
The critically acclaimed movie “Lawrence of Arabia” directed by David Lean is about Thomas Edward Lawrence during World War One. Lawrence was born in England out of Wedlock in 1888. He was a diplomat, archeologist, and officer in the British military. He is best known for his efforts during the Arab Revolt against the Ottomans. He was put in charge of organizing the Bedouin people in the revolt. His time in the middle east was a clash between old and new. The old classical tribal warfare of the Arab people and the new innovations of tactics and technology of the British, Germans, and Ottomans. In the image you can see how the clash of old and new come to a conflict. The massive charge by T. E. and his men in to artillery. The clash between old and new is illustrated in the image above because of the position Lawrence is placed in the picture, the Arrangement of his men in the background, and his unseen enemie’s technology.

T. E. Lawrence was put in charge of the Arabs to lead them tactically not to actually fight in the war. That being said he took part in most of all the fighting. He did not enjoy it though. This is shown because of the position he was put in the picture. He is front and center of the image leading troops into battle. On his face can be seen the look of determination. As he knows the only chance he has is to reach the enemy. His look does not breed absolute confidence as he is almost bracing himself for impact. It looks like he is brave but is still worried about, not his own health but how this charge will impact the battle and therefore the campaign. Next he is wearing a British officer’s uniform with an Arabian robe over it. This is one of the most important symbols in the image above. The robe over the new British uniform shows how Lawrence is using the old ways to complement the new tactics of the British. It represents how he was accepted by the Arab people as one of their own somewhat in to the war. It also shows how he starts to accept them as his people. However, he is still wearing the British officer’s uniform under the Arab robes which means he knows that he is still a British solider and will obey the orders he receives from his higher ups. He has his sabre drawn high over his head. This is associated with pride and glory as the troops he leads are rallying behind Lawrence. The sword looks to be of Arabian design. This shows again how he is accepting the Arab culture as his own and even some of the tactics. The sabre was most likely a gift from one of the higher up men in his command. Probably one of the Arab princes. Lastly he is not riding a horse as Europeans do. He is mounted on a Camel and charging. Needless to say Europeans do not have camels so it further enhances the image as most Europeans prefer horses. Lawrence’s willingness to fight on a camel represents how he is practically part of the Arab forces as just another one of them. Lawrence is the most important part of the picture because he best blends the two ideals of ways of life and war. He is the center of the picture because he is the main protagonist and therefore what the image focuses on. He is the prefect mixture of old and new, Arabian and European to push the Ottomans back enough and take the city of Damascus. 

 The position of Lawrence’s allies in the background of the picture serves to how that the Bedouin people would refuse to fight in the tactical ways of the time. They would not go into the trenches and defend positions. That is why his men are mounting there animals to charge artillery. He wrote in his diary that “A man who fights well on his own often makes for a bad soldier.” This describes the men he was put in charge of down to a tee. On their own the Bedouin people are fierce warriors but when instructed to use the European tactics they often refuse to fight or just failed with them. So to account for this Lawrence started to incorporate Calvary charges and Guerilla tactics. They would destroy train tracks and telegraph stations. In the image above you can see one of the Calvary charges that Lawrence lead in his campaign. There are two long sections or columns behind Lawrence in the image. One to the left and one to the right of him. These people are put in the background to show Lawrence is leading them. They are arranged to look scattered and in a panic because of the artillery fire. The rest of the Arab soldiers are armed similarly to Lawrence himself. They hold swords and guns and are following the solo white man into battle. They move across a wastelandsih desert and dodge bullets and artillery, more on that later. The old versus new of these tactics are obvious based on the position of the forces. A tribal people charge a fortified position on horse and camel back with swords. While the enemy is shooting guns and mortars and even larger artillery at the advance. The Bedouin people seem to refuse to advance their tactics and technology because they do not want to lose their identity. They are fighting for a strong independent Arabian nation. So if they lose who they are while fighting for it, then why would it be worth it. The old versus new is very well illustrated by the image above because of the men behind Lawrence and what they are doing. 

Compared to the swords and small fire arms Lawrence and his men carry the unseen enemy in the picture above seem even more advanced. They have more men to fight against the Arab uprising. They use better tactics and if dug in properly would not be moved be the Arabs. In the image above the Arabs race across the desert while being pounded be artillery.  Only an enemy biplane can be seen in the picture above. that is the only hostile force shown to the people viewing the image. This has a point to it, because there are no visible ottoman soldiers it dehumanizes them. The plane is put there to make the enemies to look reliant on machines in contrast to the Arabs more “Pure” way of life.  The lack of enemy soldiers is to also make Lawrence look more heroic. If there was a Ottoman solider being cut down by Lawrence in the picture, it would make the Brit look more barbaric and taint what the image currently displays. There are craters all over the background and even an explosion from the actual shell. There is a fire off to the left of the screen which we would have assume that is a person or horse because if it wasn’t there would be anything to catch on fire. The craters on the desert floor are in a large area and look like there was a huge shelling. It looks mostly ineffective due to lack of bodies. The lack of bodies could also just be attributed to the design of the movie poster and the taboo of putting dead bodies on the poster. To the back right of the image in above the mountains you can see a plane flying. This again represents the enemy technological advantage over the charging troops. The planes historically put Lawrence men into disarray because of the obvious easiness to pick them off in the desert. Earlier on the planes would scatter the Arabs mid charge. Since the troops have not dispersed into the open desert one can make the inference that this battle is taking place towards the end of the campaign. The old Calvary charge has not broken under the new innovations of the Turkish army. The old has lasted and is beating the new by simply lasting long enough to see the Turks lose ground. The bombardment of the Bedouin people seems to be largely ineffective and the charge continues. This is highly representative of the old ways triumphing over the new.  

The old ways of the of the Bedouin people contrast with the new ways of the European and Ottoman forces. T. E. Lawrence had to overcome the Bedouin inability to fight in conventional ways. The way that he adapts the tactics used by the Bedouin show that an inferior force can successfully fight against a more modern army like the Turks. The Arabian fighting machine in the picture above is made up of mounted men with swords fighting against artillery and air planes. The mastery of Lawrence’s understanding of Bedouin society steams form his time as an archeologist. He studied their culture before he was put in charge of them. At first he did not think much of them, then as he fought alongside of them he leaned how they worked. The Arab men were fierce warriors on their own but could only overcome the Turks when they worked as a unit. Together they started to gain ground and eventually took the city of Damascus from the Ottoman empire. The Picture above is a movie poster of “Lawrence of Arabia”. It Is a film based upon the real life story of T. E. Lawrence. It is a fairly accurate representation of his time in what was the Ottoman empire. The clash of the highly traditional tribal culture of the Bedouin people versus an industrialized enemy, the Ottoman Turks, shows that with good leadership and an understanding of one’s own forces can result in a successful campaign against a vastly superior hostile force. The image above shows the brave men of the Arab Revolt charging against an unseen enemy army. The old ways versus the new ways and in this case with support from the British the old ways seem to triumph against the new.  
