Editing Tender Mercies (section)

==Themes and interpretations==

===Love and family===
{{Quote box |quoted=true |bgcolor=#FFFFF0 |salign=center |width=225px |align=right | quote  = The grace comes quietly to Sledge, and by surprise and stealth, seeping down deep to shelter and then transform the violent "man who was once Mac Sledge," as the movie puts it. Ultimately, Sledge finds not blankness by love, itself mysterious and inscrutable, a reality that counters the emptiness he has known. Only a few films have managed to capture the gentle quiet splendor by which love, against all odds in this dark world, makes itself known. | source = Roy M. Anker, ''Catching Light: Looking for God in the Movies''<ref name="Anker126" />}}

Mac Sledge finds redemption largely through his relationship and eventual marriage with Rosa Lee.<ref name="Jewett5859">{{Harvnb|Jewett|1993|pp=58–59}}.</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Anker|2004|pp=125–126}}.</ref> This is in keeping with the motif of fidelity common in the works of Foote, inspired, said the writer, by his marriage to Lillian Vallish Foote. He told ''[[The New York Times]]'' that she "kept me goin'. She never lost faith, and that's a rare thing. I don't know now how we got through it, but we got through it."<ref name="Jewett5859" /> The lyrics of "If You'll Hold the Ladder", which Mac performs with his new country band in the second half of the film, suggest what love has done for him. He sings of someone holding the ladder for him as he climbs to the top; this is symbolic of Rosa's love and guidance, which has allowed Sledge to improve himself and build a new life.<ref name="Jewett5859" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Anker|2004|p=131}}.</ref> The desultory romances that defined his past are represented by the more promiscuous lyrics of Dixie Scott's songs, such as those of "The Best Bedroom in Town": "The best part of all / the room at the end of the hall / That's where you and me make everything alright ... We celebrate the happiness we've found / Every night in the best bedroom in town".<ref name="Jewett5859" /><ref>{{Cite AV media |title  =Tender Mercies |medium  =Film (DVD)|publisher=[[Universal Pictures]]|time=24:35–25:04}}</ref> His storming out of her concert symbolizes his rejection of that earlier life.<ref name="Jewett5859" /> In contrast, Rosa Lee sings the humble church hymn, "Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me".<ref>{{Harvnb|Briley|1993|pp=113–114}}.</ref> In a related way, the film emphasizes the importance of the woman's role in domestic life - although Mac takes on the role of patriarch in his new family setting, it is only through the support and care of Rosa Lee that he is able to settle into this role.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Denzin |first=Norman |year=1989 |title=Reading ''Tender Mercies'': Two Interpretations |journal=Sociology Quarterly |volume=30 |issue=1 |page=49|doi=10.1111/j.1533-8525.1989.tb01510.x }}</ref> Sociologist Norman K. Denzin points out that ''Tender Mercies'' embodies many of the ideas of recovery from addiction that are part of the [[twelve-step program]] used by [[Alcoholics Anonymous]]. Both the film and the support group's program advocate the idea of hitting rock-bottom, making a decision to stop drinking, dealing with the past and adopting a spiritual way of life.<ref>Denzin, p. 46.</ref>

''Tender Mercies'' also emphasizes the father–child theme common in the works of Foote, a theme that operates on both transcendent and temporal levels. Mac is reunited not only with his spiritual father through his conversion to Christianity, but also with his biological daughter, Sue Anne, when she pays him a surprise visit. Scholar Rebecca Luttrell Briley suggests that although Mac begins to plant new roots with Rosa Lee and Sonny in earlier scenes, they are not enough to fully satisfy his desire for redemption, as he is nearly driven to leave the family and return to his alcoholic ways. According to Briley, Sue Anne's visit prompts Mac to realize that reconciliation with her and a reformation of their father–daughter relationship is the ingredient that had been lacking in his quest for redemption. This is further demonstrated by Mac's singing "On the Wings of a Dove" to himself after their meeting;<ref name="Anker134">{{Harvnb|Anker|2004|p=134}}.</ref> the lyrics describe God the Father and God the Holy Spirit's involvement in the baptism of God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This connects Sledge's spiritual reconciliation with the divine, to the earthly reconciliation with his own child.<ref name="Briley109" /> However, the death of Sue Anne also demonstrates that, according to Briley, "all relationships cannot be mended, some by choice and some by chance, and the poignancy of missed opportunities between fathers and their children on this earth is underlined in this scene."<ref name="Briley112">{{Harvnb|Briley|1993|p=112}}.</ref>

The relationship between Mac and Sonny, whose name derives from "son", is central to the film's exploration of the father–child theme. Sonny tries to conjure an image of his biological father, whom he never had the chance to know, through old photographs, his mother's memories and visits to his father's grave. Sonny finds a father figure in Mac. When another young boy asks Sonny if he likes Mac more than his real father, Sonny says that he does, because he never knew the other man; Briley says that this "emphasizes the distinction between companionship and blood relationship Foote has pointed out before."<ref>{{Harvnb|Briley|1993|pp=114–115}}.</ref> The final scene, in which Mac and Sonny play catch with a football Mac bought him as a gift, symbolizes the fact that, although Mac has lost the chance to reconcile with his daughter, he now has a second chance at establishing a father–child relationship with Sonny.<ref>{{Harvnb|Briley|1993|p=113}}.</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Anker|2004|p=140}}.</ref> The father–child theme also plays out through Mac's relationship with the young band members, who say that he has been an inspiration to them, playing a paternal role in their lives before they even met him. Sledge eventually teams up with the musicians, offering them fatherly counsel in a much more direct way.<ref name="Briley111">{{Harvnb|Briley|1993|p=111}}.</ref>

===Religion===
Mac's redemption and self-improvement run parallel with his conversion to Christianity.<ref name="Briley109">{{Harvnb|Briley|1993|p=109}}.</ref><ref name="Jewett59-63">{{Harvnb|Jewett|1993|pp=59–63}}.</ref> Briley argues that "the emphasis on the Christian family is stronger in this script than in any other Foote piece to this point."<ref name="Jewett59-63" /> At the urging of Rosa Lee, Mac begins to attend church regularly and is eventually [[baptism|baptized]] for the first time, along with Sonny. During a church scene, he also sings the hymn "Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me", which serves as a symbol for his new direction in life.<ref>{{Harvnb|Jewett|1993|p=59}}.</ref> After they are baptized, Sonny asks Mac whether he feels any different, to which Mac responds, "Not yet." According to scholars, this response indicates Mac's belief that his reunion with God will lead to meaningful changes in his life.<ref name="Briley110"/><ref name="Anker135">{{Harvnb|Anker|2004|pp=135–136}}.</ref> It is after this moment, Briley points out, that Mac is able to forge other relationships, such as those with his young bandmates, and "develop his own potential for success as a man."<ref name="Briley110">{{Harvnb|Briley|1993|p=110}}.</ref> Briley also proposes that Mac's response — "Yes, ma'am, I guess I was" — to a fan who asks if he was really Mac Sledge suggests that he has washed away his old self through baptism.<ref name="Briley111" />

During one scene, Rosa Lee tells Mac, "I say my prayers for you and when I thank the Lord for his tender mercies, you're at the head of the list." Scholar Robert Jewett compares this line to the first verse of [[Epistle to the Romans|Romans]] 12, in which [[Paul the Apostle]] appeals to Christians to live out their lives in service to others "through the mercies of God".<ref name="Jewett55">{{Harvnb|Jewett|1993|p=55}}.</ref> Many of the elements of Mac's redemption, conversion to Christianity and budding relationship with Rosa Lee occur off-camera, including their wedding. Jewett writes, "This is perfectly congruent with the theme of faith in the hidden mercies of God, the secret plot of the life of faith in Romans.&nbsp;... It is a matter of faith, elusive and intangible."<ref name="Jewett59-63" /> Jewett compares Mac's story to that of [[Abraham]], because "just like Sledge's story, [it] centers on the provision of a future through the tender mercies of God".<ref name="Jewett55" /> As told in Romans 4, Abraham and his wife [[Sarah]] are too old to produce a son, but Abraham develops the faith that God will provide them an heir, which is exactly what occurs, though — as Paul describes — Abraham did nothing practical to guarantee or deserve such a miracle. Jewett describes Mac as similarly undeserving of redemption, based on his selfish and abusive past, typified by his condition in his first encounter with Rosa Lee: in a drunken stupor following a motel room fight. She takes him in and eventually falls in love with him, despite his having done nothing to deserve her care or his redemption: "It is an undeserved grace, a gift of providence from a simple woman who continues to pray for him and to be grateful for him."<ref>{{Harvnb|Jewett|1993|pp=56–58}}.</ref>

However, in the face of the loss of his daughter, Mac learns, in Briley's words, that "his life as a Christian is no more sheltered from this world's tragedies than it was before."<ref name="Briley112" /> Before finding redemption, Sledge questions why God has allowed his life to take the path it has and, in particular, why his daughter was killed instead of him. Commentators have described this as a prime example of [[theodicy]], the question of [[Problem of evil|why evil exists]] that is commonly faced by Christians.<ref name="Leonard142">{{Harvnb|Leonard|2006|p=142}}.</ref><ref name="Anker137">{{Harvnb|Anker|2004|p=137}}.</ref> Scholar Richard Leonard writes, "For all believers, the meaning of suffering is the universal question.&nbsp;... No answer is completely satisfying, least of all the idea that God sends bad events to teach us something."<ref name="Leonard142" /> Following the death of his daughter, Mac moves forward with uncertainty as the film ends. Jewett writes of this conclusion, "The message of this film is that we have no final assurances, any more than Abraham did. But we can respond in faith to the tender mercies we have received."<ref>{{Harvnb|Jewett|1993|p=60}}.</ref>

===Death and resurrection===
{{Quote box |quoted=true |bgcolor=#FFFFF0 |salign=center |width=225px |align=right | quote  = When his newly recovered relationship with Sue Anne is cut short by an automobile accident that takes her life, Mac quickly realizes that his life as a Christian is no more sheltered from this world's tragedies than it was before. Foote intimates that all relationships cannot be mended, some by choice and some by chance, and the poignancy of missed opportunities between fathers and their children on this earth is underlined in this scene. | source = Rebecca Luttrell Briley, ''You Can Go Home Again: The Focus on Family in the Works of Horton Foote''<ref name="Briley112" />}}
Mac experiences his spiritual resurrection even as he wrestles with death, in both the past — Sonny's father in the Vietnam War — and present — his own daughter in a car accident.<ref name="Leonard142" /> The latter threatens to derail Mac's new life, captured in the moment when he learns of it and turns off the radio that is playing his new song.<ref name="Anker135" /> Leonard writes of this resurrection, "Depression hangs like a pall over ''Tender Mercies'', [but] what makes this film inspiring is that it is also about the joy of being found.&nbsp;... Mac finds the way, the truth, and the life he wants."<ref name="Leonard142" /> In a climactic scene, Mac tells Rosa Lee that he was once nearly killed in a car crash himself, which forces him to address the question of why he was allowed to live while others have died. Jewett writes of this scene, "Mac Sledge can't trust happiness because it remains inexplicable. But he does trust the tender mercies that mysteriously led him from death to life."<ref name="Jewett62">{{Harvnb|Jewett|1993|p=62}}.</ref>

Mac is portrayed as near death at the beginning of the film, having woken up in a drunken stupor in a boundless, empty flatland with nothing in his possession, a shot that scholar Roy M. Anker said "pointedly reflects the condition of his own soul".<ref>{{Harvnb|Anker|2004|p=124}}.</ref> The dialogue in other scenes suggests the threat of mortality, including a moment when Mac has trouble singing due to his bad voice and says, "Don't feel sorry for me, Rosa Lee, I'm not dead yet."<ref name="Jewett62" /> In several lasting shots, the vast sky dwarfs Mac, Rosa Lee and Sonny, starkly symbolizing their isolation, as well as the fragility of human existence.<ref name="Anker132" /> The fact that Mac sustains his newfound life with Rosa Lee and Sonny after his daughter's death, rather than reverting to his old pattern of alcoholism and abuse, is consistent with a recurring theme in Foote's works of characters overcoming tragedy and finding in it an opportunity for growth and maturation.<ref>{{Harvnb|Briley|1993|pp=112–113}}.</ref>