Characterization of Rick in Casablanca

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Casablanca is a film set in Morocco during the Second World War. Because of the setting, the characters are under French rule and therefore are not allowed to support the Allied movement. Things however get interesting when Victor Laszlo and his wife Ilsa Lund come through Casablanca in hopes of escaping to America. Their arrival stirred up many remarkably painful memories for the major character Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart). Rick is an American saloon owner who lives in Casablanca. His café is one of the main settings and it represents a little piece of America in Casablanca. In the movie Casablanca, Curtiz constructs the ideal American in Rick, who is reticent in his motives and feelings towards the war, unlike his foil Victor who is devoted to the cause, but still manages to give Americans a relatable individual to help strike interest in the Allied cause.
Rick is the ideal American because he is a successful businessman who is known for being calm and collected at all times, and always knowing just what to say. Other than that he is relatively plain, like his name suggests. He...

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