“The Way” Analyzed

“The Way” focuses around a father, Dr. Thomas Avery (Martin Sheen), walking the Camino de Santiago after his son died trying to do the same journey. After traveling to France to bring his son home, Tom instantly decides to cremate his son and travel the way together. Along the way Tom meets people from all over the world and learns why they are embarking on such an intense journey. From health reasons to a spiritual awakening, each person has their own mission. As Tom is completing checkpoints he decides to spread some of his son’s ashes along the way. The other three main characters, Sarah, Jack, and Joost join Tom on the path and share many personal life stories. When looking at these four characters I believe Sarah shows a lot of growth throughout the film. We first see her at one of the stops acting very cold and angry towards Tom after finding out she’s from Canada. The two part ways and later rejoin each other along the way. We see Sarah along four of the six paths to God according to Ignatian Spirituality. Sarah is on the path of independence, exploration, disbelief, and confusion. The path of independence shares choosing to be distant from organized religion though they still believe in God. We see Sarah saying the Our Father and understanding the peace of being in a church though she doesn’t practice all that often along the path. She talks to God asking Him to understand her efforts along the way, she still feels the presence though she may not show it as much. The path of disbelief can be seen through her own intellectual confusion. Coming from an abusive relationship and deciding to abort her fetus, you can see through her body language the inner conflict she has when she shares her story. She understands the faith but also the simple fact that she cannot put another human at risk like she has put herself at risk. The path of exploration is a human instinct. Sarah has literally embarked on a journey to explore her spiritual and personal self. I believe this is the true reason she walked the Camino de Santiago. She complains others are walking too fast and not stopping to smell the roses, she is taking this as an opportunity to explore her worlds. Lastly, the path of confusion… it is known to be a path crossed at many points in our lives. Throughout the movie, each character has endured this path. However, Sarah makes it a mission to understand each person’s confusion. Sarah herself has opened up and realized how at times in her life she has felt disconnected to God. She has shared how she cried for peace, help, and understanding and never seemed to get it the way she wanted. By the end of the way, viewers see through Sarah’s body language how she has reconciled her relationship with God and herself. She doesn’t seem to be as cold as she was in the beginning and it seems that the Camino de Santiago has provided her a way to get close with God, herself, and others. She is a character who has grown immensely despite not saying many words. You can see it through her eyes and breathing. I’m sure many people can relate to many of the characters in this movie and though it is sad, I do think it is a great film to show many different kinds of growth.