American History X BY saku2300 Summary: American History X Derek Vinyard is paroled after being in prison for three years. The reason for prisoning is because of the murder of two thieves, who tried to steal his truck. Through a flash-back, his brother Daniel “Danny’ had, we learned about Derek’s life. Derek was a leader of skinheads in L. A. and their white Nazi gang violently terrorized the opposite races. Derek’s actions had a very big influence on his younger brother, Daniel, who looked up to him and tried to follow in his brother’s footsteps.
Derek’s time in prison opened his eyes and made him realize that in every race there can be ood and bad. He somehow got enlightened and saw another road in his life. He Just had to convince Danny, that there is another way to live, and another way to look at things. That way he wouldn’t end up as he did, Just because of all his hatred and ignorance. Derek’s father got killed by a minority while he was in duty, which is why Derek’s vision started to blur and he believed everything he got told from his dad. At the end, Derek’s message was clear, and it finally reached Danny.
Overall Characterization: Vinyard family. The movie American History X tells us the story of a torn apart family, by racism, atred and blindness. The two main characters in the Vinyard family who are wreaking havoc between their families are the two brothers, Derek and Danny. These two become the focused characters in the movie. Character analysis of: Derek Vinyard. Derek is a skinhead in the age of 20-30s and is very serious in his beliefs. He’s a well- educated and smart man who’s blindly being brainwashed and drawn into this world of racial hatred.
His childhood was based on lies, because of his father who tried to convince him about the minorities “Negros/Thugs” being bad people and a menace to society. After hearing the trash-talk from his father, he turned out to be a little skeptical who he hangs out with. After his father got killed, by drug dealers, Derek believed in everything he got told and therefore started to form his own gang which concludes the beliefs of Nazis and dedicated his life to the Nazis. Tattoos, skin bald, toughness and raised head full of confidence, those are the marks of the skinhead members lead by Cameron Alexander and Derek Vinyard.
They have their own rules and form for Justice for racial people. The motivation that drove Derek into the world of racism was mainly his father’s fault. In the beginning of the first flash-back it’s shown how everyone is sitting at the table, eating dinner. By that time his father was alive, and we get to know how his personality and what his thoughts were like. Young Derek got interviewed about how he feels after his father’s death, where he speaks up from his heart about the parasites in his society, “Well, this countrys becoming a heaven for criminals, so what do you expect?
Decent hard-working Americans like my dad are getting rubbed out by social parasites. ” All of Derek’s hatred and sadness, all of his emotions are unleashed into wrath against the parasites of the society. He mentions his father’s work, how he used to be such a good person, a firefighter, a savior, who’s murdered by a minority. The reporter questioned him about the meaning of “Parasites” and he replied “Blacks, browns, yellow, whatever. ” His hatred is slowly started to build up from this point, where he blames the racial problems to be the reason for his father’s death.
He killed two thugs who tried to steal his car, by shooting one of them and making the other putting his mouth on the curb. Characterization and tale of: Daniel “Danny’ Vinyard. Daniel Vinyard acts as the narrative of the story both at the start and at the end of he movie. Daniel is the younger brother of Derek, who also seems to be following his older brother’s footsteps. Daniel is a stubborn teenager with bad habits, but when he really takes his time, he has potential to be something.
He’s a skin head Just like his older brother, who he really idolizes and sees him as a hero. Daniel is trying to be just like Derek, and therefore he’s trying to impress him by showing him these racist actions, and how tough he is. After his older brother got thrown in Jail, Danny started to hang out with Derek’s old friends, one of them was Seth. Seth was very racist and isliked every race except the white people. He tried so hard to influence Daniel to hate every single race except the white, by videotaping him and asking him questions, such as “Who do you hate Danny, why.? When Daniel answered his question, and saying some of them are alright, Seth raised his voice and said that none of them was right, and they are a bunch of freeloaders. Derek came back home after 3 years, and told Danny about his new epiphany. Danny freaked out and did not believe anything, and thought he was crazy. Daniel went to Cameron’s party, which Derek strictly told him not to. He witnessed Derek causing chaos and threatening veryone, and then he took Danny and ran off.
Daniel was an arrogant and stubborn child, had a temper and always wanted to show his “White power” against the black people. Daniel opened his eyes once Derek told him the truth, and everything he had experienced. The last quote he used to finish his essay was: “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. ” 0 http:// www. goodreads. com/quotes/31631 -we-are- be
