Who Is John Bender In The Breakfast Club

538 Words2 Pages

Could it be that humans are more than what society has chosen to identify one as? In the movie The Breakfast Club directed by John Hughes; John Bender is known as a rebel due to his disrespectful attitude towards his peers. When making decisions driven by fear, one will think deeper about the consequences resulting in that individual making smarter choices. John Bender acts like a delinquent and always talks big, he threatens people that could be way stronger than him without caring about the consequences. When Richard Vernon--the principal--brings Bender into his office during detention, the boy gets is surprised to hear Vernon's threat to beat him, even offering the teen the first punch. Bender then cowers away and is called out for being a "gutless turd." Swallowing his pride for his safety, Bender makes the decision to stay quiet. He knew he had no chance of winning a fight against his principal and using that knowledge, he decided that it would be best to remain During the movie, it is shown that Bender has a cigarette burn on his arm caused by his alcoholic parent. Knowing that, it is safe to assume that Bender’s resentment towards others comes from his jealousy at their perfect life. Bender has a need to feel power over others just like his father has/had power over him, he wants to cause fear in people to make others feel the same way he does around his father. Acting as a delinquent will keep other individuals away which is exactly what Bender had wanted in order to feel secure. Individuals do whatever is necessary to survive. Naturally, humans pick the safest route when it comes to making decisions that could affect one for a long period of time, even eternity. Hearing other people's stories helped Bender understand other individuals better than he had when he first walked in on that Saturday. No one has a flawless life and there’s more to people than mere

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Who Is John Bender In The Breakfast Club
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It is evident that the “bad boy” persona that John puts on is his way of gaining social attention from his peers. The power he initiates when confronting the other students is only a defense mechanism for the lack of power he has at home. Initially, we can see that Bender finds satisfaction in making the other students uncomfortable. For example, mocking Andrew for wrestling, taking advantage of Brian’s lunch and commenting sexual statements to Claire. Underneath Bender’s rebellion is a hurting teen, well-aware of his hoodlum status that inhibits any assumptions of weakness. It is obvious from an outsider’s perspective that deep down, Bender yearns for acceptance, as an adolescent wants. Whether Bender’s isolation is voluntary or implemented by outside high school hierarchies, Bender is too stubborn to admit he wants to be accepted. As the film progresses, he realizes that the four other students in detention are all experiencing their own pressures either at home with their parents or at school with their
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This is shown as the movie progresses by how the principal consistently puts Bender in his own category regarding his behavior, unlike the other students. Bender received many threats from the principal along with insults claiming that five years into the future he’ll be homeless or in jail. Throughout the whole film, the “I-It” relationship between Vernon and Bender never changes. Bender tried to find different ways to rebel against Vernon due to his position as an authority figure. Vernon went through many routes in his attempts to criticize Bender. He gladly assigned him more detentions during their arguments and even promises to fight him in the future if they were too cross paths. They both lacked any type of respect toward each other which evidently shows the “I-It” relationship that they
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