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The importance of individuality
Affects of identity crisis
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A young man sat in his wheelchair next to the bus stop pole, and I stood behind him. We were waiting for the bus together in silence. I could tell he was a veteran, for he wore his tattered green uniform and cap, and the weathered, patched American flag shone like a beacon of pride on his arm. Yet past his initial persona of a warrior, in his face a saw uncertain eyes that where always darting and a face that looked vaguely both sturdy yet precarious. Even so we did not look at each other or converse, the indifference towards each other maintained the balance of the situation. Then walks in the seeming antagonist, a mere random man who strides like a duck straight to the veteran. He then proceeded to pat him on the back and in a look of lamentation said, “I’m so sorry.” Then the moment of epiphany occurs: the veteran looked back at him with a face of disgust and moved away. I always questioned both the random man’s and the veteran’s actions. Why did the random man come up the veteran and apologize? Why did the veteran look at him in disgust? But I then realized I must understand th...
The reality that shapes individuals as they fight in war can lead to the resentment they have with the world and the tragedies that they had experienced in the past. Veterans are often times overwhelmed with their fears and sensations of their past that commonly disables them to transgress and live beyond the emotions and apprehensions they witness in posttraumatic experiences. This is also seen in everyday lives of people as they too experience traumatic events such as September 11th and the fall of the World Trade Center or simply by regrets of decisions that is made. Ones fears, emotions and disturbances that are embraced through the past are the only result of the unconscious reality of ones future.
The auteur theory is a view on filmmaking that consists of three equally important premises: technical competence, interior meaning, and personal signature of the director. Auteur is a French word for author. The auteur theory was developed by Andrew Sarris, a well-known American film critic. Technical competence of the Auteur deals with how the director films the movie in their own style. Personal signature includes recurring themes that are present within the director’s line of work with characteristics of style, which serve as a signature. The third and ultimate premise of the Auteur theory is the interior meaning which is basically the main theme behind the film.
This, however, demonstrates a fundamental difference between 'Fight Club' and 'One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest': the 1990's society 'no longer breeds a contempt for the virtues of individualism [...] on the contrary, totalitarianism now resides in a thorough dislike for all things social, public, and collective,' as Henry Giroux wrote. The positivity of Fight Club may lie primarily in that it is an unsanctioned, underground, counterculture collective.
When American Sniper opened in theaters January 2015, the world was shocked and excited that a film about a war has finally shown the emotional and psychological pain a soldier goes through. To many this was a new concept but, what the public did not realize, was in 2014, a World War II film, Fury was released. Fury is an insightful film about a tank crew surviving through World War II through the emotional and psychological hardships. The film takes place in April 1945, five months before WWII ends (Fury, IMDb). There are many key points to which makes Fury a modern war film from the extent of backstory each character has, to the prescreening prep and training, to the research of the props. Though American Sniper and Fury differ in wars and
The Breakfast Club is a coming-of-age movie. This movie follows five high school students who all have school detention on a Saturday morning. They all come from various types of group. There is the anxious and bizarre girl, Allison; the sporty guy, Andrew; the hard-acting guy, John; the popular girl, Claire; and the nerd, Brian. They all saw each other that way too because they were “brainwashed” into accepting that. Since they are all from different types of groups, they don’t know each other, nor do they want to. At first they think they don’t have anything in common, but as time passes, that proves to be wrong. Since they were the only people in the library, they can’t help but slowly get to know each other. This movie was written and directed by the brilliant John Hughes, who in my opinion is the “King of 80’s movies.” He has directed great 80’s teen movies like 16 Candles, Ferris Beuller’s Day Off, and Pretty in Pink. This movie has mix of genres any individual could possible enjoy: drama, comedy, and even romance. The actors in the movie performed to be tremendous in their roles. The actors in the movie are known as “the brat pack”. The movie is starring: Emilio Estevez, known for popular movies like The Outsiders; Molly Ringwald, who starred in movies like Pretty in Pink and 16 Candles; Anthony Michael Hall, who was in the movie 16 Candles with Molly Ringwald; and Ally Sheedy and Judd Nelson, they both starred in St. Elmo’s Fire. There couldn’t be anyone better to portray the characters in the movie than these actors.
Fight Club is a novel written by Chuck Palahniuk. This is a story about a protagonist who struggles with insomnia. An anonymous character suffering from recurring insomnia due to the stress brought about by his job is introduced to the reader. He visits a doctor who later sends him to visit a support group for testicular cancer victims, and this helps him in alleviating his insomnia. However, his insomnia returns after he meets Marla Singer. Later on, the narrator meets Tyler Durden, and they together establish a fight club. They continue fighting until they attract crowds of people interested in the fight club. Fight club is a story that shows the struggles between the upper class and lower class people. The upper class people here undermine the working class people by considering them as cockroaches. In addition, Palahniuk explores the theme of destruction throughout the book whereby the characters destroy their lives, body, building and the history of their town.
The movie I decided to analyze for this course was American History X (1998), which stars Edward Norton. Though this movie isn’t widely known, it is one of the more interesting movies I have seen. It’s probably one of the best films that depict the Neo Nazi plague on American culture. The film takes place from the mid to late 1990’s during the Internet boom, and touches on subjects from affirmative action to Rodney King. One of the highlights of this movie that really relates to one of the key aspects of this course is the deterrence of capital punishment. Edward Norton’s portrayal as the grief stricken older brother who turns to racist ideologies and violence to cope with his fathers death, completely disregards the consequences of his actions as he brutally murders someone in front of his family for trying to steal his car. The unstable mentality that he developed after his father’s death really goes hand-to-hand specifically with Isaac Ehrlich’s study of capital punishment and deterrence. Although this movie is entirely fictional, a lot of the central themes (racism, crime punishment, gang pervasiveness, and one’s own vulnerability) are accurate representations of the very problems that essentially afflict us as a society.
In Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club, the perception of common and rare gender aspects is carefully manipulated with in an ironical gambit in order to bring to light significant gender misconceptions placed by society. Masculinity is especially a critical aspect in the development of multiple characters, including the main characters. These gender roles serve as not only a way of character development, but also on a deeper root, a root that travels back to the author’s intuition and mindset. I believe that Palahniuk utilizes gender roles in order to impugn what society has labeled as the standard set of femininity and masculinity; to reveal that it is still genuinely acceptable acting in way that is deviated from what society calls normal and still live a happy life. The objective of this paper is to examine how and why Palahniuk might direct his novel in
There are over 20 million children living in fatherless homes (Fathers.com, n.d.). Henceforth, the recurring theme of absent fathers in fiction - resulting from divorce, bereavement or personal choice - is expected. The question of how that issue is being captured and translated onto paper arises - Are authors providing readers of different age brackets relatable or comprehensible content for this issue? Seeing that in reality, these children suffer substantially from the consequences; behavioural problems, substance abuse, child obesity, etc (Fatherhood.org, n.d.). The purpose of this essay is to explore the impact of fatherlessness on a character and overall plot of a story. By doing so, I hope to distinguish the various approaches, techniques
History tells us that war is a horrifying experience which can have an irreparable impact on the individual, society and humanity in general. Through its descriptions of the main character’s thoughts, emotions and actions, Liam O’ Flaherty’s The Sniper suggests that war has a dehumanizing effect for all involved both directly and indirectly. The main character appears to a normal person, but the harsh realities of war turns him into a cold-blooded killer devoid of any feelings. Also, the cool and collected attitude he displays in face of injury or death shows us how war hardens the hearts of those who participates in it. Lastly, the sniper’s inner struggles with his beliefs and feelings tell us that soldiers are also innocent victims
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk is a great novel, which captures readers from the very first page. The novel has 3 major characters: Tyler Dyrden, Marla singer and the narrator. Marla Singer is a strange persona. Shabby, neither too young nor beautiful, she appears as a part of “triangle” together with Tyler and the narrator. Her presence in the novel is motivated by her important role in plot development. Her presence and actions change narrator’s life completely, fosters Tyler’s development and helps to regulate the relationships of Tyler and the narrator.
Fight club is a drama that is based on the novel “Fight Club.” There are two main characters, the narrator and a character named Tyler Durden. The narrator doesn’t have a name and is played by Edward Norton. The character Tyler Durden is played by Brad Pitt and is suppose to be who the narrator wants to be. The movie is about a man who has insomnia and is trying to find a way to help him sleep. When he visits the doctor, the doctor tells him that he isn’t suffering my insomnia and he should visit a support group. So the narrator starts to go to these support groups and there he lets go and cries. He realizes that him crying and letting
The soap is made out of human fat, IKEA catalogues are desired, and fighting is equated to salvation. Chuck Palahniuk is the author of the book, Fight Club that in the late nineties was adapted into a film that would soon grow to have a cult following. Palahnuik develops characters that are very human with several flaws and animal instincts. The entire novel revolves around a secret fight club that takes place in bars. The protagonist goes here to escape his mundane life with other men who feel lost. The film uses lighting and moments of visual symbolism to further Palahniuk’s vision. Although the film and novel revolve around fighting, it is actually about the negativity of society’s consumerism, and the loss of identity in a changing world
In conclusion, the short story “The Veteran” by Stephen Crane possess many elements that show that courage does not fade away when a soldier becomes a veteran. The short story uses dialogue, imagery, and setting to show that a soldier can be afraid, but still show courage and strength and risk their lives for others, no matter how old one is. Henry is a courageous and strong person and he showed this by running into a barn engulfed in flames to help several animals get out safely. Even though Henry did not make it out alive, his legacy will live
“My boss doesn’t know the material, but he won’t let me run the demo with a black eye and half my face swollen from the stitches inside my cheek”(Palahniuk, par. 1). Chuck Palahniuk’s “Fight Club” deals with a man frustrated on many different levels; from his childhood to present day life. Fight Clubs' setting contributes to what makes Fight Club such a powerful story. The narrator who is never named, starts off in chapter six with what could be described as an office hell; complete with empty smiles and feeble minded speak of which color icon they will use for office reports. The beginning of chapter six reminds the reader of mindless zombie office speak and a lack of life, that is all too common in many peoples lives. The reader will most likely identify with what is written in a manner easily transferable to anyones life. I believe most people, when reading would characterize the office environment as the light side and the hours during fight club at the bottom of the bar the dark side. I would argue the complete opposite. For the narrator, all the hate, the disgust, the total contempt for humanity is created in that office environment. All the feelings of life, and meaning, and what I would characterize as happiness is all felt during the time fight club is in effect in the bottom of that bar.