Mercenary Motif
Although he is ultimately the hero of the story, and is much changed as a man from the beginning of the movie to the end, Algren makes it plain to Begley that he is a soldier for the money. He does not hate any one group of people but will kill them because he is paid to do so. If he is told to kill Native Americans, he will. If he is told to kill the Japanese, he will, because he is getting paid. There is nothing noble about his cause, until he spends time with the samurai and begins to find something genuine to fight for.
Sword Symbol
The samurai sword is a symbol of different things to different people. To Katsumoto, it is a symbol of the noble ancestry that he is so proud of. The sword is the weapon he used to protect the previous emperor. It is a symbol of service, of selflessness, of pride and of courage.
To Omura, the sword is a symbol of defiance and a symbol of the samurai's lack of respect for the new government and their laws. The fact that Katsumoto still carries the sword in public is a symbol to him of Katsumoto's disrespect for him and for the laws he supports. It is a symbol of what he sees as Old Japan.
Samurai Symbol
Omura has felt resentment towards the samurai his entire life. He feels that because the nobility were so elitist and privileged, To him they are a symbol of all that is wrong with Japan and the reason for its need to modernize. They are also the symbol for his family's hard path through life and for the struggle that he has endured in order to gain acceptance.
Railroad Symbol
The rebels occupy the railroad and attempt to destroy it, because it is a symbol to them of the new regime in Japan and the westernization of the country that they would like to remain the way that it has been for thousands of years. They feel that by destroying the very symbol of Omura's company will show their contempt for both him and his ideas for the future of the country.
Begley Symbol
To Algren, Begley is a symbol of everything that is wrong with the military. He witnessed him murdering Native American civilians and hates him because of this. Begley kills because he follows orders. He has nothing against the people he is fighting and does not think about the rights and wrongs of what he is doing. He gets and order and he follows it. To Begley, this makes him a good soldier, but to Algren it symbolizes everything that is wrong with war, and with the army itself.
