A
fall from fortune is a common tragedy and archetype seen in many novels and
movies. Mystic River depicts this tragedy with several characters. Dave is one of these characters that experience
a downfall. Although Dave is not really considered prosperous or successful, his
fall from fortune involves his loss of innocence, dignity, and ultimately his
life. Most novels portray a downfall of a person’s life to be a direct flaw in
the character’s traits and actions. In The
Odyssey, Odysseus’s pride leads to his ten year journey and loss of all his
soldiers. In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo’s
fear of failure results in his son’s departure. As for Dave, his weakness is the
trust he has for the wrong people. In the beginning of the movie, Dave believed
that the child molesters were actual “cops” and followed them into their car. As
a result, Dave was sexually abused and lost his innocence after the traumatizing
experience.
Sadly, Dave did not learn from his
past actions as a child. When Jimmy’s henchmen asked Dave to come get a drink,
he trusted them and went to the bar. Little did Dave know that they had the
intention to hurt him. Just as the child molesters lured Dave and killed his
innocence, Jimmy and his gang are going to take his life. Another reason that
this incident occurred was his lack of trust for the right people, like his
wife and Sean. If Dave had told his wife the genuine truth, she might not have falsely
told Jimmy that he murdered Katie. If Sean was informed about the dead child
molester, it would provide evidence that Dave did not fabricate the story about
the rapist. Dave did not have a second chance to reclaim himself. This fall from fortune
was his last downfall, and
it was a direct consequence from his own actions and decisions.
It's interesting how you recognized the archetypal "downfall" in all of those works and how they relate. Extending even more from this idea, I find it so interesting how Shakespeare also utilizes the downfall so keenly. The downfall seems to be the propeller of the main characters' deaths in a Shakespearean tragedy. Romeo and Juliet's rebellion, desperation, and naivetè leads to their demise as well.
ReplyDeleteI do not necessarily agree with your statement that it was Dave's own fault. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place all his life - listen to Jimmy/lose his friends; go with the "cops"/risk the law; admit to murder/risk looking like Katie's murderer. There was never a clear path for Dave to take, he always had to guess at what his best course of action was. When fate is left to the flip of a coin, how can one be blamed for erratic actions?
ReplyDeleteDave definitely was very naïve when it came to trusting the right people. I don't think it was his fault that he thought the molesters were cops, or that he accepted the offer for drinks. He didn't purposely chose to lack trust in certain people. I think Dave was emotionally corrupt in a way, like James said, the "direct consequence" was more like fate.
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