Okay, so it’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed a book I’m required to read for class, in fact, it’s been several years.  When a teacher assigns a book, I look at it with a mixture of dread and revulsion, because honestly? They are the length of a Harry Potter book, and only about a third as interesting.  But this book, The Metal Children, by Adam Rapp, actually kept me intrigued.  Maybe it was the length, maybe it was the characters, or perhaps it was simply the very controversial topic of teen pregnancy that allowed me to finish the book so quickly.  The book I loved, it was too good to put down.  Now, along with the book, we were supposed to watch the movie Taxi Driver, which, as the title hints, is about a taxi driver named Travis.  Now, this movie was interesting but lost me at times.

The two protagonists of The Metal Children and Taxi Driver, Tobin and Travis are two uniquely eclectic people.  Both characters life an isolated and lonely life, Tobin, a writer lives in a messy apartment by himself after his wife left him, and Travis, and army veteran also lives alone.  Both characters desire a connection with another person, specifically love, which they lack throughout the book and movie.   The two characters presented personalities that were on opposite ends of the spectrum, Travis was all about anger, resentment and violence, while Tobin was more passive, letting everyone dictate what he should do, in short his life sucked.

I wouldn’t like to meet a person who resembled either of these characters, especially Travis, whose violent nature scares me a little.  He strikes me as the kind of person who doesn’t fit into any kind of specific category, he’s a war veteran but his past is a little obscure after that.  He works as a cab driver because of insomnia, and he seems to be unsure of how to interact with people on a social level, which we see when he took his date Betsy to a porn flick.  Tobin also doesn’t know how to interact with people that well, he spends a lot of his time alone being a slob and pining over his ex-wife.  Both characters disregard authority, (although Tobin sleeping with a minor was a little disturbing) and in doing so they evolve a little, or perhaps devolving and embracing their nature more, which could be seen when Travis attempted to kill the senator.  The two characters were definitely memorable, each a little disturbing in their own way.   Maybe they’ll inspire me to do required readings with a little more enthusiasm.

Oh my gosh! I don’t think there have ever been two more powerful and emotional works of art than The Metal Children and “Taxi Driver.” In both, the protagonists are harmed emotionally by society, in ways unimaginable to most. Tobin and Travis, although they react differently, are both are brought down into depression by society.

In The Metal Children, Tobin’s bodyguard nearly had to force him to go to the town where his book was being banned. Tobin really didn’t care much. I mean, his wife had just left him for another man…who cares much about life after that? After being forced to go to Midlothia to fight the ban on his book, he is abused, beaten, and pretty much torn to pieces. But then again, he does nothing to stop it. He’s just a lonely man, desperate to find his way in life again. He is sad and pathetic, not only because his marriage fall to ruin, but also because he lacks the confidence to do anything about it. He is too calm to stand up to the challenges life throws in his face, and he just sits back and watches everything going on around him. He has no control over anything that happens. He lets his wife leave without a fight, calling her only to sound desperate and foolish…he lets Vera undress in front of him, and then succumbs to the temptations…he lets the town ban his book, not bothering to put up a fight…and finally at the end of the book, he lets Vera have her way once again, by giving her the money she needs and letting her keep their baby with a non-committal agreement to visit one day.

Unlike Tobin, Travis in “Taxi Driver” stood up to the establishments of his society. Although he was like Tobin in that he was a lonely, sad man, he was different in that he took action when things didn’t go his way. Because Betsy didn’t accept his invitations out after one little mistake he made, he decided to take away what was important to her: Palantine. Travis felt that rather than being with him, Betsy had decided to support Palantine instead, and this hurt Travis because it felt like betrayal. Rather than sit back and watch her choose another man the way Tobin watched his wife leave with another man, Travis plots to assassinate Palantine. His attempt, however, is thwarted, and he instead decides to go after another girl. Not in an emotional-relationship way, but instead in a friendly and caring way. So he tries to help Iris escape the brutal environment she is “working” in. He eventually succeeds in his assassination of her pimp, Sport, finally overtaking society’s limitations and becoming a proclaimed “hero.”

Throughout both works, the protagonists are shot down by society like a deer during hunting season. Neither really stood a chance against what they were faced with. Tobin realized that, and didn’t bother trying to change it. He accepted his defeat, and let things collapse around him. Travis on the other hand, also knew things weren’t going well for him, but rather than sit back like Tobin and be miserable about it, he decided that if things were going to be horrible anyway, he might as well continue the trend and get rid of the man that was causing him pain. By assassinating Palantine, he would have hurt Betsy, which would have made him feel better, but he also would have been sent to jail. But he was nearly caught in his attempt. Instead, he went after Sport. With all his pent up anger and rage, Travis was able to take out Sport as well as a few other men who were a part of the prostitution chain. It was for a good cause, he knew, and for that reason, he didn’t care that it was illegal. What an unexpected shock it was when he was hailed a national hero for ridding society of these evil men.

The only thing shared between the two men is that they both gave into the sad lives they were living, but whereas Tobin did nothing to either fix or worsen it, Travis reacted in his own way, knowing that he could make it worse, but knowing that it wouldn’t matter, because without the girl he wanted, life would be miserable anyway. So although he ended up being a hero, he only did what he did to make himself feel better about his nearly non-existent position in society. Travis and Tobin were both in the same life situation, although under obviously different circumstances, but each reacted in their own way, doing what they thought was fitting for their specific situation. In the end, we can see which man came out on top, with a better life, and which is still sitting at home, moping.

When I first saw the cover of The Metal Children, I have to say it didn’t really draw me in. And then, after watching the trailer for Taxi Driver I didn’t even really want to watch it. Two assignments I had to complete but thought that I would dread. I was dead wrong. Although I didn’t fall completely in love with the play and the movie, I did enjoy them.I believe that Tobin and Travis shared more differences than similarities and to tell you the truth I really liked Travis and kind of hated Tobin.

Both protagonists are lonely characters who seem to be searching for a purpose or meaning to their life. Tobin is so devastated over his wife leaving him that he starts to sort of self destruct in his messy apartment. Thankfully his editor and friend, Bruno, is there to help him pick up the pieces. I believe that when Tobin was first told to go to Midlothia he was just sort of going there to please Bruno but as he learned about the controversy his book started and then also learned that the girls were forming a pregnancy pact he started to become more interested. I have to admit that I was so disgusted when Tobin slept with Vera. I couldn’t believe it and that is also when I started to hate Tobin’s character. I think because Tobin was desperately looking for a purpose to his life he, like Travis, went to the extremist side and decided to sleep with Vera knowing that that might lead to him fathering a child with a minor. Where Tobin differs with Travis is that I don’t think he really is reacting much to the established authority, which in this case would be everyone against his book. To me he seems a little nonchalant about the whole thing. Travis on the other hand stands up against the established authority and takes matters into his own hands.

Like Tobin, Travis also felt extremely alone and simply wanted to feel alive and find someone to spend the rest of his life with. I love Travi’s character because he is so naive. Even though he took Betsy to a pornographic movie, I felt so bad for him when he was apologizing to her and sending flowers and she coldheartedly turned him down. Another reason why I like Travis more than Tobin, is that when he is confronted in a room with a young girl trying to make moves on him, just like Tobin and Vera, Travis is actually disgusted by it and turns her down multiple times. He understands why it’s wrong on so many levels, and vows to help her escape from all of this. He is not afraid to take matters into his own hands and stand up against the authoritative figures. Even though he did murder the Pimp I think that in these situations the ends justify the means. In the NYC that Travis lived in, the cops were not much help so if Travis had not taken matters into his own hands there really wasn’t anyone who could have saved Iris.

A common theme that I noticed between these two pieces is loneliness. As we see in the end both protagonists are left alone even though Vera and Betsy both go to see them. Although both women had their own selfish reasons for going. Vera needed money and Betsy only started liking Travis again because of his fame. Where was she when he was calling her and sending her flowers?

“… I’m waiting for the sun to shine.”-Travis Bickle

By the time I finished watching Taxi Driver and reading The Metal Children, I decided, these two main characters are hardly noble. If they have anything in common, it’s that they are both instigators who are borderline crazy. I found Travis to actually be more interesting as a character because he was so psychotic; throughout the whole movie he was searching for an identity. I can actually see the rhyme to Travis’ madness; he spent the whole movie searching for romance and a way to affirm his masculinity. Around him though, the decaying city showed everything around him being tainted. Sex was tainted by prostitution, and he was part of a relationship tainted by Palantine who was condescending towards Travis. He came home from Vietnam a war hero, but of an unheroic war. He dressed as a cowboy vigilante and posed as a CIA agent, but none of them seemed to fit his persona. He was is affect a lost soul. He takes the fate of the city in his own hands by finally standing up and being active, though in his deranged ways.

Tobin, on the other hand, is so passive that it’s painful. He is nothing more than a disgruntled man upset about his circumstances with regard to his wife. She left him for the editor, so he copes with this by writing a book venting his anger, letting his smoking and drinking habits get out of control, and letting his apartment become a mess. What kind of way of coping is this? (I’ll admit it’s better than killing gangsters, but it’s still a shame.) He was a good writer, he could possibly have had a promising future, but instead decided to let his problems gain control of him. Then instead of being happy that he had achieved controversy through the medium of art, he was passive and uninspiring when he addressed the students of the high school who had supported him. He also takes no accountability for the repercussions of his book in his community and basically sweeps them under the carpet. He bottoms out by sleeping with Vera; it seems as though he was confused at the time.

Tobin and Travis hardly evolve as characters, they are stuck in the past, and unwilling to move forward. Travis looks in the mirror and asks, “Are you talking to me?” in the memorable moment that shows the ambiguity of his identity. His mind is shattered, and we don’t even know if he’s questioning and reflecting inward or showing his anger to the perversity that surrounds him. Tobin’s mind is shattered too. He does not know what his role in society seems to be anymore, is he for what the girls in the small community, or does he have disdain for them?

Thematically though, we see this ambiguous feminine theme throughout the movie and the book. The girls think they can achieve freedom through having birth and gaining control over their bodies, but they do not realize that they are still slaves to the child and raising him/her once the baby is born. Iris, in the movie, thinks that running away to New York is her way of escaping, but she finds that she has to be part of a prostitution ring in order to support herself and attain protection from the elements. If anything, the overriding theme is stupidity. These girls felt these were their only escapes, but they did not look at the bottom line. If anything, the movie and the book commented on isolation, selfishness and the notion that no matter what, humans will follow their motives or missions, and once their minds are made up, nothing can stop them.

What has life to give? Everything.

What do people have to give? Nothing.

Human beings. We have so much potential yet we waste it. Life gives us so much yet we throw its gift away. But there are times when other human beings make us realize our purpose, our goals. They help us create them. In the end, we have to help each other to survive. If not, we’ll be running blindly in a maze.

Adam Rapp explores these ideas within his play, The Metal Children, by letting the main character, Tobin Falmouth, travel to Midlothia to passively defend his book, The Metal Children. By having a story within a play, we can see how the events will work out.  The girls take Tobin’s book as an epiphany because they realize that through pregnancy they can achieve freedom. Do we really need to “sacrifice” ourselves to gain “freedom”? Honestly, purposely being impregnated is going too far. The girls may be getting their “freedom,” but, essentially, they are going to be restricted with the births of their children. If that is their “freedom,” let them have it. In addition, the entire time Tobin was in Midlothia helped him to move on because the way the majority of the townspeople acted toward him helped him to create a book – one that is for adults. Furthermore, the conversations with Vera Dundee and Stacey Kinsella help Tobin to open his eyes to the people around him and how they react to things unknown to them. In the end, Tobin slowly moves on as he creates his novel which Bruno says may be a bestseller, but the past comes back. Vera visits Tobin with their baby, something he and Miranda couldn’t have, and it strikes him, hurts him inside because Vera is too focused on her mission. And then Tobin cries. This catharsis releases all the emotion built up inside of him and the reader.

Martin Scorsese, on-the-other-hand, has his protagonist, Travis Bickle in the film, Taxi Driver, to show the ideas. Travis was a veteran of the Vietnam War. His mind has been affected and the world he sees in New York City is trash, especially at night. But later on in the film, after meeting with Betsy and losing her, he realizes that all people are the same. Only the morning hides it behind the light while the darkness exposes the truth of the city. Because of this Travis finds his goal to save a prostitute from her “owners.” He saves her because he believes it right. But was it necessary to kill the pimp, bouncer, and the client? No, he could have done it a different way, but it comes to show you how people will act differently on a killing because of the type of person(s) killed. Before, when Travis shot a black man, nothing happened, but this time he kills three white men and he is taken as a hero. Shows you where our priorities lie.

But one main theme that was expressed throughout both works was FEAR. Fear? Yes, fear. We fear the unknown. We fear the darkness. We fear for our safety. And in our fear, we hurt others. Through our fear we can act ignorantly and cruelly. Fear is what drives our actions. Our fear to be ridiculed causes us to conform. The news drives fear. Fear drives us. Why are we hostile to people with different views? Tobin Falmouth and Stacey Kinsella were harassed and almost killed because of their views. They weren’t forcing their ideas. They were exposing them to it. Betsy feared Travis because of her high status she feared she would lose it. She realized this after being brought to the sex movie.  It is all to the person(s) to decide what to do with the information: ignore it, take it to heart, expand on it, or blow it out of proportion.

Different media, similar stories. Everything can be connected. Life flows from one person to the next. Fear slowly transgresses in the human mind. It affects everyone.

What drives fear? Humans.

What drives humans? Fear.

Nocturne