Identity And True Identity In 'Finding Forrester'

Throughout the film, Jamal is judged by many people when he gets to the private school because of where he is from and because he isn’t as wealthy as others. In the film, Jamal becomes friends with a young lady named Claire Spence. Jamal and Claire end up spending a lot of time together and one night after a great win, Jamal and Claire share a conversation that is interrupted by her father, that isn’t too fond of Jamal. Claire does not discriminate, but her father is a victim of stereotyping and makes it clear that he is against a closer relationship of his daughter, Jamal´s first friend at the new school, and Jamal. Dean Spence, Claire’s father is a victim of social class stereotyping because he believes his daughter is too good for a boy like Jamal.

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.

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.

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.

Throughout history, different people have many struggles with their identity and trying to figure out who they are. When I was younger, I struggled with my identity and who I was to my family and my friends. I did not know how to be myself without being called names or being looked at funny. At the house I would act one way towards my parents and my siblings, and at school I would act differently towards my friends to fit in. This time period of my life is well conveyed throughout different characters in many books. Harper Lee demonstrates the struggle of identity greatly in the book To Kill a Mockingbird. Throughout the novel, the author develops two characters, Calpurnia and Dolphus Raymond, that struggle with their identity to

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.

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.

Jamal also has better resources to deal with the struggles of adolescence because he has a close friend. William Forrester, who helps him in his school. We can see that in the film, Forrester, being a writer, helps Jamal improve his writing skills. Forrester also helps Jamal against his teacher who believes that Jamal is plagiarising his work from someone. Forrester does this by coming to his school and showing them how good of a writer Jamal actually is by reading out his

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

“I’m part of the Witness Protection Program, and I can’t stand that i’m lying to everybody that ‘knows me’,” proclaimed a person in the Witness Protection Program. Just like the person in the quote, Zach felt he was living a lie when he had to change his identity for the witness protection program. After Zach’s father was caught smuggling drugs on a plane, bad men such as Alonzo and his men broke into Zach and his family's house. His family was put into Witness Protection Program where they were forced to change their identity and move to Elko, Nevada. In Elko Zach meets a man named Sam Sebesta. Alonzo and his men eventually find Zach in Nevada but Sam saves Zach from the bad men. Since the author gave clues about Sam’s true identity Zach knew Sam must’ve had a different identity before becoming a custodian. In Zach’s Lie, Roland Smith reveals Sam’s true identity of a spy by showing how calm Sam stays throughout the book, showing Sam talents, and showing how good Sam is at setting traps.

There are many external and internal factors that shape and form our identity, which is knowing who we are or who someone else is. In the book, Mississippi Trial, 1955, the main character Hiram Hillburn goes through many ups and downs in order to determine who he actually is. Achieving this takes time and many changes in people’s characteristics. Intertwining this to the book, identities are formed and shaped by parents, personal experiences (good or bad), and independent decisions. Hiram exemplifies these changes throughout the book by guidance from certain adults such as his father, making very salient decisions, and past incidents.Hiram goes through an exploration through this book about race, relations, and dishonesty. A murder of an innocuous

Throughout the novel many problems occur. Some of the main problems are racial and equality issues. Events in this book show how prejudice and intolerance can ruin numerous friendships and change lives.

A person's identity is never the same, in comparison to the many people that view that person. This is something that the narrator recognizes but does not fully understand. While at the University, the narrator was only a petty "black educated fool" in the eyes of Dr. Bledsoe. At the same time, Mr. Norton (a white trustee of the university) saw the narrator as being an object, who along with his "people, were somehow closely connected with [his (Mr. Norton's)] destiny." (Ellison 41) To the members of the Brotherhood, the narrator is only what they have designed him to be: someone who "was not hired to think," but to speak only when ordered to do so by the committee who "makes [his] decisions."

The book’s character’s main problem is finding individuality in racism. For the duration of the book, the narrator is constantly fighting racism and stereotypes. Ellison put many examples in the book to help show the character’s fight to be seen equal. Ellison shows that, through the character himself, that you can not tell people who to be. However, Ellison throws curves at the narrator that challenges