Mili Kakadiya

Nov. 19, 14
English 30-1 P2

Goals
Determination to achieve a goal can make people independent. Their fervour leads them
to gain freedom from relationships and expectations of others. In the film, The Life of
David Gale directed by Alan Parker, a reputed academic scholar decides to change the
course of his life around in order to pursue his goal of ending capital punishment. David
Gale makes calculated decisions of which the consequences he is aware of. His character
is conveyed through a dream catcher that displays his values and beliefs. Through the
means of David Gale, Parker reveals; many people have such zeal to fulfill their goals
that they are willing to give up their life. When a person does not have any splendour left
to live for in his life, he may chose to dedicate himself to a particularly passionate cause
through thoroughly planned, and examined choices.
The film sets out the idea that David Gales dream is to end capital punishment
early off. He is shown to be continuously protesting and debating with high profile
politicians to bring some change to this matter. His dream is to let positive results come
from his work and filter out the bad. In the character portrait, this quality of David is
represented through a dream catcher. He himself is the dream catcher for capital
punishment. The purpose of it is to filter out the bad dreams and lets good ones through
the holes. The different colours of threads represent how he tries to get these bad
dreams caught by showing the world that there are huge flaws in the system of capital
punishment.

Mili Kakadiya
Nov. 19, 14
English 30-1 P2
Leadership, purity and endurance can help a person become one step close to
what he or she may be aiming for. The ring of the dream catcher is black and woven with
different colours of thread. The black represents Gales impending death because of an
accused rape and murder. Through its means he is shown with qualities of leadership,
and endurance. At the beginning of the film only a few people were supporting his goals,
however he took the role of being a leader to the few and tried to protest many deaths by
going to the death sentence and protesting outside. He once again shows that a person
must independently become a leader in order achieve their goals. This trait is represented
in the portrait through the red thread woven through the dream catcher. Red is a colour of
leadership and being bold. Without taking the initiative to lead these people in the right
direction, he may not have been able to give inspiration to continue with his cause. Also,
he shows the quality of endurance; David is able to endure through the pain of parting
from his son and also being in jail. At the end, when he is given the last meal of his
choice, he wants exactly the meal that his son loves, showing he can endure to leave his
son behind, however David takes his sons memories with him. The green thread woven
through the dream catcher is to show this quality of David Gale since it is a colour that
represents endurance. All of these threads are woven on the dream catcher because they
represent how David uses these qualities to catch the flaws in capital punishment within
these threads and let positive results through. By using these qualities of his, David Gale
becomes one more step closer to his goal.
Whenpeopleareindependentfromrelationshipsandexpectationtheybeginto
showpurityandrespect.Duringmanyoftheexperienceshehashadinhislifebeforehis

Mili Kakadiya
Nov. 19, 14
English 30-1 P2
imprisonment,heisshowntobeapure,andrespectfulcharacter.WhenBerlintriesto
persuadehimbysayingthatIddoanythingtopass,herepliesbysayingTellyou
what,I'llgiveyougoodgrade,areallygoodgrade,ifyouwill...study.Heknowsthata
sexualrelationshipbetweenastudentandateacheriscompletelyinappropriateand
knowingsohestaysawayfromit.Also,heispureinthesensethathehasnoteverdone
anythingwrong.PeoplemayviewhisrelationshipwithBerlinafterwardstobewrong,
butshewasnothisstudentafterandhejusthadasmallmomentofweakness.Hehasthe
samekindofrespectforhisgoals;hedoesnottakeanydecisionsthatmaypotentially
jeopardizehisgoal.Inthedreamcatcherthisattributeisshownthroughthewhitestring
aswhiteisasymbolofpurityandrespect.Inthewhitestringthereisalsoasmallblue
bead.ThebeadrepresentsBitseyBloom.Sheiswovenintothewhitestringbecauseshe
iscaughtupinattemptingtoproveDavidinnocent.However,throughherweseethe
Davidsqualityofmanipulation,hemanipulatesBitseyintothinkingthatDavidis
innocentasapartofhisdevisedplan.HedoesnotintendforBitseytofreehim,hewants
tobekilledtofulfillhisgoal.ManipulatingBitseywasthekeytomakingthewholeplan
work,ifshewouldhavefoundthetapesearlier,Davidmighthavebeenletfreeand
peoplewouldforgethiswholetrialinafewdays.
Through David Gale we understand an important message conveyed in the film,
he shows that in order to achieve a goal, you must follow through it alone. Even though
Constance, Dusty, and he are involved in the plan, at the end he is left completely alone.
Davids trait of strong will helps him follow through this plan; in the end when Bitsey

Mili Kakadiya
Nov. 19, 14
English 30-1 P2
find the tape she sees that David [died] knowing that the key to [his] freedom was
inside of [him] all along, (The Life of David Gale, 2003). His trait of strong will is
shown in the portrait through the image of a dandelion hanging off of the circle of the
dream catcher. Just like David Gale, a dandelion is persistent on blowing away and only
does so after great force has been applied to it. David Gale is extremely persistent on
ruining his plan to prove a flaw in the system of capital punishment, and only after being
sentenced to death he accepts his punishment and dies for the mission to achieve his
goal. David Gales strong will and sense of independence results in his goal being
completed successfully.

ThroughDavidweseethatinorderforagoaltobeachievedapersonmustbe
abletoputalloftheirqualitiesintoplaceandapplythemknowingtheconsequences.Ifa
personisreallydeterminedtoachieveagoaltheymustworkveryhard.Heorsheneeds
tobeabsolutelydeterminedtothecauseandcreateaplanaccordingly.Strongwill,
determinationandrespectforacausecaninducepositiveresults.However,apersonmust
bepureatheartandtakerighteousdecisions.AlanParkerdemonstratesallofthesetraits
throughonepersoninthefilmandconveysthatachievingagoalisapersonalinitiative
wherehelpfromothersshouldnotbetakenunlessitiscompletelynecessary.