"THIS BOYS LIFE."   Term Paper ID:30466 Click to get this paper

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Paper Abstract: Essay on the 1993 film set in the 1950s. Plight of women abused by men in personal relationships. Position of the society of the period. Close relationship between the mother and son. Anti-social acts of the boy. Film's portrayal of adolescence. Relationship between the boy and his mother's abusive boyfriend. Paper Introduction: The film This Boy's Life (1993) is set in the 1950s and does a good job of recreating that era. The look is right, but the characters are also right, with attitudes about certain subjects showing that they come from a different time than we do today. For those of us who recall that era, the film has a certain nostalgic value, though it also should make us think that we have done well to get away from some of the past we remember. One of the notable changes is the way women are treated and the way families are viewed as protected from all criticism, though we know today that women are still mistreated and that there are many things about the family that can be destructive. The young man in this film, Toby, may emerge from his experience a stronger person, but this does not mean society should ignore the plight of young people in the same situation. Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. He also steals the boy's money, insultshis father, and destroys his self-esteem with verbal abuse. The sonwould like his parents to be together, and as is often the case, he mayblame himself because they are apart. The story is all the more affecting given that it comes from amemoir and not a novel, indicating that this is a true story. This is a mistake on her part, though her intentions were good. In truth, the father is just as abusive a manas Dwight, which is why the mother left him in the first place. In many ways,though, the film overdoes the tyranny of Dwight, who often seems so out-of-control it is difficult to believe he could function in the world at allwithout attracting unwanted attention and judicial supervision. The film This Boy's Life (1993) is set in the 195 s and does a goodjob of recreating that era. They move to the Pacific Northwest in search of a better life. Thiscontributes to the Hollywood ending in which Caroline and Toby escape fromthe monster and move on to better lives, which is not the usual course forfamilies damaged by this kind of violence and abuse. Caroline and Toby arefree spirits, and their decision to travel across the country is a majorone. Oneof the notable changes is the way women are treated and the way familiesare viewed as protected from all criticism, though we know today that womenare still mistreated and that there are many things about the family thatcan be destructive. For all the independence the motherand son show, the son really would like to be with his father and to have aman in his life. The film first establishes the warm relationship that exists betweenmother and son, who often seem more like brother and sister because themother is so open and free with her son as with other people. This is often accompaniedby an idealization of the 195 s American family, though the sorts of familyproblems we see today are nothing new. The young man in this film, Toby, may emerge from hisexperience a stronger person, but this does not mean society should ignorethe plight of young people in the same situation. Toby and his mother start in the East and head for the West so shecan escape an abusive boyfriend and find a new life. One of the more interesting sequences in which the relationshipbetween Dwight and Toby achieves greater realismoccurs when Dwight teaches Toby how to fight, actually teaching him how tolie and cheat by sneaking up on the enemy and using an illegal punch todisable him. This is a story we have heard all too often in different forms, thestory of a mother and child fleeing one impossible situation only to end upin another. He seems to know that Toby sees through him, but rather thanmaking him act more reasonably, this only makes him act all the worse, asif he can browbeat the boy into looking at the world Dwight's way. In the 195 s, suchbehavior was too-often winked at and not taken seriously, or was seen as afamily matter which was not the business of society at large. Caroline worries about her son and the troublehe is getting into, and this is one of the prime reasons she turns to hernew boyfriend, Dwight, to get a father figure for her son. Work CitedCaton-Jones, Michael. The film creates a portrait of adolescence that avoids being toonostalgic or too white-washed. He takeseverything he can get from other people, but he still complains that he isbeing cheated by life, that he is misunderstood, and that the world isagainst him. For those of us who recall that era, thefilm has a certain nostalgic value, though it also should make us thinkthat we have done well to get away from some of the past we remember. Toby gets introuble at school, hangs out with the wrong crowd, spends too much time onthe street, and starts to smoke and drink along with the others. Inpart, it is a mistake because she has not yet seen the real nature of thisman, but it would be a mistake in any case because what Toby needs is notsimply a father but a father and mother. They may be more widespread forsome reason, but they are not new. These men warp the boy's view of the world and of how todeal with others, and they do so because these are lessons they neverlearned properly themselves. As the film progresses, we can see that Dwight issomething of a rebellious teenager himself. How the two decide to go to Seattle shows how free they are ofentanglements and how much they want only to escape--they were going to goto Phoenix, but they change direction when the Phoenix bus is late. Warner Bros., 1993. Shecompounds her mistake with Dwight by marrying him a few months later. It is not Caroline whoshould be blamed for these situations but the men who cannot controlthemselves and who have never developed adulthood attitudes. This Boy's Life. The film as a whole shows how adults bequeaththeir frustrations and insecurities to their children and so perpetuatethese problems from generation to generation. The final image ofDwight shows him with his arms upraised, screaming, "What about me? To say it isa story we have heard too often is to characterize our feelings toward thecharacters, not to say that the story is not well done or need not be told. Itis after this that she learns how abusive he can be, and once more shefinds herself in the same sort of relationship she fled months before. Toby is ripe for this sort of lesson, since his father was acon-man as well. Toby, of course, learns how overbearing Dwight can be before hismother does, though any action he might take would be regarded as moreteenage rebellion. They travel to Salt Lake City, Seattle, and eventually Concrete,Washington. There is a tendency to look back at the195 s as an ideal time, when in fact it was not. Dwightmakes Toby perform dumb chores. Toby suffers the most because he becomes an experiment for the crazedDwight, who wants to force the boy to become his idea of a good teenager.Toby has to follow a new set of rules and is subject to abuse if he fails.Toby's ducktail haircut gives way to a Boy Scout-style crew cut. Even though he loves his mother, he also acts out hisfrustrations in anti-social acts that harm her and worry her. Today, weknow better, but this does not mean we have solved the problem. Whenis it my turn for some consideration?" The degree to which he is separatedfrom reality is clear throughout the film, capped off with this speech. The two try to maintainthemselves in this impossible situation, and Toby at the same time has togrow up filled with a dream similar to that of many facing such an abusiveenvironment--he plans to escape the small town by any means possible. We do need to be reminded again and again that there are many abusive menill-treating both their wives and their children. When they settle in Seattle, the mother becomes involved with anotherman, a garage mechanic, while Toby continually gets into trouble by hangingout with the wrong crowd. The mothermarries the mechanic, but soon after she and Toby discover that the man isanother abusive alcoholic, suggesting that Caroline keeps making the samemistake over and over again, however unwittingly. Carolinebegins to see how much her son needs a man, a father figure, and so shetries to help by sending Toby to live with Dwight for a time. The film shows how complex these issues can be, for abusiverelationships such as that between Caroline and her husband and thatbetween Caroline and Dwight hurt everyone involved. Aless crazed Dwight would be more realistic. Society may have exerted pressure onwomen of the time to stay with their husbands even in abusiverelationships, but that fact did not make it right for those women to doso. He has been lost since his motherseparated from his father. He is much older, of course,but his behavior has been arrested at an adolescent level. The look is right, but the characters are alsoright, with attitudes about certain subjects showing that they come from adifferent time than we do today. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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