Taxi Driver Essay

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Taxi Driver Essay By the end of the film Taxi Driver, Travis is thought to be a hero due to him rescuing Iris from the pimps that had her working as a child prostitute. But is he really a hero? While he did return Iris to her home and parents, he did plan an attack on a political figure and murdered a small handful of pimps and thugs. Many people could have different interpretations of Travis’s moral character by the final scene of the film, and could call him either a hero or a psychotic nut-job. It’s all up to the perspective of the viewer. My interpretation of Travis by the end is a combination of the two; I would call Travis a psychotic hero. Even though he did kill several men, he had a very good reason to do so; by taking matters into his own hands, he was able to restore Iris and send her back to her loving family. His plot against the senator is unjustifiable, however. There is no apparent reason as to why he would want to kill a man who had no previous entanglements or disagreements with. So, Travis had to do whatever he could to help Iris get back to her family. One of the biggest reasons why Travis is considered a hero is because he saved child prostitute, Iris, when he could have just lived the rest of his life without even acknowledging her existence. He decided to help turn her life around and return her to her family, and did not ask for anything in return for his troubles. That is the basic structure for any hero in any piece of fiction. Travis uses all of the weapons he purchases from Easy Andy in his all out assault on the brothel to rescue Iris and get her life back on the right track. He also planned to use his hidden sleeve gun when he tried to assassinate senator Palentine. Travis could be considered a psychopath, but he has good reason for his actions. So, Travis is one very mentally troubled individual to say the least.

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