Antwone Fisher Symbolism - 1142 Words

Throughout the two movies, Gus Van Sant and Denzel Washington used both language and stylistic features to present the idea of a personal journey, in particular, through the use of symbolism. In the film, Antwone fisher, Washington uses a symbol of women. The beginning of the film shows how Antwone was mistreated and abused as a child through flashbacks. In this case the symbol of women is used to symbolise worthlessness and insignificance as he is abused and beaten by his foster mother and raped by his foster sister. As the film progresses Antwon meets and becomes romantically involved with a woman, Cheryl, who is also in the navy. With Cheryl by his side Antwone is able to stand up to his foster mother and no longer let her push him†¦show more content†¦Later as his maths skills become more and more evident to the professor, will is offered job opportunities that could set him up for life and insure him of a brighter future. This again symbolises a personal journey for wil l as maths opens a brighter more secure future. By using symbolism as a stylistic feature Gus Van Sant and Denzel Washington are able to successfully present the idea of a personal journey to their intended audiences. Social – language Both Gus Van Sant and Denzel Washington successfully use language to present the idea of the journey in their films however each one uses a different form of language. In Antwone Fisher, Antwone uses body language or violence to shut people out and create a shield between his emotions and the outside world, protecting people from getting to him and hurting him. When Antwone starts seeing a councillor he learns to talk about his feelings and learns to deal with his anger without violence. In the end of the film Antwone is a different man. He is calm and much more happier and open as he has learnt to open up about his feelings and deal with emotions in a constructive way. He learns to talk to people rather than just turning to violence to solve his issues. This shows a social journey as Antwone learns to talk to people about how he feels rather than putting up a wall and using violence to shut people out. Throughout the film of Good Will Hunting, Will is in a very similar