ibe upon his tribal father's death.
The dunking in water theme of rebirth is prevalent in many cultures, most notably in Christian ones. It is hard to tell whether Boorman is extrapolating a level of meaning that is not there; perhaps, the water is merely an expedient way of washing off the honey and the ants. Yet, the ritual of entering manhood is one that involves death and resurrection: "The boy is dead ... and the man is born." The scene in which Tomme becomes a man begins with the "boy" being sentenced to death.
During their search for Tomme, his real father and the reporter who has joined Markham on this trip set off firecrackers, which attract the Fierce People. The Fierce People more than live up to their name by turning out to be headhunters and possibly cannibals-when Markham shoots one Indian to discourage the others, the tribal chief goes to the corpse and digs out the bullet with his fingers, off which he then licks the accompanying blood although the viewer is not sure whether this is to check the reality of the death wound or the con
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