Rick Bliane In Casablanca

Rick Bliane, the protagonist of the movie, is a very mysterious and complicated man at the beginning of the movie. In many occasions, he says “I stick my neck out for nobody” and isn’t impressed very easily. Although he seems like the person who only cares about himself, his true nature can be seen as the movie progresses. One example is when he doesn’t allow a member of the Deutsche Bank into the back room of his café. In his past, he was fighting against Franco in the Spanish Civil war and was a antifascist, but he met Ilsa in Paris, Spain and fell in love with her. But when Axis power invaded Paris and she didn’t run away with him, he was heartbroken and became a cynical person. When he meets Ilsa in Casablanca he slowly forgets about his cynical side and become the person that he once used to be. Towards the end of the movie, he has a chance to run way with Ilsa, but he chooses to let Ilsa and her husband escape Casablanca in order to help fight against the Nazis.

Ilsa Lund is the female protagonist and is married to Victor Laszlo.

She was very supportive of her husband and very loyal to her husband. She is a very hard person to understand because she loves Rick at the same time she is also very loyal to her husband. She fell in love with Rick in Paris because she thought her husband was dead, but when she find out that her husband is not dead, she chooses Victor over Rick. Similarly when she goes to get the transit paper from Rick in Casablanca, she realizes that she still loves Rick and decides go with Rick rather than Victor. She had the most tragic ending of all the main

characters.
Another character that is very loyal is Sam the musician in Ricks Café. Sam met Rick in Paris along with Ilsa and he seems to be the only one who knows about Rick and Ilsa. Sam is very loyal to Rick and this is observed in many occasions. For example when Ilsa told Sam to play “As Time Goes By”, but Sam refuses to play the song. He is constantly looking out for Rick. Even when Rick drinks and prefers to be alone, but he does not mind Sam’s company. Sam isn’t necessarily Ricks best friend, but he is very close to Rick like a guardian.
Victor Laszlo seems like a typical hero who wants to get rid of the bad people. Even though he loves politics, his love for his wife is a lot bigger and stronger. He was willing to stay in Casablanca to save his wife, Ilsa. Even after finding out about Rick and Ilsa, he understands the situation that she was in and does not think of it much. Victor is a very important person in the fight against the Nazi and Rick realizes this and decides to give up his transit pass so that Victor and Ilsa could get away from Casablanca.
Overall, all the character are very important to the film and each symbolizes something different. Victor symbolizes a person who will always stand up for the weak, while Ilsa is a someone who doesn’t necessarily know what she wants and so she doesn’t have happy ending that most character get. Sam is very loyal and seems to care a lot about Rick, almost like a guardian. Rick is like a switch that can turn in any direction and act completely differently. Towards the end, Rick does seem to portray a selfless person who care more about what’s right than himself.