Rebel Without A Cause Essay

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Teen Rebels in Search of Love In the movie Rebel Without a Cause, directed by Nicholas Ray, we meet three “typical” teenagers from the 1950’s. These three teenagers are Jim Stark, Judy, and Plato. Jim Stark is constantly the new kid in town, because whenever he gets in trouble his parents just move the family to a new town. Jim is in constant turmoil striving to fit in, which only leads to more trouble. Judy is a teenage girl who needs attention. She longs for her dad to care about her and give her affection, but her dad refuses to meet this basic need. The lack of her father’s attention drives her to seek male attention from guys her age. Plato’s parents ran off and abandoned him, leaving him to live with a maid. Plato longs for love and …show more content…

Jim Sark rebels because he wants to be known as a man, unlike his father who he views as a feminine figure, or a chicken. When Jim is the new kid he is constantly trying to prove himself, and he wants to be viewed by his peers as a man. He never has time to show people his true self so he rebels in an attempt to be liked, and in an attempt not to be like his father. Jim’s rebellion is triggered when he is called, “Chicken,” which reminds him of his father and how he doesn't want to be. When called “chicken” he cannot back down from a challenge. This is shown when he gets into a knife fight, and then agrees to the chicky race. Judy rebels when frustrated with her home life. She longs for a male figure to love her and give her attention. Her father rejects her so she decides to hang out with a gang and get a boyfriend to get the male attention she wants. Perhaps she is getting back at her dad as well. Plato rebels because his parents abandoned him. He wants friendship and a fatherly figure to look up to that loves him. He expresses his longings with misplaced anger by doing wrongful acts such as shooting

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