In What Ways Does The Journey Down The River Change The Character Of Rosie And Charlie

The African Queen
Essay Question- In what ways does the journey down the river change the characters of Rosie and Charlie? What do they learn about themselves during the course of the journey?
The movie ‘The African Queen’ changes two very different people, Rose (Rosie) and Charlie by going on a journey down the river. The journey down the river was not peaceful instead it was the exact opposite however these two main characters learn a lot amount of things during their journey by growing to love and respecting one another after sharing and surviving severe hardships. . From the start of the story Rose is a very naive and pious person and Charlie of the African Queen, is someone who has a coarse behavior and tolerates in a rather stiff manner.
The journey begins when German troops marches into the village and start burning down huts and the church, this causes Rose’s brother Samuel to have a nervous breakdown and soon realises that his life’s work has been destroyed and instantly loses his mind and dies very soon.
Rose who is utterly devoted to her brother sets off on the African Queen with Charlie. During their journey Rose sees Charlie drinking some Gin and getting drunk and starts to take control and become a boss of the situation by tying her hair and throwing all the alcohol (Gin) into the river. When Charlie wakes up and sees Rose dumping the all the Gin into the river he is terrified and screams “It ain’t your property!” Rose is confident and can handle what is yet to come she shows this by not stopping dumping the Gin into the river and ignores Charlie. In this scene it shows two frames, one frame is Charlie being drunk and the other Charlie being normal, the scenes showing Charlie shaving his beard off shows Charlie being
normal.
As the African queen goes down the river, they are challenged by another obstacle, the river starts getting dangerous and they must overcome this situation, Charlie who is used to the rapids immediately takes control and keeps on going. But for Rose it’s her first experience with the rapids, and when she notices how dangerous the journey was , she says “I never knew this could be so exciting”, after saying this she became more outrageous, excited and delighted. This shows Rose already changing because at the start of the journey she didn’t really contribute to the journey and was only reading a bible she has brought along. But in this scene it shows her experiencing herself of the journey and realises how exciting it is.
The African Queen faces another obstacle, this time they are spotted by a German fortress on top of the hill near the river; luckily the first set of rapids is rather easy because they got through with minimal flooding in the boat. But to avoid the bullets shot by the German soldiers Rose and Charlie have to duck when they pass the fortress. Lucky enough Rose and Charlie aren't hurt but the top of the boiler is blown up. Charlie quickly gets some tape and manages to tape the disconnected hose together. The boat rolls and pitches crazily as it goes down the rapids leading to more severe flooding. In this scene Rose not only experiences challenges she starts to trust Charlie. This not only starts to make these two people become closer it forms a relationship.
The journey down the river with the African Queen faces constant challenges such as the climate, the river, the bugs, the Germans and most of all against each other. Rosie changes dramatically by the experiences taken throughout the journey, she becomes more dominant and outrageous. Charlie on the other hand becomes a respectful person and also a trustworthy captain. This journey has made these two people experience things that they have never experienced. Throughout the journey they develop more love and respect for each other and manage to change their personality.