In Martin Scorsese’s neo noir: Taxi Driver (1976) Scorsese channels his theme of loneliness through the questionable motives of a young man called Travis Bickle, an all night taxi driver suffering from insomnia and living alone in downtown New York.
From the outset Travis vocalizes and addresses his loneliness through a diary he keeps and updates, “Loneliness has followed me my whole life, everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There's no escape. I’m God's lonely man (Taxi Driver). This honest, but disconcerting self-analysis is materialized throughout the film; Travis walks alone, drives alone, and eats alone (Figure 1.1) – (Figure 1.2); his loneliness festers but he does little to resolve it. Moreover, Travis also talks of his inability to sleep, and the drag of life and his distaste for society, “Twelve
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However his loneliness is also translated through his attempts at forming relationships. One example of this comes when he pursues Betsy, a beautiful, blonde presidential campaigner. In one scene Travis stares at her from outside her office, he then walks in and introduces himself, claiming that he wants to volunteer, but this isn’t his intention, he asks her out on a date. Yet his method of doing so, is strange, for he attempts to invite her out on a date by offering up his judgement of her, “I think you're a lonely person. I drive by this place a lot and I see you here. I see a lot of people around you. And I see all these phones and all this stuff on your desk. It means nothing.” (Taxi Driver). It is therefore in this occurrence that suggests that Travis is attempting to engage with another person and thus moving away from his usual voyeuristic approach, to something more abrupt which only informs us further, of his social inability and lack of mannerisms, suggesting an individual with a tainted social
Film Noir is a genre of distinct and unique characteristics. Mostly prominent in the 40s and 50s, the genre rarely skewed from the skeletal plot to which all Film Noir pictures follow. The most famous of these films is The Big Sleep (1946) directed by Howard Hawks. This film is the go to when it comes to all the genre’s clichés. This formula for film is so well known and deeply understood that it is often a target for satire. This is what the Coen brothers did with 1998’s The Big Lebowski. This film follows to the T what Film Noir stands for.
“Talkin’ 2 Myself” by Eminem would fit with the scene where Holden unintentionally raises his voice at Sally in the restaurant, and insulting her towards the end of their date. After lashing out at Sally, it seems that Holden continually isolates himself despite him searching for companionship. Salinger uses this scene to communicate that the only way to overcome loneliness, is to allow others into your life. In a like manner, Eminem describes how he felt during a low, lonely point in his life through “Talkin’ 2 Myself”. Both Eminem and Holden admit to some level of insanity with Eminem asking himself “am I the one whose crazy?”, and Holden thinking “I swear to God I’m a madman” (Salinger 134). Also, Eminem comments on him “dissing people for
T.S. Eliot and William Butler Yeats portray their characters as two men, who are trying to deal with the idea of loneliness. Both men are presently depressed with their existing lifestyles and crave to become a part of an entirely different state of affairs. As these authors present their characters desires to live a separate life from their recent one, Prufrock and the narrator (Yeats) take a different approach to expressing their ideas of loneliness. Eliot chooses to depict his character as an overly educated man, whose mental state is deteriorating because he longs for companionship, while Yeats chooses to depict his character as a man, who wants to live-out his childhood dream in solitude. Both authors show their characters as men who are trying to cope with their feelings toward seclusion.
The purpose of Philip Slater’s book The Pursuit of Loneliness is to “reach some understanding of the forces which are unraveling our society” for his readers (xxii). It is a common conception that America is the best country, an idea which is substantiated by economic figures. However, Americans are not happy. According to Slater, “all societies frustrate certain human needs and satiate others (because) humanity and any particular society’s idea of what humanity should be is never very exact” (2). In America, the gap between reality and perception is growing farther and farther apart, at human expense. Americans work their entire lives for the future, in the pursuit of economic security, which ultimately leads to continued unhappiness in the present. American culture “struggles more and more violently to maintain itself, (but) is less and less able to hide its fundamental antipathy towards human life and human satisfaction” (122). Slater’s book teaches people about the existence of the “wide gap between the fantasies Americans live by and the realities they live in,” in the hopes that this will inspire people to react in positive ways (xxiii).
The Catcher in the Rye was written by J.D. Salinger and is a fictional coming of age story.
Famous German physician Albert Schweitzer said, “We are all so much together, but we are all dying of loneliness.” In the novel Of Mice and Men, written during the Great Depression, loneliness is a very important theme. I am going to write about how loneliness has impacted the lives of George, Crooks and Curley's wife, in this essay.
If they knew him like I do, they'd realize that Travis is an individual with an incredibly sweet personality and a tough out look on the world.
Candy, an aging swamper and former ranch worker, is a character that experiences the heartbreak of becoming lonely. Many can attest to having an extremely good friend that they lose whether it be because of work, personal reasons, and in Candy’s case death. When occurrences like Candy’s incident transpire one can feel as if the world is crumbling all around them. A gaping hole is left in Candy’s heart after his dog was shot, and regret is present because he did not do it himself. Candy loses the only friend he has, and his disability and age hinders his chances of gaining new friends. Loneliness can envelope an individual and make their logic warped and more susceptible to the idea of utopia and serenity. This can be seen in people today especially in teenagers who are willing to please others in exchange for friendship and similar concepts which mostly ends in bullying and broken hearts. In this circumstance Candy is willing to believe i...
Loneliness is the sadness resulting from being forsaken or abandoned. John Steinbeck brought up the theme of loneliness in many characters in Of Mice and Men. Crooks, Curley?s wife, and Candy expressed the theme of loneliness in many different forms throughout the story. Early in the novella George said, life working as ranch hands is about the loneliness of living, for these people finding friendship seems to be impossible. Crooks expressed feelings of loneliness throughout Of Mice and Men.
“Social” networks and loneliness are two very unlike things to be discussed simultaneously... The two are complete opposite of one another: “social” is associated to relating to one’s society, loneliness can be defined as “a complex and unpleasant emotional response to a feeling of isolation” (Ye and Lin 166). While loneliness can mean solitude, it also includes feelings of isolation and disconnection to other people (Ye and Lin 166). John Cacioppo is labeled as the world’s leading expert on loneliness. He proposed a thought provoking analogy: a car can be used to pick up friends, but one chooses to ride alone. Did the car make the person lonely? (Marche 68). Absolutely not. The car is simply a tool in the person’s everyday life. This relates
After Scorsese’s father asking him a question about a character, a young Martin raised his fingers to make an impression of him shooting a gun. This image is one of the most memorable images in Scorsese’s film Taxi Driver, where we see Robert De Niro repeating the same image pointing to his temples. This image is shown at the height of the film. When Scorsese got a television at home, no more did he have to leave his house to engross himself in the most recent movie best seller. Already we can see Scorsese’s love of filmmaking from an extremely young
Walter seems to be a good father to Travis, but starts to lose control by the end of the play. When with Travis, Walter relates too much to money, instead of focusing on their family fun in life. Walter tries to impress Travis with money and thinks that teaching Travis to be rich is the happiest way to go. In the play, it shows that Travis is becoming like his father and is starting to think about money at too young of an age. In scene two in Raisin in the Sun, Travis complains to his mother, Ruth, that he wants to work so he can earn some money. His father responds by giving Travis money and trying to impress him. Walter says to Travis, "In fact, here's another fifty cents... Buy yourself some fruit today or take a taxicab to school or something!"(Page 30). It is all right to be happy with money but it shouldn't be the reason to be proud of your family.
In New York, however, Cocoa finds herself amongst a group of people who seem distant and interested in only themselves. Stemming from many different backgrounds, the people of New York are always in a rush and "moving, moving, moving ---and to where?" (19). No one knows for sure. Just like the subways, racism in New York moved underground, and Cocoa experiences it as she desperately searches for a job. After having lived in New York for seven years, Cocoa still has not found a suitable mate. Only when she meets George does she start believing again in the goodness and sincerity possessed by some. George is t...
who are black. Travis who is stay in dismay and is confused waits at home while
Vietnam veteran Travis Bicklea finds that his life has been turned upside down after returning America from the battle-field. He suffers from the insomnia and sense of isolation, which leads him to take a job as taxi-driver at night; many of his customers represent the people from the lowest class of society: prostitutes, adulterous husbands and wenchers. Since Travis has promised the cab company that he will drive anywhere, at anytime, his likelihood of seeing the best of human nature is fairly slim. So, he tries to create an extra-occupational life for himself. He befriends Betsy, a beautiful girl working at a Senator's campaign office. Unluckily, with on possession of the slightest amount of social skills, Travis takes her to a porn movie on their first date, so Betsy rejects him and refuses to see him anymore. Then another girl bumps into Travis¡¯s life. One day, a prepubescent prostitute who is desperately trying to escape from her pimp named Sport (Keitel). Travis is touched by her plight and resolves to assist her, despite her later unwillingness to cooperate. Meanwhile, Betsy refuses to accept his repeated attempts to apologize, and he begins to go psychotic under the force of various pressures. Travis purchases several semi-automatic guns, takes up a rigorous physical training, shapes his hair into a bristly-looking Mohawk, and decides to assassinate the candidate for whom Betsy is working. After his attempt to assassinate the senator failed, Travis then goes after Sport, killing him and a Mafioso who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time in a spray of bullets. After this massacre, Travis tries to kill himself in Iris's room, but has wasted so many bullets that he has none left with which to commit suicide. Nevertheless, his bloodbath turns him into a media hero, and Betsy suddenly discovers an interest in him. In turn, Travis rejects her, and he drives off into the night toward an uncertain future.