Finding Forrester Is Not Kept For Long After

Professor Crawford is a assertive human. He does not like to be corrected. The first time Jamal turned in an essay Professor Crawford doubted that he wrote it by himself. Crawford doubted Jamal because he was African American. Jamal is an extremely talented writer and Crawford knows, but he refuses to accept the fact and continues to bring Jamal down. Crawford wanted to see if Jamal can come up with his own words so he made Jamal write an essay with his supervision.

11. Forrest warns Jamal about bitterly disappointed teachers, like Robert Crawford, because some people like these teachers only see and believe what they think is right, and since Jamal came from where he did with a background like he has, there will be criticism and disbelief over his work, but Jamal is to stand by what he writes and feel proud over it.

An identity of an individual may not conveyed to everyone in society, and they may possess unexpected qualities and skills. Throughout Finding Forrester, Jamal, the main character from the Bronx, meets a man who turns out to be William Forrester; a famous author. Jamal is intrigued to writing and is a skilled writer, enough to get him transferred from the public school to a private school. Jamal frequently visits William at his apartment that he never leaves to discusses literature and write papers. In the visits, Jamal and William discover each other's true identities through their writings. Jamal´s professor accuses him of plagiarism for using writing from Forrester, but is saved by William when he says he had permission to use his work. This moment shows the relationship they built by showing their true identity to each other. In the movie, Finding Forrester, a message displayed is that identity can be revealed through stereotypical based conflicts, and by individuals stereotyping another without further knowledge of their background.

One of the black students dropped her notebook on the sidewalk and didn't notice that she had done so. Forrest jumps through the crowd, picks up her notebook without noticing the tension or significance of the moment, and returns it to the young woman. Because of Forrest's personal strife of always having to run from bullies in Greenbow, he was able to attend the U of A. Forrest innocently participated in one of our Nation's most significant moments in history. His simple, personal act of kindness, intersected with the struggle of society to de-segregate the schools. Once again, the attitude of society towards handicapped persons landed Forrest at the University of Alabama and in the middle of de-segregation, a major historical episode of our society. Because society was very racist in its behavior at this time, Forrest's kindness and caring for people of any race, shows a sharp contrast to his personal life and behavior and the ways of society at the time.

In “Finding Forrester,” there are so many people that kept pulling Jamal Wallace down because of his skin color and because he was not rich like the kids at his school. The life of Jamal Wallace was filled with many conflicts in the movie “Finding Forrester” because he struggled with people constantly pulling him down in his daily life. Jamal was always nervous in the movie so whenever he was sitting, standing, in the house, or walking down the street he always had a basketball with him bouncing it.

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.

In “Finding Forrester”, there were two main characters named Jamal Wallace and William Forrester. Jamal was an inner city teenager from Bronx, New York who had the gifted talents of being a basketball player and a good writer. While always a C student, Jamal received attention from a New York college prep school for his high standardized test scores. Even though Jamal wanted to partake this request, he was afraid of his 4 friends opinions. Unlike Jamal, his friends did not care about academics and thought of Jamal as being a nerd.

Continuing on, the lighting in the movie, Finding Forrester, emphasises how William Forrester has been living and feeling since the death of his brother. The scenes created in Forrester’s apartment remain, for the most part, in the dark. The darkness expresses that deeper, unsaid emotion Forrester is holding on to. Consequently, it gives Forrester a new attitude when he is by himself versus when Jamal is there. One night, Jamal takes Forrester to a basketball game, trying to pull Forrester away of his apartment allowing him to enjoy the activities he once did when he was younger. The night consisted of streetlights and stars when Forrester continually asks if it is light outside before they leave, and when he does walk out, he wears a hat and

On his deathbed, the grandfather gives a speech telling his family, “[he had] been a traitor all [his] born days, a spy . . . Live with your head in the lion’s mouth” (180). In this time period one cannot blatantly oppose the whites and so one must follow and secretly undermine them; this is the thought that the narrator is haunted with. He dislikes to acknowledge the influence those last words has had on his current progress towards acceptance into the white community. His true attitude is publicly revealed through a Freudian slip during his speech, he says social “equality” instead of “responsibility” (190). Social responsibility refers to the African American people accepting their position in society; social equality alludes to them attempting to climb the social ladder towards the whites. In addition to the narrator botching his speech, the superintendent then begins to praise him although the majority of people were not even paying attention until he mistaken a word. He tells the audience, “[S]ome day he’ll lead his people in the proper path” (190). Because this directly follows the narrator mistake, what the superintendent says indicates that the proper path may be social equality. But for today, he is partly still a member of the struggling youth in search of acceptance that is unacquirable, as well as aiming to manage the future which cannot be

Dalton states, “Black folk certainly know what it is like to be favored, disfavored, scrutinized, and ignored all on the basis of our race. Sometimes we are judged on a different scale altogether” (273). Dalton is trying to state that African Americans know what it is like to be judged and because of this it creates a road block. In addition, race has become a universal problem that people tend to cause huge tensions and the way “Horatio Alger’s” essay states it is that everyone is equal would not be true. On the other hand, Sylvia seems to be under the paradox that Dalton has stated about race. Sylvia throughout the story goes on a field trip to a toy store where she sees items that cost a lot of money from the glass window, but when she enters the store an issue occurs. Sylvia states, “Not that I’m scared, what’s there to be afraid of, just a toy store. But I feel funny, shame. But what I got to be shamed about? Got as much right to go in as anybody” (269). Sylvia is afraid to enter the store because the fear of race keeps occurring in her mind. It is a huge issue because African Americans had many different views and it made them feel insecure. Also, Sylvia knows that the toy store is fancy and expensive, which triggers her to back off because she is from a poor background. Race has a huge impact on society, no matter what way it is looked at and Sylvia’s fear expresses that of many at the time.

Rankine’s extensive use of second person point-of-view establishes both directness and vagueness. Throughout the book, the reader experiences racism directly and indirectly, and acts as the author’s medium for expressing ideas and emotions. In one instance, we’re presumably placed in the shoes of a 12-year old Rankine, who allows a fellow student to cheat off of her exam, “You assume she thinks she is thanking you for letting her cheat and feels better cheating from an almost white person” (19). The occurrence is described passingly, as if it was one of many microaggressions young Rankine has experienced in the past. These seemingly normal happenings contrast with the book’s thought-provoking images; a street sign that reads “Jim Crow Road” is pictured after the aforementioned incident (21). Rankine utilizes these contrasts to force the reader to think deeply about

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

In difficult time it is important to have courage to step from a comfort zone and realize things will be easier than one thought. Jamal is a good example of stepping from a comfort zone and finding things are easier than one may think. Levy (2000) stated “Turning point occurs when an exclusive Manhattan prep school recruits Jamal for his basketball talent and his academic achievement, and he seeks Forrester’s help in dealing with the new environment. Jamal gradually becomes committed to not only his own writing, but cracking Forrester’s shell” (p.21). Jamal was unsure about going somewhere that he wasn’t comfortable with, but he eventually

Nearly finishing college, during his junior year the narrator was expelled, for some unintended action. Disgusted by the words spoken to him by his dean, Dr. Bledsoe such as: “nigger this isn’t the time to lie”, the narrator saw the true identity of this African American man, with much success, and a person he looked up to. Ashamed to go back home to his family and community, he headed north. Once he got to New York, while looking for a job he was asked if he would consider attending a different college in New England. He responded he wanted to return to his old college, and that is when he lost his vision, seeing how much power Dr. Bledsoe had, how he spoke toward the whites, and how he treated him. The narrator wanted the same thing; he

He learns that he is considered as a second class citizen. And how in society thinks that any colored person is lesser than a white man or woman. He goes home and speaks to his family about this. “So wherever i go i would be treated differently to other just because i’m black,why?’ he asks. His father tells him that he asked his father the same thing “why do i have to be treated differently just because i'm black?. My father told me that some people can’t see the ignorances in this and that we have to fight for what's right,because we're the only one who see’s the wrong in this and not other’s” James father Mark said. James looks at him with a flame in his eye and says “So it’s up to us to show people that we are all the same and it doesn't matter what our color is”. He’s father shakes his head yes and tells him “You’re blessed with the skin you have for a reason son. You are the one to show everyone that we all work as one to make the world better”. James takes what his father words to the heart. He gets the education he needs even as he faces jim crow. James goes off to college and get his masters in communication. James was one of the one’s who spoke for all black people when fighting for the same rights as everyone else. By the 1960’s James helped end Jim crows laws and he said “The only one who will stand up for you is you.So dont stand aside and whatch things happen make things