American History X

A detailed Summary of American History X

Synopsis: The shower scene takes place in Derek's' bathroom in his mothers' apartment after he gets out of jail.

As the scene opens we see Derek's hand on the showerhead and the soundtrack is inspiring us to feel his pain and sorrow with slow whimsical strings and a distant piano. There is diagetic sound of the shower very low and in almost hidden under the score. As the water rushes over Derek's head I get the sense that he is trying to wash something away, something like his horrible past. But also, I get the sense that he is able to take some comfort in the water.

Next we get a quick cut to a flashback of Derek and Danny (his brother) as children on a beach with the waves and the sound of Pelicans in the low background as the score goes on with the intense sorrow. We see Derek chasing after the younger Danny as he runs away from him. To me it symbolizes how Derek is forever looking out for Danny and how he is able to influence him by grabbing his hand and showing him the way. Danny is in the foreground and Derek is seen in the background so I can assume that Derek thinks of his brothers needs before his own.

We get another fast cut to Derek holding Danny's hand and walking

Then we get an interesting shot of Derek running from the waves again on the beach. I felt this was a great way to show that the water was a fear, a fear of washing away the unknown. And in the foreground there is a single bird on the beach that flies away, I felt that the bird symbolized his younger brother slipping away from him because he was afraid of what the water could do. We sense Derek's fear of being baptized by the waves, and the fear of cleansing away what is unbeknownst to him.

The next cut is to the pelicans flying around and I feel it means that the birds know no sense of hatred or fear of what lies ahead for them. They know no discrimination. And the scene cuts back to Danny looking at them smiling at there beauty and their grace as they fly together, I assume as he sees himself and his family together. Another cut shows two pelicans of them flying together and one fly's out of view as one stays in the shot. I really liked this because I attributed it to Derek and Danny and how their paths changed course and there was no real logic to it except that, we are all influenced by different things in our lives and our path is not set. Even when we are together something can make our path change.

him towards the water. I get the feeling that he is trying to insure some faith in his brother that the water is nothing to fear, so that we can assume the future is not to be feared either. Then the cut goes to Danny smiling into the sun, his face is bright and the camera is up close. I wonder if Danny is looking at the beauty of the earth and the wonder of what lies ahead. Seeing that he is a child we can assume that he knows

Some common words found in the essay are:
Derek Danny, Scene Synopsis, lies ahead, danny looking, shower scene, derek danny, fear lies ahead, cut pelicans flying, water fear, pelicans flying, cut pelicans, life child, derek running, fear lies,

Approximate Word count = 1119
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous