Taxi Driver - Analysis

Tywin Lannister

TAXI DRIVER

Does a protagonist mean a hero? Taxi Driver tells you otherwise.

(Spoiler Alert)

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Travis Bickle is a marine veteran working as a taxi driver. He lives alone in an apartment in city he despises.

So he decides to do something about it.

One day Travis meets up with a gun dealer.

He observes the unloaded guns. Eye sparkling. He grabs one and walks to the window.

Then, one eye closes, Travis aims at the street, practising his rusty skill -- we hear kids playing.

Aims to the left -- we see women chatting.

Later, Travis returns to his place, suits up like a kid in a Chrismas day. Looking at a mirror, he aims a gun at his own reflection.

Trying to look intimidating, he speak to his reflection --who are you looking at huh? Well I'm the only one here --

As the story goes, Travis gets rejected by a woman he likes. He feels humiliated. This is his lowest point.

Alone again, bad thoughts start crawling in his head: this city is filled with scumbags and he has to act now!

What could loneliness effects a person.[1]

Travis tries to assassinate the U.S. Senator, but he fails.

Then he decides to save a teenage hooker instead. He has a shoot out with her pimps and bring her to their parents.

In the end of the movie, The incident gets published on the news. Travis becomes a hero.

Everyone in the city knows him. Admires him. We finally cheer for his happiness from doing the right thing.

But there is something we forgot: Travis is always the same person who point the gun at children and women.

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When Travis talked to the mirror, words conveys loneliness, but his action conveys violence.[2]

His lowest point was when the woman he liked rejected him, not when he pointed a gun at someone. This shows what he values more.

In the end, he overcomes his loneliness but not his violence. In fact, it rewarded him.

Travis might be the city's hero, but ironically he almost shot their beloved president.

The only thing that separate him from a villain is he pulled the trigger at the right person.

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Taxi Driver satirizes our idea of heroes:

We think someone is a hero just because his selfish act benefit others.

We misunderstand Taxi Driver is about someone trying to do good. But actually Travis is a ticking time bomb.[3]

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Thanks for reading.

Footnotes

[1]The Dangers of Loneliness

[2]Taxi Driver: Important Quotations Explained

[3]Taxi Driver: “There is no escape.” -Travis Bickle

Ref - Michael Pachidamrong