David Sumner

David Sumner is the protagonist of the 1971 film Straw Dogs and its 2011 remake of the same name. He is an American writer who relocated to Wakely, Cornwall with his English wife Amy.
In the 1971 original film, he is played by Dustin Hoffman. In its 2011 remake, he is played by James Marsden.
==Biography==
David Sumner is an American maths professor who has decided to move from his home in America to the Cornish countryside village of Wakely along with his English wife Amy. When they arrive in Wakely, David and Amy collect an antique man trap for their isolated farmhouse and soon get to meet the residents. David is introudced by Amy to her former boyfriend Charlie Venner, whom David hires to assist Norman Scutt and Chris Cawsey at assist with the building repairs at his home. David then goes into the pub to buy cigarettes, however, he insists they are of an American brand. While in the pub, David makes a faux pas of walking in front of a man playing darts as well as witnessing Charlie harrassing Amy outside. Also, David is introduced to Harry Ware, the barman; Tom Hedden; the town patriarch and town drunk; and Major John Scott; the local magistratre. David witnesses Tom get into an altercation with Harry over a pint due to the bar closing for the afternoon, but Tom is soon put in his place by the Major.
On the drive home, David asks Amy about Charlie. Rather than trying to comfort Amy over the confrontation, he instead teases her leading to a childish game of tickling and David fleeing from the car. At first, the couple are happy with their new home, which once belonged to Amy's father. They spend the night playing chess and making love.
It soon transpires that David is not happy with his new lifestyle, and tensions start to show in his relationship with Amy. David starts to ignore and belittle Amy as well as be verbally abusive with their cat. Amy criticises David's condescension towards her and his escape from the volatile, politicised campus, suggesting that cowardice was his true reason for leaving America. In frustation, Amy starts flirting with the workmen, particularly Charlie in order to get much wanted attention. However, Amy also complains about the men leering at her, expecting David to do something about it. As they drift further apart, David is also aware of the workmen taking the mickey out of him, such as meddling with his car. David attempts to make amends by buying all the men in the pub a round of drinks. In his travels, David encounters Henry Niles, a grown man with a childish mind who is ostracised by the entire town save for his brother and carer John. David cannot understand how John slaps his brother just for talking to a young girl. Furthermore, David feven struggles to be accepted by the educated locals, as shown in conversation with the vicar, Reverend Barney Hood, and Major Scott.
One night, David discovers their missing cat hanging in the closet, but neglects to tell Amy leaving her to make the horrific discovery herself. Amy believes Cawsey or Scutt was responsible for their cat's death and demands David confront the workmen. David is too intimidated to do so, and instead invites the workmen into the house for beer. The workmen take David's kindness as a sign of weakness and in turn invite him to join them hunting, at the expense of a day's work.
The following day, David joins Charlie, Norman and Cawsey along with their mutual friend Phil Riddaway for the hunting trip. They take him to a remote location and leave him there with the promise of driving birds towards him. With David out of the way, Venner goes to Trenchers Farm where he attempts to initiate sex with Amy. She resists at first, then submits. After, Norman Scutt enters silently, motions Venner to move away at gunpoint and rapes Amy while Venner reluctantly holds her down. David returns much later, smarting from the practical joke the men pulled on him. Amy, though clearly upset, says nothing about the intruders and what they did to her, apart from a cryptic comment that escapes his attention.
The next day, David fires the workmen, ostensibly for their slow progress. Later, the Sumners attend a church social where they put on a facide of a happy married couple, however, Amy becomes distraught on seeing her rapists. At the social, Janice Hedden, the teenage daughter of Tom attempts to chat up David, but he ignores her prompting her to talk to Henry Niles instead. Sensing Amy is uncomfortable, David decides they leave the social early. Neither David nor Amy see Henry take Janice out of the meeting hall and they drive home. Before they reach their house, the fog comes down thickly and David ends up accidentally knocking down Niles with his car. Unaware of who Niles is, and of the fact that Niles had just killed Janice and fled, David takes him in the house to see if he is hurt. Amy recognises Niles as being a dangerous predator and wants David to throw him out, but David refuses until the doctor arrives. David fails to reach the doctor by phone, but manages to phone the pub where Hedden, Venner, Scutt, Cawsey and Riddaway are. The mob are aware of Janice's disappearance and are searching for her. The barman alers the mob to the whereabouts of Henry Niles and they drive to the Sumner's residence, demanding to speak to Niles. David doesn't let the men hurt Niles and makes them leave when Niles doesn't respond to their questions about Janice. Enraged, Hedden and his gang start to attack the Sumner's house. With the intention of lynching Niles, the men pound on the door, throw missiles through the windows and taunt David. A frightened Amy pleads with David to give them Niles, but the he standoff seems to unlock a territorial instinct in David: "I will not allow violence against this house."
During the siege, Major Scott arrives to defuse the situation and send the attackers on their way. Unfortunately, the Major is accidentally shot dead by a drunken Hedden during a struggle. This murder is witnessed by David and Amy, who realise that the attackers will kill them too since they are witnesses. David improvises various makeshift traps and weapons, including boiling oil, to fend off the siege. In addition, David traps Scutt who tried to break in through a broken window, by tying the latter's hands to a window frame, leaving Scutt in peril of slitting his throat on the glass. Scutt, however, is freed by Cawsey, prompting the former to break into the house via an upstairs window. Amy, who has had enough of David's serial escalation refuses to help him and goes to the bedroom, leaving David to fend off the attackers on his own. In order to bait the attackers into his house, David plays bagpipe music loudly on his record player.
With the attackers forcing entry, David inadvertently forces Hedden to shoot his own foot, knocks Riddaway temporarily unconscious and bludgeons Cawsey to death with a poker. Venner holds him at gunpoint, but Amy's screams alert both men when Scutt breaks in and assaults her. Scutt suggests Venner join him in another gang rape, but Venner shoots him dead. David disarms Venner and in the ensuing fight snaps an ornamental mantrap around Venner's neck, killing him. Watching the mayhem around him and surprised by his own violence, David mutters to himself, "Jesus, I got 'em all." An awakened Riddaway then brutally attacks him, but is shot by Amy as he tries to break David's spine.
David gets into his car to drive Niles back to the village. Niles says he does not know his way home. David says he does not either.
==Personality==
At the start of the film, David displays a meek but antisocial nature, not wishing to make friends and keeps himself to himself. David seems adverse to violence and even wishes to avoid verbal confrontations. While legitimately a genius, David's intellect causes him to be condescending to his own wife, Amy and fails to give her satisfaction in bed. David's devotion to the studies causes him to become distant from his wife and makes him oblivious to the men, whom he hired to work on his house, openly mock him. David is intimidated easily, and chooses to solve the men's antics by making amends with them, rather than confrontation. As the events of the film progress, David begins to understand the hard way about how his rivals feel about him and eventually decides to make a stand by firing the workmen. When David ran over Henry Niles, he feels the need to protect him, despite being openly told that Niles is a dangerous predator. However, David has his own reservations about Niles' behaviour as he admits to not wishing to leave him in the house alone with Amy. Later, when Niles does try to attack Amy, this prompts David to lock him in the attic meaning that he doesn't tolerate anyone trying to touch his wife. By the film's climax, David's personality has changed drastically. The territorial instinct that a "man's house is his castle", makes him willing to apply strong violence towards his enemies.
Category:Male
Category:Anti-Heroes
Category:Arrogant
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Category:Mature
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Category:One-Man Army
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Category:Friend of a Villain