Prejudice In Gran Torino

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Race Relations within a Diverse Community The United States has been culturally diverse and unfortunately plagued with prejudice. Gran Torino analyzes how a man who went from majority to minority in the community views his changing world and adapts to the introduction of gangs, discrimination, and acceptance. The introduction of gangs leads to division within the community and creates a conflict Walt has not experienced before. Walt is already a very opinionated man when it comes to other races and gang violence only adds to his prejudice. He associates gang activity as being normal and accepted by the respective race instead of considering that this is behavior of a few individuals and not the entire community. This influences his language …show more content…
Transition to Thao fixing up the neighborhood as repayment for attempting to steal from Walt and there is a reversal of the teaching role. Now Walt teaches Thao about American culture and how to be a man. Thao’s life becomes better after this as he gets physically stronger, a job, and a girlfriend. Thao was now becoming the man he wished to be but was never able to accomplish. Walt’s teachings impacted Thao in a similar way to how Sue’s teachings impacted Walt as it helped both of them be a better person. Representation is the meaning of the concepts in our mind through language, (Hall 13) now the racial slur microaggressions Walt used before towards Thao are not meant with hate but rather in the same way he would refer to his barber as a “Jew,” or the construction manager as a “drunken, Irish bastard.” Walt is talking to Thao like he would another man instead of the prejudiced stereotype he had before. The way Walt uses these words is a verbal expression of how it is represented in his mind, which is not fueled by racism anymore. Walt and Thao now accept one another for their differences and have connected through the combination of their cultures. Walt becomes more than just a teacher to Thao as he transitions to a guardian physically and financially. Physically, Walt has taught Thao to act like a man and retaliates when the Hmong gang harasses him. Financially, Walt provided tools for success, both literally and figuratively, to Thao who would not have been able to afford them otherwise. Thao used more than just meritocracy to succeed, (McNamee and Miller 239) he inherited those tools and later also inherited a car he previously did not have from Walt. Walt’s guardian role allowed Thao to raise himself from a place he was essentially stuck in due to his life situation. Walt and Father Janovich also have a similar relationship to what Walt and Thao had. Walt teaches the Father about death while Janovich teaches Walt about life and

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