Frank Abagnale: An Outlaw Hero

Frank Abagnale shined because of his great capacity to cheat and elude authoritarian figures such as police officers, bankers, and corporations. Another of the requirements to be an outlaw hero is “the outlaw hero outwits, eludes, and escapes the authorities, usually with flair, often in disguise” (Seal, 74). Leonardo DiCaprio, who represented Frank Abagnale in the movie Catch Me If You Can have said “I was playing a great actor… But his stage was the real world. He's somebody that for whatever reason puts people at ease” (DiCaprio). One of his most representative characteristics was to be too smart. He used his intelligence in order to distract people and put them in the place where he wants them to be. The way he acted, and the way he managed …show more content…
He was arrested in Montpellier, France, and got a sentence of one year, which he had to serve in Perpignan’s prison where he lost everything. His imprisonment in France was awful because he spent six months in total darkness. He wasn’t able to talk to anyone; he was sleeping on the hard floor, and living in his own waste. Frank said “[It] was not a term in prison, it was an ordeal designed to destroy the mind and the body” (Abagnale). This point of his life can be described as a rebirth. Although Frank Abagnale did not die, the punishment that he received in France was destroying his soul and mind. He had no one to visit him and he realized that he was alone in the world. Frank’s punishment buried him alive because he was literally dying in a cell. As Seal stated “The outlaw hero dies bravely and defiantly” (Seal, 75). His imprisonment was a very important step in his outlaw life because it carried shame, regret, and the moral debate of his acts. This character knew what he was doing was morally bad, and it would end with drastic outcomes. After six months living under those conditions, he received the notice that he was going to be extradited to Sweden. In Sweden his life improved, as a result the willing to end his outlaw life was closer to his mind, but unfortunately he received another extradition noticed to Italy. The stories that he heard about Italian …show more content…
After been released with a parole, Frank Abagnale got several jobs, but none of them fulfilled his desires. He knew that all the knowledge he acquired about checks was useful, and one day he offered a capacitation to bank employees about fraudulent checks. The only condition was that if the manager thought that it was useful he will give him fifty dollars plus recommend him to others bank managers. At the end, the manager recommended him to several more, and those to other managers. As many people stated “Abagnale is known as one of the world's most respected authorities on check fraud, embezzlement and secure documents. He has developed new procedures… utilized by over 14,000 financial institutions, law enforcement agencies and corporations” (Abagnale & Associates). The sharing of his knowledge is what make him to be heroic. Seal stated “[the] outlaw hero may be said to have escaped the showdown… or other manner of death and to have lived on elsewhere in secure obscurity” (Seal, 75). This decision operated as a redemption to pay the community back for his crimes. Actually he is the one that improved the standards of check fabrication, money standards, and many other things. Also, thanks to him a lot of bank’s policies of change, which is favorable because it gives financial security to every individual.