What began as a posse in search of a black man who allegedly attacked a white woman rapidly erupted into a lynch mob.
Arms occupy a crucial role in Rosewood , coinciding with the martial nature of the film.
Much of the plot occurs in a state of war, and characters speak accordingly. It is therefore appropriate that arms preserve life at several junctures. His mother comes out and unflinchingly tells the mob to leave, that they are pursuing the wrong man, and that the assailant was in fact white. One of them shoots her. Carrier, hurriedly loading his weapons, rushes out to bring his mother inside.