Author Archives: cl158822

“Shit… I’m waiting for the sun to shine.”

by cl158822

In the film Taxi Driver, Martin Scorsese presents several different characters, with different personalities and understanding how their interactions affect one another. One of the quotes that stood out throughout the film is “Shit…I’m waiting for the sun to shine.”  Its a very significant quote because the meaning behind it pretty much identifies with the main character.

Scorsese presents this complex character that isn’t easy to decipher. Coming home from a war that wasn’t agreed with the masses, Bickle returns home trying to find out where he truly belongs and trying to rebuild his life. In this quote “Shit…I’m waiting for the sun to shine.” It presents this ideal way that many people have been thinking. Although in the film, Scorsese presents two different characters that appears to have it all figured out. For example Iris believed that she is meant to be a prostitute and Betsy knew that she wanted to help run a campaign. The fact that they got their lives figured out is great. But what Travis stated that he is waiting for the sun to shine, hes saying that he might be civil in where he is now but it doesn’t mean that he is happy with what life has to offer him now. I believe Scorsese uses this technique to contrast Travis’s “unstable” state of mind to two characters to appear to have it all together.

I think this quote is very true and appropriate for this time period. Presented with constant issues of life changing experiences and the struggle to adapt to constant change, its hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Travis Bickle appears to be stuck in this place where he is trying to find where he belongs and although it appears that he has done a lot through his life and appears to have a stable job and life, hes trying to learn how to be happy.

Klan Terrorism in South Carolina by Lee Guidon 1872

by cl158822

From the testimony of Harriet Postle “We are men of peace…”

After the Civil War, African Americans tried to find a way to live in a community where they can live freely and be treated fairly. It was hard for them with the hostile environment they lived in. The creation of the Ku Klux Klan, and the Black Codes made it harder for African Americans to live as freed slaves. In a testimony by an African American woman, Harriet Postle, she explained how a dozen of men entered her home wanting to kill her husband. Although her husband wasn’t home at the moment the men tried to enforce their authority and try to stop Harriet from lying and accusing her of covering for her husband. No matter how many times she stated that her husband wasn’t home, these men insulted and abused Harriet. In order for her to confess the whereabouts of her husband the men stated “We are men of peace…” This quote itself was ironic. A dozen men had entered this woman’s home with their faces covered and harmed, insulted, and threatened Harriet and her family and they had stated that they were men of peace. As Harriet was on the stand, her attorney asked if she could identify the men that broke into her home. She stated she could and pointed to a man that she had seen around her neighborhood.

The social life of a freed slave was not something that came with ease. The struggle to try to fit within a society that doesn’t want to associate themselves with you was hard. Although African Americans were promised that they wouldn’t have to return to slavery and that they will be able to live as equals, there was no guarantee. The chances that the men that broke into Harriet Postle would be charged were very slim. The society that African Americans lived in was predominately white and their equality was never fair but more in favor of the whites. Not only was there no fairness but trust was diminishing as well. Harriet was able to identify the man that broke into her home. That man she would probably see almost every day and he was the cause of her suffering within her home. The trust that existed between African Americans and whites was pretty much nonexistent due to the fact that the white men and women did not agree with slavery being free and were displeased with the result of African Americans being treated equally. The social life of an African American was hard, due to the fact that they had no one to rely on. The justice system wasn’t in favor of them, society did not like them and they were poor. They had to build on their own and it was hard because there were people like the KKK that did not want to see them succeed.