You can read Parts One and Two here
JUST AS Charlie is moved by love for Rose, so too is he moved by the feeling of shame that she inspires in him. From the beginning of the movie, Charlie appears a decent fellow, but in no way heroic. Rose, zealous for love of God and country, prods his conscience and makes him think twice about sitting the war out. When Rose interprets his initial plans as unpatriotic, Charlie is defensive. ‘I wouldn’t put it that way,’ he appeals. ‘How would you put it?’ she replies sharply. Rose’s moral authority is also on display when she disposes of his liquor. ‘It ain’t your property!’ he pleads, without trying to stop her or exact retribution. Why? Well, he knows she has a point: in the context of the present situation, which he is reluctant to accept, his claims to private property carry little weight.
Charlie’s change into, in Rose’s words, ‘the greatest man who ever lived’, is a small miracle. Yet as wonderful as it is, it is also quite believable. The reason for this is that Charlie is not so much spontaneously transformed as he is developed. In the words of Aristotle, he is actualised. Charlie always had the potential for greatness. His complacency at the beginning of the movie is harmless and not opposed to great deeds. But he was lacking the proper agent, someone to make the most out of him. Had Rose not come into his life, Charlie would probably have remained the same, only increasing in age and experience, his comfortable habits becoming ever more fixed. Rose gives him a vision of happiness. With her in his life, he has a clear purpose, something to work for.
***
Just as Charlie is improved by Rose, so is she improved by him. When she first boards the Queen, Rose is driven by a kind of religious desperation and patriotic fervour. While she is unquestionably sincere in her ambitions, one wonders how long they will last, considering the fact she is still in mourning. While Charlie initially opposes her bold plans, he eventually strengthens her in her ambitions. First, he helps her discover the thrill of navigating the rapids, a pleasure equal to any she has ever known. Second, he entrusts her with steering the boat and depends upon her as his first mate. Lastly, when she is beset by fear or doubt, Charlie is there to protect her and strengthen her resolve. In an especially unpleasant scene, the two are overcome by a swarm of flies. Charlie gallantly covers her with a blanket while he, entirely exposed, leads the boat to open water. When Rose expresses misgivings about their mission, Charlie is the one to reassure her. For this she is grateful, confessing a moment of weakness. The moment is significant, given how far Charlie had to come to get to this point.
By the end of the movie, Rose and Charlie have an equal partnership. After the boat’s propellor is damaged in the descent of the cataract, Rose offers to help remove it from under the boat. Charlie rejects her offer on account of the dangerous underwater currents. As we watch Charlie, submerged, struggling to take off the propellor, into the frame swims Rose, the woman so loath to bathe in the river earlier in the movie. When the Queen enters the maze of channels at the river’s delta, it is Rose who chooses the course. And when the boat is no longer able to advance by the force of its engine, Rose shares in the chore of levering the boat forward through the muck.
The most poignant expression of their partnership happens at the end of their journey. Having finally made it to the lake, the boat converted into a torpedo, Charlie and Rose have one task remaining: in the darkness of the night they must steer the boat into the German gunboat, jumping off before collision. Only one person is needed for the job and both protest that they should be the one to do it. Each has the same motivation: to protect the other. With such sincerity of purpose, they are provoked to anger. ‘We’re having our first quarrel,’ Rosie sadly observes. Eventually, they agree to work together. The prospect of either surviving the other is too terrible for them to contemplate. Together they started this adventure, and together they will finish it.
***
While Rose and Charlie are moved to excellence by their love for each other, that love alone is insufficient to sustain them. The African Queen is more than a simple love story in which a man and woman find happiness in their discovery of each other. While Rose and Charlie both provide something the other lacks, it is the fruits of their union that make their romance so compelling. The real power of this movie comes from the fact that their relationship is not treated as an end in itself. Instead, it is subordinate to a higher, transcendental purpose: to serve God and country.
At first this commitment to a higher purpose is exclusive to Rose. She is the devoted missionary, so admiring of her brother. We know she has already committed ten years to her work. When she and her brother learn of the war’s outbreak, they kneel to pray. When her brother dies, Rose accepts the fact with a stoic resolution. She pours out Charlie’s supply of liquor with a religious conviction, which he respects without understanding. Her whole intention to travel down the Ulanga and destroy the Luise can only be explained by the little estimation she has of death in comparison to letting down her God and country.
Initially Charlie is dismissive of her plans. Surely she will come to her senses as she confronts the dangers of the river and the death of her brother fades from her memory. After they go down a harrowing stretch of white water for the first time, he consoles his passenger. ‘I don’t blame you for being scared,’ he says, assuming she does not want to go on. To his horror, Rose is only emboldened.
Prodded by his conscience and a growing love for Rose, Charlie takes on dangers with increased boldness. His first efforts are halting and full of anxiety. He morbidly jokes about becoming food for the crocodiles. With each hurdle overcome he becomes increasingly brave. Later in the movie, when Rose begins to doubt the success of their project, it is he who comforts her. ‘Of course we can do it,’ he says. ‘Never say die. That’s my motto.’ Clearly, Charlie is strengthened by his love for Rose. But he also seems ever more confident in the justice of their mission and trusting that God is on their side.
Charlie and Rose’s journey down the river is filled with small miracles. The more helpless they are, the more wonderful the outside assistance they receive. We see this in their evasion of the German fort, when a volley of bullets does no serious damage to them or their ship. Just when the German officer gets Charlie in the scope of his rife, he is blinded by the glare of the sun. The ship’s descent over the great cataract, after they have lost control, is equally lucky. While Charlie and Rose are skilful, brave, and enterprising, they could not get as far as they do without the help of some guiding hand.
Yet these moments are as nothing compared with the divine assistance they receive at the end of the movie. After Rose and Charlie have become stuck in the marshes, the situation is grim. There is no hope of turning the boat round and going back, and they have spent all of their energy making it this far. It seems that Charlie’s worst fears will be realised, that they ‘just sit there and go off our heads with fever.’ As Charlie lies unconscious on the deck, Rose says a final prayer. ‘Dear Lord. We’ve come to the end of our journey. In a little while we’ll stand before you. I pray for you to be merciful. Judge us not for our weakness but our love and open the doors of heaven for Charlie and me.’ In one of the most powerful moments of the film, the frame cuts to a God’s-eye view of Rose. As the camera slowly pans up from the kneeling supplicant, we discover the broad and beautiful lake only a stone’s throw from our heroes. While this view brings awe and even hope to the viewer, the protagonists, lacking this knowledge, are resigned to a slow death.
To be continued
