Political Allegory Of Casablanca

Rick’s hubris, as previously mentioned, is his self-centeredness and adamancy, which is resolved through his Ultimate Boon. Rick’s boon is selflessness and the first time that Rick truly shows this selflessness that he has received in his journey occurs when he decides to help Annina and Jan Brandel receive their travel visas to America. It represents a change in character and is a pivotal point in Rick’s character arc. This also fits in well with the cosmogonic cycle, as the Ultimate Boon is received by the hero directly after the apotheosis stage, which in Casablanca is represented by the resolution of Annina’s predicament (Campbell

Rick struggles with his feelings of love for Ilsa and his loyalty and admiration for Victor and his cause. Rick recognizes how important Victor’s work is to the world, and sees that Ilsa is a necessary part of this mission. Rick admires Victor’s selfless devotion to Ilsa, and knows that he (Victor) is the better man. He tells Ilsa, “...inside of us we both know you belong with Victor.

The characters in Casablanca all contribute to the political allegory, for example Rick is strong and isolated like America, Strasser is the typical Nazi general representing Germany, and Renault is compliant with the Germans like France. American Rick and European Louis look out for each other's interests throughout the film, just as America and Western Europe did once the United States entered the war. Renault had to obey and follow the Strasser?s demands until he had leverage and the knowledge that he could defeat or overcome

If Ilsa had her way, she would remain in Casablanca with Rick to try to rekindle the relationship they had. Rick, however, wanted Ilsa to go and be with her husband. Rick’s journey was truly one of love. His final act of love for Ilsa involved giving up the relationship he wanted the most because of the love he had for her. Rick must choose between his love for a woman and helping her and her husband escape Casablanca. He makes the right choice.

Ray points out that this concealing of the necessity for choice also governs the thematic paradigm in Casablanca. The film invites the audience to identify with Rick rather than Laszlo even though official American wartime sentiments are consistently voiced by Laszlo. Rick regularly insists upon unmediated self-interest,"I stick my neck out for nobody", "I'm the only cause I'm interested in", a position that Ferrari explicitly identifies with a discredited American tradition: "My

After that scene occurred, we see Rick and Jean at home discussing what had just occurred in the previous scene with the holdup and theft of their car. They are filing a police report. Rick is running for an election and is trying figure out a way with his advisors to avoid gaining bad publicity. He wants the African Americans vote and does not want to lose those that are on his side. By filing this police report after the incident that just occurred, he feels he put himself in a bad position in the election. Him and his advisors are trying to figure out what he should with the interview with the news reporters. As he's trying to figure out the right wording for the situation that occurred, Jean is watching the locksmith named Daniel played by Michael Pena, he is

Throughout the film there is a central which is Rick’s night club. The night club is very popular among the upper class and political hierarchy of Casablanca. Rick's Café Américain attracts a variety clientele, including Victor Laszlo, German officials and refugees departing to reach the United States, including

Nevertheless, it seems that they represent American society in the 1940’s. The character of Rick portrays an unconventional hero who tries to stay outside of everyone’s business, but in the end it is him who saves Laszlo’s and Ilsa’s life. This reminds me of the role of America during WWII. At first, the United States tried to stay out of the war, but when they were forced to react after Pearl Harbor, they got involved. The film also refers to this when Rick asks his friend Sam if he knows what time it is in New York. Before Sam can reply, Rick says that it must be December 1941, which was the time when the attack against Pearl Harbor occurred. Ilsa, on the other hand, represents the role of American women. She is described as the most beautiful woman that has been seen in Casablanca. Her appearance reminds me of the typical image of an ideal American girl – blonde, pretty and conservative. She tries to act in a moral way when she finds out that her presumed dead husband is still alive and she leaves Rick at the station in Paris. This reminds me of how women were treated during the 1940’s. It was their responsibility to take care of the family business, but in the end men would have the final decision. Ilsa tries to get the transit-visa from Rick, but she tells him to decide what she should do next. Rick sends her away with Laszlo and restores the perfect family union between Ilsa and Laszlo. Another

In the film, “Casablanca”, it showed us that America was neutral in the war as Rick said, “I stick my neck out for nobody.” Rick is portrayed as America, although he seemed as if he was neutral he started to show that he was caving in for the underdog, just as America did when we started to get involved in the War. During the film when the Germans come into Rick’s café, Rick shows that he is aware of what is going on in the War, just as we Americans knew about all the concentration camps. Also, when someone offered to buy Sam’s contract from Rick, Rick said “I don’t buy or sell human beings.” Casablanca shows that America is aware of what is going on and that we are above all of it.

When the United States entered World War II in 1941, it was commonly believed that the war was “America’s golden age, a peak in the life of society when everything worked out and the good guys definitely got a happy ending” (2), which is a direct result from Hollywood’s glamorization of the war. During the war, the film industry began to boom, using the war as inspiration for making movies. Lifeboat (1944) and The Moon Is Down (1943) for example, makes it clear who the enemies were because the enemies were always “…cruel, devious, and unprincipled…” (11). It was also clear who the good guys and heroes were. The film industry even glamorized how people died in the war. In these movies whenever an American died their death was quick, painless, and clean. However, when the

Now, if you read between the lines you realize that Rick isn’t as he appears. He is said to have done odd jobs such as a roofer, a car parker, a painter, and a tree planter. Roofers tend to be of criminal background. Saying he is a car parker could be code that he stole cars. Painters go into people’s houses and spend time in the house when the family isn’t there. He probably robbed the houses. He probably just made up the tree planting thing to further reinforce the good guy persona. The main character also divulges to us that Rick made a copy of the gas station's bathroom key. That just reinforces a criminal background and the fact that he is using Rick for the disability money. Every relationship in this short story is based in greed. The producer doesn’t want to hire real actors so he can save money. Baldev was getting money to loan out his horrible basement. Lastly, the main character was taking as much advantage as possible of his disability and living conditions to get more

Throughout Casablanca, there is a definite sense of patriotism and nationalism from the American side. Although the marketing team focused on the action, romance, and movie stars, the underlying political themes of Casablanca are eminent; the film’s intention was to get people to support the war. Rick, played by Humphrey Bogart, is the representative of the Americans in the film. He is, after all, called a patriot by Captain Renault after the murder of Mayor Stasser. In the film, America is shown as a safe place for refugees; this further promotes American involvement in the war, because Americans should want to keep fighting for their land to stay safe.

Later on, Major Strasser meets with Victor Laszlo to force Laszlo to release the names of revolutionaries, but he refuses. Afterwards, Laszlo and Ilsa talk about leaving Casablanca for their safety and realize that Rick may be the one with the transit papers. Laszlo tries to calmly convince Rick to give him the papers, to no avail. Shortly after, Ilsa also attempts to convince Rick to change his mind. She tries passively at first, then holds a gun to his stomach and demands that he give her the papers, after which she begins to break down about how she still loves Rick and never wanted to leave him in Paris. They spend the night together and Rick promises to get Laszlo out of Casablanca. The next night, as Rick gives the papers to Laszlo, Captain Louis Renault shows up to try to arrest Laszlo. Rick turns a gun on Renault, forcing him to clear the airport

In the film Casablanca they show various different aspects of American culture during the wartime forties. These things are cumulated in the films sole American, whose name is Rick. However this film not only shows the culture of Americans but also shows a look into what Americans viewed the war as. The values of people and what was considered obtuse for society are ever changing, and you can see this as plain as day within the movies and films of the time. Casablanca is an amazing example for this because it is special in the fact that it’s the only play written during the time that was never played but was instead turned straight into a movie. Now let’s take a more in-depth look into the movie and how it’s connected to the people who were meant to watch it.

The main conflict presented in Casablanca was the love triangle between Victor, Ilsa, and Rick. Victor and Rick loved Ilsa at the same time, however she was married to Victor yet was still in love with Rick. In this situation, love seems like the opposite of a solution, and is more so the factor causing any issues and tension. Looking into the film’s flashbacks, this is still a common theme. Ilsa’s love for her husband was not enough to save him from the war when he was believed to be dead, as it would be unrealistic to think so. If love truly “conquers all”, theoretically it would even be able to transcend death. If love was the one true answer, wars would not happen and all conflict would essentially not exist. Had Ilsa chosen to leave with Rick instead of staying with Victor in Paris, she could have never redeemed herself in the eyes of anyone she may have known, or to herself. Love could not save her from those consequences, so she made the wiser choice. The