Through Terry's motivation of ridding his label of being a "bum", to Father Barry's search and fight for the truth at the docks, to Edie Doyle's love for Terry and his love for her, Terry gains a self-respect and a sense of freedom he has never know before. The quote, "I'm standing over here now..."- at the end of the film, signifies Terry's newly found understanding of himself, and of the world and is a result of his struggle to overcome corruption on the New Jersey waterfront. Terry Malloy's label of being a "bum" is a significant, motivating factor that impels Terry to win internal conflict with himself and external conflict with those around him. As evident in the first few scenes, Terry fights the ongoing harassment set upon him by others, particularly, Johnny Friendly's gang members, emphasising his ostracism from not only the gang, but from society as well. Terry is also seen in multiple scenes spending most of his spare time taking care of Joey Doyle's pigeons, which also signifies his admiration of the faithfulness of birds which is something he lacks in his own life, such as in his relationship with Charlie.
His battle between reason and will shown throughout the film highlights Terry’s transformation from being a ‘bum’, lost in morality who blindly follows the orders of the unscrupulous mob, to a leader for himself and his fellow longshoremen. It is his newfound awareness of his conscience that pushes him to make the morally correct decision, that is, testifying against the mob. Contributing to turning Terry against the mob is his own external and internal self, Father Barry, Edie, Charley and Johnny Friendly. Kazan effectively reveals Terry wrestling with his conscience through a range of cinematic devices and through his powerful use of symbolism throughout On the Waterfront helps our understanding of Terry’s conscience eventually leading to him turning against the mob. Terry’s transformation throughout the film is stemmed from his moral awakening due to the betrayal he feels from Johnny Friendly and his “henchmen”.
However Medea is the anomaly out of the four plays, as it is less driven by the will and power of the gods but rather by human emotion & actions. Sophocles’ introduces Oedipus as a proud and respected King, as during the plague that has befallen his city he prioritises his efforts to helping his citizens in any way possible. “I am ready to help, I’ll do anything. I would be blind to misery”. His swift action is also seen as an admirable trait as he sends Creon off to the Delphic oracle to find out the cause of the plague immediately.
Through its portrayal of human experience, Welles’ Citizen Kane reinforces the significance of perseverance. To what extent does your interpretation of Citizen Kane support this view? Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane tells the story of a flawed man whose thirst for power and love lead to his lonesome demise. This portrayal of a common human experience has much to teach the audience about the significance or perseverance, or more importantly when to give up as Charles Kane’s stubborn persistence to attain his goals was the thing that caused him to lose them. This can be inferred by an examination of Kane’s goals, his motivation for his goals and then looking at the choices Kane makes to persevere and how they affect his future.
However, Neil's strong drive for achievement is cut short by his father who has an overbearing influence and control over Neil's life. This control culminates when Neil ends his own life later in the film. Neil plays the role of the "dutiful son" in his uneasy and detached relationship with his father.The lack of affection is shown in Neil and Mr Perry's father-son relationship as Neil refers to his father as "Sir". Neil is a powerless figure in his relationship with his father and himself; this is particularly evident in the scene where Neil and his friends are acting defiantly by smoking and mocking the four pillars of Welton Academy. When Mr Perry enters the room, he orders Neil to drop the School Annual.
It greatly influences the story, what will happen in the story, and what theme the story will communicate. The extremely solid characterization of the two main characters, Doodle and his brother, leads to the finale, which communicates the theme. The clear mistakes made in the story, like the excessive and unsupervised rehabilitation of Doodle, that occur because of the characters characterization, really show the reader what the main characters did wrong, and shows that to the reader not to do it either. After all, as it is said in the story, “Pride is a seed that bears to seeds; life and
Tears pleasure them! Show honor now, show a stony heart and sink them with it!” (208). John Proctor’s behavior throughout the play escalades into courageousness. With his conduct come many townspeople who change their opinions about who has the best intentions for the trials. Third, the decisions that Proctor makes reflects his purpose for attempting to influence the trials.
Okonkwo and Macbeth are both heavily influenced by other characters, fuelled by the expectations of their societies, and driven to act based on their tragic flaw. The reason behind all the actions Okonkwo takes can be traced back to one person; his father. Okonkwo grew up hating Unoka’s laziness and he “was ruled by one passion- to hate everything that his father Unoka had loved” (Achebe 13). This led him to rule “his household with a heavy hand” (Achebe 13), and treat his family poorly. He is afraid to show affection, as seen with Ezinma and Ikemefuna.
Landon constantly has to be seen as the “tough guy” persona that, ultimately forces him in to bad situations. In the beginning of the Film Landon, constantly defied societal norms and had a complete disregard for authority. Landon displayed disregard for authority by running away from the police when they were clearly after him. He also is disrespectful towards authority when he is in the Principles office. Landon shows disrespect towards his Principle through his body language and tone of voice, instead of sitting up politely, he slouches and talks back.
When Jack and his group split form Ralph’s, Ralph could feel tension and tried to speak with Jack about peace, but it did not work. In conclusion, Ralph was truly an admirable character. He always sought out to do what was right and be a good leader. That was what made him commendable and set him apart from others. He was willing to put down all childishness so they could all be rescued.