The American Dream In Finding Forrester

Dreams are something everyone has, they can be easy to find, or they can be one of the hardest things one can endure. In the movie “Finding Forrester” we look into Jamal Wallace's life, and his dreams of not only becoming an incredible writer and basketball star, but also being accepted by his peers. Despite living in a bad neighborhood and going to a run down school, Jamal is offered to go to a high end private high school, but to keep a social status with his friends, he takes on a dare to break into “the windows” apartment, known as the neighborhood stalker’s home. While in the apartment, the window awakens and Jamal quickly escapes. He lived his backpack with all of his journals with his writings in the apartment, which he does later receive …show more content…
Jamals teacher, Miss Joyce, is supportive of Jamal and all of his achievements. She is the one who tells Jamal's mother, his principle, and the high school about Jamal's outstanding test scores. “The turning point occurs when an exclusive Manhattan prep school recruits Jamal for his academic achievement.” (Levy, 2000, p. 1). With all the support from his school and Jamal's effort to make himself look good for the college, his dream becomes closer and closer into a reality. Jamals dream of being a writer seems difficult because of the kind of education that his school offers. But, When Jamal connects with William, which movielocity claims him to be “a mentor who will challenge and change him forever” ( 2001, p. 1). His writings and confidence improve immensely. William always offers to help Jamal write and how to make his appearance look like he is a confident writer to Professor Crawford. With the help and support, dreams can become easy to achieve and a reality with help and support from …show more content…
Jamal is hesitant around William, and before their encounter never thought of going into his apartment. “Jamal agrees to not reveal Forrester's whereabouts in return for his instructions in the craft of writing.” (Berardinelli, 2000, p. 1). When in Williams apartment, Jamal receives all of the amazing writing instructions and his writing has never been better. Jamals dream of being the writer he wants to be is made into a reality with help coming from a place he would have never imagined. Jamal gets to continue his dream in the intimidating place of Professor crawfords classroom. The classroom felt as a place where he could not let his dream come out, but in an argument that Jamal and Crawford get into about their knowledge of literature. “Jamal humiliates Crawford in class by demonstrating that he seems to have memorized the entirety of Bartlett's familiar quotations” (Holden, 2000, p. 3). This incident lets Crawford know that Jamal’s dream is something he wants, and needs in order to be successful, and he is going to continue it to make it his reality. During these times we learn that in the most unexpected places, dreams can be a reality with a positive