Theme Of Rebel Without A Cause

Rebel without a Cause is a powerful performance that demonstrates the struggles of an all-American, middle-class family. James Dean, Natalie Wood, and San Mineo are remarkable actors that play significant roles of adolescent characters in the film. This tale is based on teenagers that have troubled lives due to the ignorance of their parents. The main message the film portrays is that children’s behaviour is influences by their parents and their parenting skills. There are several themes in this film, however the predominant theme is that conflict within the family can encourage disaffected youth.
This theme is demonstrated in the main protagonist, Jim Stark, through symbolism. The problem Jim encounters with his family encourages him to misbehave.

His father, Frank Stark, is a weak role model that fails to portray the image of an ideal father figure.

His father is bossed around by his wife and does not stand up for himself or his son. When Jim was talking to the Juvenile Officer, he said “One thing I know is… I never want to be like him.” Ray interrupts “Chicken?” And Jim replies with “you see right through me, don’t you?” Jim responds in a negative way when someone refers to him as a “chicken” as it reminds him of his cowardly father. However, Jim’s bright red jacket symbolizes his aggressive behaviour. The film technique used to demonstrate this symbol is through the costume design. The leather on the jacket portrays the image of the “greaser” style in the 50’s, which was generally frowned upon by parents. The red in the costume serves a meaning for anger, violence and confidence. When he wears the jacket he misbehaves and acts like a child. The first time Jim was seen wearing the red jacket was when he ran to join Buzz in the “Chickie run”. He returns after witnessing Buzz’s death and becomes involved in a physical fight with his father while wearing that jacket. In the last scenes of the film, Jim offers Plato his red jacket. Plato dies with the jacket on which symbolises

the death of Jim’s rebellious behaviour. Immediately thereafter, Jim puts on his father’s adult jacket, symbolizing that Jim is maturing. The advice his father had been giving him all along opens a reality check for Jim. His father’s advice before the “Chickie run” was “Listen, Jimbo, I'm just trying to show you how foolish you are. When you're older, you'll look back at this, and you'll laugh at yourself, for thinking that this is so important.” This is an educational yet traumatizing experience for Jim because he realizes the importance of life after witnessing Buzz’s and Plato’s death that night.
The theme is also demonstrated through the conflict Judy encounters.

Problems within her family encouraged her to rebel towards society norms. The conflict she encounters is set by her father’s strict rules and his failed attempt to be considerate and sincere. Their relationship is well-portrayed through their everyday social interactions. The script of the films plays a significantly important role as it is one of the film techniques that reveal their relationship. When Judy kisses her father on his cheek, he says “What’s the matter with you? You're getting too old for that kind of stuff, kiddo. You can stop doing that long ago.” Judy sadly replies “I didn't want to stop”. Judy shows that she is having a difficult time growing up through her stubborn and child-like actions toward her father. She does not accept the fact that she needs to grow up and therefore behaves in a child-like manner. When she is caught for running away she says, “I came out, and he grabbed my face. He started rubbing off all the lipstick. I thought he'd rub off my lips. And I ran out of that house.” Judy makes it clear that her father does not like her image. The red lipstick was considered a provocative image for a woman of her age in the 1950’s, and her father does not want others to get a wrong impression of her. However, Judy does not seem to understand the reason behind his logic. Judy is a very stubborn character. She understands her father does not like her red lipstick, yet she wears it to

make a statement. This creates conflict between her and get father. Her father is upset because she does not meet his expectations of her being proper and lady-like. Judy is upset with her father because he does not treat her the same way he treated her when she was younger. She wants the attention she was given as a child and is in desperate need for somebody she can trust to be genuine. This conflict is resolved by befriending Jim. Despite of what happened at the beginning of the story, Judy apologizes to Jim for her behaviour before she got to truly know him. She says “I'm sorry that I treated you mean today. You shouldn't believe what I say when I'm with the rest of the kids. Nobody, nobody acts sincere”. When Buzz dies, Jim supports Judy, which appealed to her since Buzz and her father never acted sincerely. Judy’s troubles seem to fade whenever she is with Jim and recovers quickly due to the comfort brought to her by him.
Furthermore, the theme is demonstrated in Plato’s character development. Plato creates physiological conflicts with himself about his family. He has nobody to talk to about his troubles and expresses his anger in violent, unorthodox ways. The problem is that both of his parents never visit him and only provide financial support. He is underprovided with parental affection and love. Plato’s thoughts change as he goes through character development. Plato’s thoughts are expressed through the dialogue. The character development is shown through the dialogue. Plato steps out of his way and begins to trust people. At the very beginning of the film, Jim offers Plato his jacket, but Plato ignores him because he has trust issues caused though the absence of his parents. Plato’s parents had let him down too many times which resulted into him being a social outcast with psychological trauma. However, the next day at the planetarium, Plato befriends Jim after Jim’s failed attempt to make friends with Buzz’s gang. This is the start of their relationship. Plato begins to see Jim as a father-figure and quickly becomes closely attached to him. At the night after Buzz’s death, Plato says to Jim, “We can talk and in the morning. We can have breakfast like me and my dad used to. If only you could have been my dad.” Further on, he says to Jim “Why did you run out on me? Why did you leave me alone? Get away from me. You’re not my father.” Plato is in desperate need for a family and looks up to Jim and Judy for guidance. Jim plays a father figure role in Plato’s life. He established this role by providing Plato with security. This was demonstrated when he offered his jacket to him as a friendly gesture. Jim also gives him attention. He acknowledges Plato’s existence and communicates with him on a regular basis. Plato admits that “I don’t have too many people I can talk to”. At the end of the film, Jim offers his jacket, which is a repeated act of what he did at the beginning of the film. He gives his last friendly gesture to Plato and hands him his red jacket. Plato responds with “Can I keep it?” This shows that he changes his approach to people in comparison to his behaviour at the beginning. Plato undergoes a challenging dilemma that eventually shaped his character. Jim is ultimately the only person he could forgive and trust.
Lastly, the theme is demonstrated through foreshadowing Buzz’s death. It can be inferred that Buzz has family troubles in his home that causes him to misbehave. “Rockabilly” style was mostly used in the 1950’s as a rebellious statement. Buzz’s image reflects a style that was influenced by Rock and Roll. Parents were shocked from the appearance and had difficulty grasping their style due the drastic generation gap. Buzz’s death is heavily foreshadowed through the images conducted in motion. Cinematography played a big role in shaping images that foreshadow his death. At the planetarium the lecturer says “We will disappear into the blackness of the space from which we came. Destroyed as we began, in a burst of gas and fire.” A violent image of the galaxy exploding shows up on the screen and startles everybody in the audience. This foreshadowed Buzz’s death because his death comes later as result of a car accident that kills him in a flame of gas and fire. The witnesses of his death are immediately shocked, simulating the same response as the audience at the planetarium. The lecturer continues to talk after the images of the explosion were presented, saying “Through the infinite reaches of space, the problems of Man seem trivial and naive indeed. And Man, existing alone, seems to be an episode of little consequence.” The screen returns to normal and portrays an image as if nothing had occurred. The lecture’s presentation said that the problems Earth faces are nothing compared to the grand scheme of the universe. The universe will continue to exist even after Earth is destroyed. This foreshadows the aftermath of Buzz’s death. His friends and girlfriend soon forget about his death, as portrayed by the normal continuation of their lives. After his death his friends do not take the initiative to report the accident due to their selfish concerns of getting blamed for the accident. In this scenario, Buzz’s death represents the end of Earth’s existence, while those around him—whose lives continue as normal—represent the universe.