Curtis Everett Character Analysis

Curtis Everett is a character study in the phrase "desperate times call for desperate measures". He is always willing to take drastic action, whatever it may be, to ensure his own survival and the survival of his revolution. So much of Curtis' life is fueled by desperation -- in fact the whole revolution is one giant, drastic act of desperation: for a new life; for a change to the status quo; for, in many ways, an entirely new world. When first we see him, he could be considered warm -- kind, even, as he interacts with Timmy -- but throughout the movie that image of him is deconstructed as you see the ruthless person he can become. Never is this more apparent than when he tells his story to Nam at the end of the movie, admitting that he's eaten other human beings, and that babies taste best. However, that's not the only time it's clear that he's not exactly a good person -- he left Edgar to die when it came down to saving him or having the opportunity to continue the revolution, and he shot Mason in cold blood for no reason other than he was angry at them for Franco Sr killing Gilliam. Rage, in fact, is a …show more content…
There's nothing more human than the guilt he feels over what he's done, after all, and he certainly feels a lot of it. For Curtis, that self-loathing is omnipresent, and it affects every facet of his life -- it could easily be assumed that he took an interest in Edgar as a way to atone for trying to kill his mother, and he refuses the leadership position he clearly already occupies out of shame over what he's done, as well as what he's not done. He expresses to Gilliam that he can't be a leader because he has two good arms, revealing his guilt over being unable to cut off his limbs to feed others back during the first months on the