Has anybody here read the book? I grabbed the following post from IMDB ...
Quote:
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Having read the book that this film is based and watched it more times than most have had hot meals, your premise is absolutely groundless. Ethan & Aaron both vied for Martha, before the war. Martha chose or, her family chose Aaron as the more steady provider but, Martha actually loves Ethan (can't resist the bad boy). You can tell from the way Martha acts when Ethan returns from the War at the beginning of the film. Marty is no more than who he is presented as. Ethan had met the family prior to their massacre on the trail. Martha's death at the hands of Scar, is Ethan's primary motivation to kill Scar to death, no matter what.
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This does seem translated into the film but I see nothing (above) about Martha having Ethan's children. Nor from the other posts I've read elsewhere. Can anyone state whether adultery was in the book?
Even so, Cees correctly mentions that just because it is in the book doesn't mean that it becomes part of the film script or the actual film.
Interestingly, another theory going around IMDB and (supposedly) film schools is that Marty is Ethan's son. Which brings another thought process to Ethan telling Marty, "don't call me your Uncle."
Regardless of the actual evidence to any of this, I would agree that Brook has successfully demonstrated that there are more layers to The Searchers to think about.