significance of the movie last scene?

I believe that it shows that Burton never had real anger towards Speke. He really appreciated Speke despite all the harm and smear he caused him. In fact, he is the one that remembers his face even better than the members of his family. It is a humble tribute he pays to his old friend.

11) Pay attention to Burton's final speech in front of the Geographical Society. Can we learn what real traveling is from the movie? Can we learn anything that we can apply to our own travelling?

We can learn that traveling is not only moving from point A to point B, is what happens between those to points, which helps you appreciate what you find in your destination. Following Burton's experience, without the need to go through so extreme experiences almost facing death, we can have the opportunity to enjoy a trip in a deeper way if we show respect to natives, and try to understand their way of living. This way of living goes from the language to everyday routine, and we can be simple spectators of the show or try to be part of the play, depending on how adventurous we feel.