"In the process he demonstrates mastery of the fear of death (both by not being immobilized by conscious awareness of his own impending death and, related to this, by remaining calm and rationally undeterred by threats against his life from individuals wishing to appropriate the land in furtherance of their own greed). This mastery is implicitly represented as mastery of what in the past has stood in the way of his ability to perceive truly and, hence, of his living the best of the possible lives available to him."
It is one of the all-time great movies!
Joanna