Conflict In Finding Forrester

On the other hand, Jamal is a sixteen-year old African American male who went to a private school on a scholarship and lives with his mother and brother. Unlike Forrester, he enjoys going outside, interacting with his friends from school and going to basketball games. Another difference between the Jamal and Forrester is his confrontational attitude. When harassed by another student from school on the basketball court, he handled the problem in his own way, proving his ability to do as well as the next person, which gained the respect from the coach and the other students.

Identity is what defines a person, their personality, interests, and their ideals. For some people, it's easy to show off their personality, but for others, and can be hard. Some people see it as a way for people to criticize them based on who they are. In the movie, Finding Forrester, William Forrester is a well known author for his popular book, yet he hides away in his apartment because he doesn’t want to be judged based on his work. This leads to struggles that William deals with all because he wants to keep his identity hidden. A young boy named Jamal Wallace has a similar issue. He is academically gifted, yet he doesn’t show it off because he doesn’t want to stick out from his friends. The two eventually meet, become friends, and solve their issues together. Jamal helps William escape his apartment, while William gives Jamal tips on what makes a good writer. Finding Forrester gives a good lesson in being true to oneself and expressing personality. If someone is too self-conscious about their personality, it can be hard to keep their identity hidden, especially in uncomforting situations.

For Jamal this dream is to write. A simple ambition with little direction to begin, encouragement from an unexpected, but beneficial friend, leads to a blossoming of potential in Jamal. This skill is especially prominent when Jamal’s test scores come back. Everyone is surprised at the excellence they show from a student who does just enough to get by, but they open doors Jamal had never considered for himself. A full scholarship to the prestigious private school, Mailor-Callow, being at the top of the list. Having this opportunity presented to him is a shock to Jamal, who simply knew he loved to read and write. Now, having to consider his options, Jamal reflects upon them. Either he can either continue at his present school and maintain his status with the same assumptions involving his race and economic status to be made about him or he can pursue his dreams. But the decision and how he will use the opportunity are left up to the only person that can truly impact his dreams, Jamal himself. In the end, opportunity wins out and Jamal chooses to attend the school and begin his new path. Such a path may not have been possible at all without the help of William Forrester. “Forrester brings out Jamal’s intelligence and Jamal brings Forrester back into life,” says Rob Brown. “They need each other in a way they never imagined, (Movielocity, 2001, p. 2).” Both individuals assist and encourage each other's dreams. Forrester’s method and help is obvious throughout the movie while Jamal’s effect on Forrester is more subtle. The one instance of Jamal directly influencing Forrester is when, on Forrester’s birthday, Jamal attempts to take him to a basketball game. Hundreds of people are in attendance and after years of isolation, the crowd is frightening to Forrester. Jamal redeems the evening by taking him to an empty Yankee Stadium, where some of Forrester’s better memories of the past

He was extremely intelligent, but he did not use it due to his fear of standing out. William and Jamal felt stuck and that was their hopelessness. Jamal lost hope that he could fulfill his potential, so he did not try and change. William lost hope to find a reason to leave his house. He believed that nobody was there for him, and he felt alone in the world.

When Jamal is dared to sneak into Forrester’s apartment, his fear adapted into an interest. His trespassing pushed past his comfort zone and transformed a stranger into a newly found friend with a common interest for writing. Jamal’s academic adaptation came from his trust of Forrester’s opinions and dependency for his assistance (Clinton, 2001, p.2) Jamal’s effort to trust Forrester in his time of need transformed his abilities. His academics improved very well, to the point of a teacher claiming he plagiarized. Forrester allowing Jamal to visit and write within his home pushed his limits. As he shared his passion, he transformed from his private self into a friend of Jamal. While observing Jamal’s persistence, Levy (2000) believed he was, “determined to reignite Forrester’s passion for writing” (p.2) The effort that both put into their relationship transforms Forrester’s perspective. This friendship inspires him to write a second book which he dedicates to Jamal. By escaping comfort zones, a stranger can transform into a

In the movie Finding Forrester, the amount of trust in someone can be shown upon how good of a relationship one has with another. Jamal, a high school student, secretly has a passion for writing. Dared by friends, Jamal sneaks into an apartment and accidentally forgets his book bag. When he returns to the apartment the next day, he not only finds numerous edits within his writings, but he also figures the mystery of who lives in the apartment. Jamal finds out that a guy by the name of William Forrester lives in the apartment and was a former author himself. Forrester is an older man who agrees to mentor Jamal in writing, and agrees to continue to revise and edit his papers. As Jamal visits Forrester more often, their relationship grows along with the trust they have in one another. In Finding Forrester, being in comfortable settings will allow relationships and trust to develop as individuals grow with one another.

When at Madison Square garden, going to the basketball game, Jamal and Forrester accidentally separate in a huge crowd of people and Forrester has an anxiety attack since he does not know how to live a life outside of his house. Forrester leaving his house in the first place, takes a lot of courage since he does not know what was going to happen. It is a challenge for him then to be all alone instead of with Jamal. His courage was tough to build up, as Jamal found, but eventually he gains the courage to hop back into the real world. According to Movielocity (2001), “Compelled to look past skin color and suppositions, Jamal encounters not only his first fan, but a mentor who will challenge and change him forever, and Forrester has his first reason in years to emerge from his self-imposed solitude” (p.1). Despite their extreme differences, Jamal and Forrester exchange courage in different ways, they challenge each other to go outside of their box. These men have to challenge one another harshly in order to push the courage out of eachother. They are scared of the consequences, but eventually gain the courage. This matters because them being together rises the level of courage that they have, despite how hard it is. Forrester is scared of the world and Jamal is scared of falling into the stereotypical student athlete. At the state basketball tournament Jamal is told by an administrator of his school that if

He doesn’t like how he’s treated as an African American. “They got things and we ain’t. They do things and we can’t.” (Wright 20) By the way he’s treated, he feels as if whites have a better life.

When I write about anything I usually just write until I can't write anymore I like to use the method used in Finding Forrester. When I write its probably about something that I know enough about, to do so, my organization comes from how I present my ideas. brainstorming is a big part of how I want to set up my paper and or assignment. I like to write about things I find passion in for example the failed war on drugs and the over surveillance perpetuated by our own government and of course the down trodden individuals that need our help. If I were write a paper on those particular subjects I would first set up a model in my mind; and start off with a philosophical approach on the government's various method’s of prying into the common mans

William was very successful in his writing; he has an inherent understanding about conflicts and knows how to resolve them. On the other hand, Jamal wanted to learn and understands more about writing but didn’t know how, so he started visiting William on a daily basis after school. William believes Jamal was born with a gift, so he decides to help him. He became his mentor; he taught Jamal how to become a better writer. Yes there winners and losers, Jamal gained a lot of knowledge being around William and from being going to a different school. I foresee Jamal becoming a great writer just as his good friend William Forrester.

One may wonder why white and black people hate one another and are friends at the same time. Due to slavery and controversy surrounding it, white and black people hate and don’t get along with each other, but it doesn’t prevent them from becoming friends. In the movies “Finding Forester” Williams Forester is a white, middle-aged former professor, that lives in an isolated apartment. And Jamal Wallace is a black teenage student, who goes to a private school. Williams and Jamal are writers and share the same interest in writing, but their characteristics are different in terms of their personalities and living situations.

“Some things are destined to be – it just takes us a couple of tries to get there.” (J.R. Ward) I agree with the quote previously stated by J.R. Ward. Along with the movie Slumdog Millionaire, the quote defines Jamal’s destiny in the movie. I believe that what happened with Jamal was destiny and all of the events was bound to happen.

Furthermore, through challenging and intense class assignments and writing competition, Jamal is able to transform his aspiration (an embodied cultural capital) and advice from Forrester (a social capital) into excellent writing skills (a new embodied cultural capital). Jamal constantly reads and writes under Forrester’s instruction, but all of these would not have been possible if Jamal does not attend Mailor-Callow, as Forrester states: “questions of your writing suggest what you are going to do in your life. And this is the question that your present school could not answer for you.” Mailor-Callow enables Jamal to achieve excellence by constantly challenging him. For instance, Jamal would have not asked Forrester for help in writing if professor Crawford does not criticize

As Pliny the Elder once advised, “Let honor be to us as strong an obligation as necessity is to others”. Set in New York, the film Finding Forrester, explores the virtue of honor by plotting the journey of friendship between Jamal Wallace and William Forrester. The two meet under an unusual circumstance as Jamal breaks into Forrester’s apartment and leaves his backpack behind. Forrester returns the backpack after editing the journal inside and Jamal is astonished. He repeatedly visits Forrester asking for more editorial advice and after some time, Jamal is allowed to enter the apartment that Forrester has not left for 40 years. Jamal eventually discovers that Forrester is a closeted writing prodigy and gains his trust by exhibiting honor in difficult situations. Throughout their time together, Forrester teaches Jamal the true meaning of writing, educating him on how to effectively write an astounding piece of work. Despite their first encounter, the two become friends as they collaborate their ideas about the essence of writing while learning to value one another's opinion. As demonstrated in the film Finding Forrester, individuals must honor their peers in order to gain friendships and knowledge about the significance of moral righteousness.

Jamal states: “I was wondering if I could bring you more of my stuff. Or maybe I could write something else.” Forrester responds: “How about 5,000 words on why you should stay out of my house!” (IMDb, 2017) This is the first impression Jamal, a black sixteen year old, has of The Window, an old white man who appears to watch people outside his window. Jamal’s friends dare him to break into The Window’s house by his friends, and he leaves his backpack containing his writings. When he receives his bag back, he notices that The Window has graded his writings. This intrigues Jamal, and encourages him to ask The Window to grade more papers; instead, The Window responds with his rude comment. However, their friendship develops quickly when Mailor-Callow, a fancy prep school, recruits Jamal, and he has only one friend at this new school, Claire. Eventually, Jamal begins to realize his true potential as a writer, but he angers a jealous teacher, Mr. Crawford, on his journey to become a writer. While reading Avalon Landing for school, Jamal realizes The Window’s real name is William Forrester, the writer of Avalon Landing. Crawford accuses Jamal of plagiarising, and Forrester comes to Mailor-Callow to resolve the situation even though he has not left his house in forty years. In the movie Finding Forrester friends not only overcome their troubles by talking to one another, but they also have the other’s best interest at heart; thus, friendship results in the reveal of their true