Violence In Martin Scorsese's The Departed

From the time we are born, we are immediately introduced to influences that will shape and develop our character for the rest of our lives. Our character can be affected in a positive or a negative way by various influences that we encounter on a daily basis. We need to be aware of how much we absorb and let those influences change our behavior. External influences, such as video games, movies, and television shows impact our everyday lives, even when we are not conscious of them.

“I done a bad thing. I done another bad thing (91).” In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck these “bad things” happen continuously. Do each of these instants prove that Lennie is violent? In this novel, Lennie is not a violent person because he doesn’t have mental stability, he doesn’t realize his strength, and he has never shown intentional violence.

Often times, violence is prevalent in literature. It is captivating, it enhances the plot, and it creates feelings of suspense and tension within the reader. However, in well-crafted works of literature, scenes of violence serve an even greater purpose. Violence is frequently used in order to contribute to the meaning of the complete work, and Ernest Hemingway utilizes violence in order to highlight the meaning in The Sun Also Rises. In the novel, Robert Cohn verbally attacks protagonist Jake Barnes and his friend Mike Campbell after questions arise pertaining to the whereabouts of widely-coveted Lady Brett Ashley. Jake then strikes Cohn, and a fistfight between the three men ensues. Hemingway utilizes the violence between the men in order

The connotation of violence is what is making the combinations unusual. Although there were also some evidence of alliteration and incongruity, the importance of the connotation of violence amounts to more than the other two. For example, the phrase “paws used as though they are medical instruments,”(84) demonstrates the connotation. Medical instruments are usually clean and well maintained, while a paw is dirty and rough. That creates an image of a gruesome procedure of an animal mauling a person and violently tearing he or she apart. By comparing it to something very different yet somewhat similar at the same time, Capote is displaying how violent something truly is. The unusual combinations come from those comparisons.

In the film Juice, there were four black teenage boys named Que, Raheem, Steals, and Bishop. They lived in Harlem, New York, were poverty has been an issue the past few decades. In Harlem there was a lot of crime, gang activity, drug abuse, shooting, and homicides among the black community. Each of the young men were living in a single parent household in a worn down neighborhood where they faced conflict with other local gang members from different racial backgrounds. Que was a local disc jockey trying to become known in the music industry. He and his friends would frequently skip school and go to a local hang-out spot where criminal activity took place. All four young men were involved in some form of petty/property crime around Harlem. They so much as skipped class to steal music albums from a small record store in their neighborhood. Bishop is one of Que’s best friends; they were so close people knew them as brothers around the hood. Out of all the four men, Bishop was the only one with two parents in the household. Even with both parents, Bishop was mostly involved in crime. He did not have a very strong bond with his father which took a toll on his relationship with other people. Bishop used his time at the hang-out spot to sell drugs; he made sure to carry a weapon and was always fighting with other gang members, he had a hard time fitting into society. In the movie Bishop stated, “I’m tired of running from police, I’m tired running from Chris (which

Growing up as a teen in the twenty-first century society is much more challenging than it was centuries before. Today's society presents high school teens with much more challenging issues and negative influences. In some cases, the rate of violence, racism, brutality, and substance abuse has increased and consumes teens more than in the past. High school teens face these prevalent issues daily in literature, media, and through personal experiences. A piece of literature that embodies all of these issues is the novel, In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote. Although, the novel In Cold Blood discusses many controversial issues, the inclusion of this novel in a high school setting would allow for the discussion of controversial and brutal topics in a structured environment.

Throughout the film ‘The Departed’ directed by Martin Scorsese, conventions are often used to portray ideas about identity, through Links to Family History, Trust and Betrayal, Character Reversals and Stereotypical Representations. The film shows the story of two ‘rats’, Colin Sullivan who works for the SIU but is working undercover for Frank Costello who is an organized crime boss, while Billy Costigan is a complete character reversal, by working with Frank Costello as an undercover investigator, for the SIU. Scorsese uses conventions of crime drama as

I like this story because it tells about the reality that happened and or is happening, in most cases, at the depressed areas, and that it serve, as a mind opener for those who doesn’t have an idea what it feels like to be living in a slum area, and what are this impoverish had gone through that many have become felons, and what has this violence brings them. It tackles a socio-economic issue that many would not mind knowing the root causes of the problems, and for some politicians would not care resolving these issues through long term

Violence in Catcher in the Rye The world is cloaked in violence. People consume monumentally gratuitous amounts of entertainment through the internet, television, music, and books, and all of it is saturated with overt and extreme violence, and that goes double for adolescents. With the overall effects of violence on the minds of teenagers, exposing them to more violence in the form of school reading would be monumentally inappropriate. A clear example of violent literature utilized as part of school curriculum is J.D. Salinger's 1951 novel, the Catcher in the Rye, whose protagonist is a troubled teen with a distaste for authority and a penchant for outbursts of nearly random violence.

In the movie, “The Road from Crime”, Greg was a great example of how Merton 's Anomie and Agnew 's General Strain theory led them through a criminal lifestyle. The environment that Greg lived as a child was a prime example of the Agnew’s General Strain theory. He came from a society where crimes are viewed as a norm in his community. There are different types of circumstance that lead people and groups inside a community to participate in deviant behavior, such as harsh disciplines, child abuse, negative school experience, residence in economically deprived neighborhoods and more. However, Greg was a resident of an economically deprived neighborhood, which had an influence on his criminal background. According to Merton’s Anomie theory, offenders lead a criminal lifestyle because they are not able to accomplish their desire goal. Everyone does not have the same opportunities to become successful. Greg came from a society where people were looked down upon and did not have the opportunity to become successful in life due to their race. Greg was from a community where everyone in his society had an impact on one and other. For instance, he had a friend name Terry who inspired him to be the man he is today. As a kid, Greg looked up to Terry and tried to follow his footsteps. Terry and Greg were neighbors and that is one reason Terry was a role model to Greg. Greg admired Terry because he played basketball and was a “ladies man”. During, Terry and Greg childhood drugs were

The Departed, a film written by William Monahan, Alan Mak, and Felix Chong, directed by Martin Scorsese, was in my opinion a spectacular crime-thriller deserving of less criticism from overly sentimental viewers. Though this film is in some scenes brutal and vicious, I praise Martin Scorsese’s refusal to cower away from the undeniable truth that organized crime in the United States is murderous in nature just to satisfy certain viewers as critics advocated he should. Being a four time Oscar winning film with sixty-three other awards for numerous aspects in the movie industry, I don’t believe anyone can contradict that The Departed is profoundly unforgettable to masses of moviegoers.

Pulp Fiction is an iconic early 1990s film directed by the unparalleled Quentin Tarantino. The title of the film pays homage to mid-20th century crime novels. In this way and others, the title is revealing of the content of the film. The film follows a very postmodern style that often distracts the plot to focus instead on developing the characters. The cinematography of Tarantino further highlights the characters, at times not allowing the viewer to focus on the context due to the intensity of the moment. Two elements that play key roles in the tone of the film are real violence and race. Real violence is used throughout the film both to create and release tension. The element of race is used through stereotypes that allow the characters and the way they interact to provide social commentary about racial perceptions in America at the time of its release in 1994. The elements of violence and race are used to entice the audience to remain invested in an incredibly complicated and interwoven story with no particular plot. It is these elements that allow the movie to have no single central plot and yet still captivate its audience as the artful masterpiece it is.

In “The Departed”, which takes place in South Boston, State Police are tasked with bringing an end to Irish American organized crime. One of the stars of the movie is the great actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays undercover cop Billy Costigan. The cast is packed with high demand actors; one of them being Irish mob boss, Jack Nicholson, playing Frank Costello. Costigans counterpart is Colin Sullivan, played by Matt Damon. Both men just-graduated from Massachusetts State Police Academy; Sullivan is on the side of the mob, and joined the police force to be an informer for the mob boss. There is a key interplay between each man, and the people they are trying to deceive. The stakes are high, as each operative becomes entrenched in their double life,

this shot we see Billy Bates lying in the boot of Henry Hills car from a high angled shot with Jimmy, Tommy and Henry standing over him. This shows How Billy is in a weak position, thus making him inferior to his murders even though he’s a “made man”, someone who is meant to be untouchable. His face completely covered in blood and wrapped in white tablecloths. This gives the effect of making Billy look as though he is dressed in robes which is religious symbolism comparing him to figures such as Mother mary; giving him the effect of looking innocent, which makes the murder harder to watch as the viewer no sympathise with Billy. In this scene we also hear Billy say “no, no, no” before seeing Tommy say “ Die, Die, Die” along with the non-diegetic sound of Tommy stabbing Billy. We then hear the non-diegetic sound of Jimmy Shooting Billy 3 times. The uses of non-diegetic sound is used to enhances the violence depicted so when Scorsese switches to a more nonchalant attitude towards violence, there is a greater contrast. This is then followed up by a voiceover by Henry Hill saying “As far back as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a gangster”, followed by “Rags to Riches” by Tony Bennett. The upbeat music gives the effect of contrasting the extreme violence depicted before, consequently further enforcing the nonchalant the attitude towards Bloodshed and brutality.

Similarly, the character of Alex McDowell and his actions are presented with methods comparable to that of Bonnie and Clyde. Stanley Kubrick stresses the violence in A Clockwork Orange as a way to show the full extent of his harmful maniacal ways. Narration alone can only tell us so much about his personality and isn't able to comprehensively encompass the significance of the violence attributed to Alex. It isn't until we see the crimes being committed in vivid detail that we are able to recognize the true nature of Alex’s moral extent. This illustrates him as the character he is meant to be as per the novella written by Anthony Burgess. We learn through wide angle shots of the moments leading up to the raping of a helpless woman, that Alex is entirely comfortable with the sadistic action and even finds it amusing. Upward facing camera angles that specifically place his face as the focal point are used during this scene and many others like it to enunciate his sinister appearance. They are used to show that as a person, Alex enjoys these all to pernicious behaviors. The excessive realness of the scenes only supports our understanding of his lack of humanity. Alex’s aggressiveness is magnified by the way he senselessly beats the old man under the bridge and the husband of the raped woman. Incorporating an undisturbed shot of him doing so allows it make a greater impact on the audience's perception of the character. Just as in Bonnie and Clyde, violence is shown with no