Jim Starks
A Character examination by (Mr.) Komrade "KillJoy" Buchino
Traits
Confused
-Doesn't know why he does some of what he does... Impulse.
-His father isn't a strong masculine figure.
-He's moved so much with his parents, he can't settle down.
Ashamed
-He got drunk to try to pass the discomfort.
-Can't stand up for himself when e first meets Judy.
-His fathers inability to stand up for himself angers him.
"The Bigger Man"
-Tries to avoid the knife fight.
-He tries to go to the police after Buzz's death.
-He tried to go to the police, and really did want to talk... but the officer wasn't in, and they ignored him.
Family
Throughout the story, Jim suffers the problems his mother, father, and grandma present. They don't understand his problems and he just doesn't know how to voice his problems to them. On top of this his father isn't really in any way masculine, he wore a darn dress while his wife was out in one of the scenes.
When he made the dumb decision to participate in the chickie run, and when he told his parents, he couldn't believe the seemingly cowardice of his mother, and how his father wouldn't stand up for himself.
A HARD LESSON
At the end of the movie Jim doesn't learn one specific lesson, but many that will help him understand the world around him, and allow him to survive the around him. His parents also learn how he feels about the world, and they can see part of it through his eyes. So they learn as well.
Symbology
I believe that the Chickie run represented how, when something can be going so well, something that seems like it could improve things just ruins everything. In that this calamity happened just when Jim started to be seen as a possible friend of the gang.
The point
I believe the story was meant to portray the changing society, and how it is so difficult for society to understand our newer generations. Though we may try to understand, it is difficult to get what someone feels.
"Why did his family influence him?"
His Family scared him to put it bluntly, when his mother was more of a masculine figure than his father, when his family didn't understand that the world works differently from the cowards game.