Behind The Gun Symbols

Behind the Gun Guns are very prevalent in the film, Miller’s Crossing, and the novel, Legs, by William Kennedy. Both of these works revolve around the prohibition era and the formulation of gangs and gangsters. It is obvious that these weapons symbolize the underworld, but there is more behind the gun itself. Guns can symbolize multiple ideas like power, dominance over someone, tough decisions, etc. They are also seen to be phallic symbols. Guns can be quite deadly when in the wrong hands, but are also weapons of justice and law. These weapons give the user the ability to kill or show their own mercy.
Tom Reagan and Jack Diamond live lives that are in constant need of protection. For this reason they both carry firearms along side of them. …show more content…
In the film, this is predominantly seen when Leo unloads almost an entire clip from his Tommy gun into the man trying to kill him in his house and the car. When Leo shoots the man in the house, he shoots him close to thirty times, even though he could of killed him with very few. Then a car started to fire at him and he kept on firing his gun at the car until it exploded. Leo holding the trigger down and not letting go shows how the gun showed his superiority to these men. He stood his ground and used the gun to show others that he is not to be messed with.
In the novel, superiority and dominance is seen when Jack not only uses his gun for violent reasons but for persuasion. As seen in chapter six, Jack tortures Streeter in different ways to get him to tell him where the still is. Jack shoots bullets past the head of Streeter to hopefully get the information out of him. Jack uses other tactics as well, but remains unsuccessful. He eventually lets him go showing his human side. Even though he let him go however, he had the upper hand and had the decision to let him live or die because he had the gun. Jack had the power to choose his