The Characterization of Travis Bickle in Martin Scorsese ‘S Taxi Driver(1976)
Taxi Driver (1976) comes across Vietnam vet Travis Bickle (played by Robert de Niro, famously known for his part in The Godfather 2)who is 26, a loner in the mean streets of New York City, almost obsessively, reflects on the ugly corruption of life around him, and becomes increasingly disturbed over his own loneliness and alienation. Every phase of his life, he remains a complete outsider, failing to make emotional contact with anyone. Unable to sleep night after night, he goes the local pornography emporiums to find diversion, and begins desperately thinking about an escape from his depressed. This essay aims to examine the complex character, difficult psyche of Travis Bickle, the main character. Secondly analyze its connections to the major themes which include loneliness, sex and violence. Martin Scorsese once said ” I didn 't know that the characters we created in our films were existential heroes; I never studied philosophy. But I always believed in their emotions” In the beginning of the film, Travis complains about being lonely and not having any place to go.he called himself `God ‘s lonely man.When the cab company’s personnel office ask whether he is “moonlighting”. Travis unsure what the words means but absolutely certain he wants to work “long hours” and especially “ anywhere, anytime.”meaning he has nothing to do with his life. His new job give him a spectacular and disheartening perspective of the city that so fascinated his attention and rejects him. Driving to Harlem, the Bronx and Brooklyn , he sees all the city has to offer. Among the millions of people in New York City, meaningful personal connections can be few and far between, and in Taxi Driver we see several cases of such urban isolation. Travis resents that the people in his cab pretend he doesn 't exist, and in a way, New York itself is an extension of the little world of the taxi: The city is full of people who don 't pay attention to each other and who pretend Travis isn 't there.
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Bibliography: EDITED BOOK Geiger, Jeffrey and Rutsky, R.L (Ed) . (2005) Film Analysis, a Norton Reader.New York : W.W Norton & Company BOOK Packer, Sharon (2007) Movies and The Modern Psyche. London: Praeger Publisher ARTICLE FROM AN ONLINE JOURNAL SparkNotes Editors. (2004). SparkNote on Taxi Driver. Retrieved September 23, 2011, from http://www.sparknotes.com/film/taxidriver/