Jefferson Smith Goes To Washington Analysis

Improved Essays
Mr. Smith goes to Washington
1. How does Jefferson Smith become a senator? Also, compare his characteristics with the other candidates.
Given the difficulty of finding a suitable Senator, just mentioning the name of Jefferson Smith, a young idealist full of innocence and American ideals of democracy, a subject that seems easy to handle and deceive. If Smith already is quite naive, the young man also relies heavily on his colleague, Senator Paine, since he and his father were close friends from youth. For this reason, Paine encourages him to carry forward a draft law on a youth camp funded by children to keep him distracted. Clarissa Saunders is the assistant of Smith, a young and cynical woman who knows all the framework of corruption who which
…show more content…
He then started talking and the free law opened and began to explain law by law which took about 27 hours until a Senator entered letters. Forge said that they should stop everything they are doing since it is worse. Despite that, they continued forward until he fainted, and managed to win the case with the cancellation of the dam project. The speakers purchased by a Senator began to say bad things about Smith that by the will are causing many problems.
4. What does the film say about democracy? After watching the film, how has your view of “democracy” changed?
It can be concluded that there is freedom of expression since Taylor and Pain Senators take advantage of the innocence of Jefferson Smith seeking personal interests. However, Jefferson realized that he was used as a puppet of the Senators Taylor and Pain but at the end of their struggle, Jefferson came out victorious because they realized that he said truth. You must know things without being influenced into the fulfilling of a true democracy and without being used as a puppet of anyone.
5. What is the film trying to say about democracy? Why are no party names such as Democrats or Republicans mentioned in the

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    10. What did you learn from this film? Would you recommend it to others? If so, whom? If not, why?…

    • 235 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States of America. Born in 1743, Jefferson and few others, strongly believed in states’ rights, while others considered that these country should have a strong, powerful central federal government. These conflicts between people led into two different political parties. Thomas being in the Democratic Party, he fought bravely strongly against John Adams, for his presidency. Unfortunately, Jefferson lost his first match he ended being the vice president, but this did not stop him from achieving his dream.…

    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Jefferson’s idealist position here is both powerful and dangerous in that no one can determine how far they might go for freedom nor how far they would go to maintain…

    • 1398 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Thomas Jefferson served as the first Democratic Republican leader of the United States beginning in 1801. His goal, to accomplish the Republican Mission, faced multiple challenges. In rough times, he had to enforce decisions that were against his principles of peace, strict construction, and power given to the government. Jefferson altered his philosophy when he battled Tripoli in 1801, purchased Louisiana without approval from the Congress in 1803, and established the Embargo Act of 1807. One of the main principles of a Jeffersonian was peace.…

    • 499 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The governor of the western state, Hubert Hopper, has to pick a replacement for the deceased U.S. senator Sam Foley. His boss, Jim Taylor, wants him pick his handpicked stooge quickly while popular committees want to reform. Unable to make up his mind between Taylor's stooge and the reformer, he decides to flip a coin which leads him to chose Jefferson Smith. Smith becomes close with his late father's oldest best friend, Senator Joseph Paine, who has a daughter that immediately grabs his attention. The Washington post label his as an unfit senator that won't do any good.…

    • 793 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1. Use at least one theoretical perspective (Functionalist/Pluralist, Conflict/Elite) to analyze the film, Big Sky, Big Money. Which perspective do you think most effectively explains the political dynamics represented in the film? Why?…

    • 708 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Thomas Jefferson was elected to be president in 1801. Jefferson was built to be a political leader. At the age of 26 he sat in the chair of burgesses for six years, he was the governor of Virginia for three years and he also served as secretary of state for three years. Thomas Jefferson’s election as President was “The Revolution of 1800” because he cut back on spending, believed in states rights, and he wanted a small government which many would feel otherwise. Compared to George Washington and John Adams, Thomas Jefferson represented a real revolution.…

    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Raya Mirkheshti, 8C History- Grant “John A - Birth of a Country” Given the fact that the audience will take away from the movie an impression of the historical events or figures portrayed in the story,does the film improve the viewer’s understanding of historical events? Justify your conclusion. (1 to 3 paragraphs)…

    • 1324 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dignity is a quality that one learns that they are worthy of respect and honor. When people are treated like animals all their life, they tend to believe until they learn they have worth. In the novel, A Lesson Before Dying Jefferson, Grant, and Paul are characters who learn about dignity, self-worth and the hope for equality throughout Jefferson’s sentence and execution. Jefferson’s death sentence allows him to accept his own self-worth and helps him realize his value as a human; it also transforms Grant’s cynicism into hope for a better future where he and his community are treated equally.…

    • 1008 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Within the film, you will find a deep and fierce sense of power, stratification, and socialization. The film is a base for sociology that includes functionalism, symbolic interactionism and of course conflict theory. We will…

    • 1528 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The life of Jefferson Davis, is an iconic American story, about military service, government leadership, and the establishment of the Confederate States of America. However, prior to the civil war, Jefferson Davis was a war hero that served a prestigious political career. If the South never succeeded from the Union, history would have remembered Jefferson Davis as a person that was a great political administer, and decisive war hero who proudly served the American Government. However, after Mississippi seceded from the Union, Jefferson Davis resigned from political office, believing that each state had an unquestionable right to secede from the Union.…

    • 1076 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Thomas Jefferson-Leader or Hypocrite? Mihir Palan Thomas Jefferson’s advocacy for equality made him a hypocrite to many, as his alleged sexual affairs with his slave, Sally Hemings, created a strong distaste within individuals of present society. Now, is all this controversy valid, or is it all what Douglas L. Wilson calls presentism?…

    • 1206 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout history philosophers have argued over every topic one could imagine however one of the most explored topics is the rights of citizens. What must those who enter a society under their free will give up to be an active member? Is the government allowed to ask you to give up some of your rights for the betterment of society? Questions such as these and countless more have been answered and debated by philosophers for years. Some of the most prominent arguments have been made by John Stuart Mill and John Locke.…

    • 1161 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Jefferson’s Sons is a historical fiction novel based on the true events of Thomas Jefferson’s life. Jefferson’s Sons describes the lives of Beverly, Harriet, Maddy, and Eston. These are the illegitimate children of Thomas Jefferson, or as he is called in the book: Master Jefferson.…

    • 1373 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Smith speaks not only to the members seated in that room, but to everyone in the world. He expresses the message that now is more than ever crucial to speak up for what we believe in, and to keep in mind your social responsibility to effectively use your voice to speak up for those who need one as it is one of your most powerful tools. He realized that he had refused to speak up in so many instances he may as well remain silent. He recognizes the moments in his past where he himself had failed to speak up for example walking by a friend who was beaten for being homosexual, ignoring a homeless man, keeping quiet while a woman took away his students dignity to his face.…

    • 869 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays