Travis Bickle, an ex-marine, lives in an era that was revolved around prostitution, crime and garbage. He is left alone to battle his own physiological thoughts of what society should really consist of. Being mentally challenged, he comes to the conclusion that there must be a hero to stop the corruption of the society happening in the 1970’s. Bickle believes he is the designated one. Designated one to help Besty and Iris get away from their supposedly “sorrow”, designated one to erase the corruption done by the government, and the designated one to cleanse the sidewalk of the trash.

A scene that depicts this idea was the scene where Bickle decides that it is time to go rescue Iris from her misery. Bickle shoots Sports along with the other two gangsters and gets severely injured in the process. But is it morally right to do so? In his perspective, he is acting as a hero that is trying to protect Iris and lead her down the right path. But in other peoples’ perspective, he might be portrayed as an insane man that is fed up with the chaos of the society and becomes a madman killing people.