Depiction of Hardships in Life in Finding Forrester

Throughout life it is easy to get into a rut, while you procrastinate changing your bad habits, however once you take the opportunities presented it might just change you forever. Changes may appear in unexpected ways, sometimes starting gradually, while others are sudden. This evolution is presented in the film Finding Forrester, directed by Gus Van Sant. As the movie unravels, it displays William Forester as a previously world renowned author, ending up mentoring Jamal Wallace with his literary skills. As he helps the young boy, William develops a relationship with him and begins to learn and understand life long lessons that change his life forever. These alterations in William can be displayed through the developmental changes within his characteristics.

Initially, William Forester is the type of man that no one wants to either become or associate with, as he lives a shut in life. Forrester was known to be a mysterious old man that stared down at the world around from his apartment above. He observed life instead of living his own life to the fullest because of his social anxiety. The only person that ever came and left his forgotten home was a businessman that dropped off his medications, laundry, groceries, and other essential supplies the old man may have needed. With these weekly deliveries, William Forrester never needed to leave his apartment, in which demonstrates isolation cutting himself off from the rest of the world. With the one regular visitor being a man with parcels, it is understandable that Forrester finds himself with no friends indicating that he is a hermit. With his undesirable and unadventurous life, he has become a grumpy man, displayed when he slams his front door in Jamal’s face and yells at him from inside. The movie highlights three bolts on his apartment door, implying that he is a protective man. During his self inflicted confinement he is alone and selfishly keeps his intellectual talents to himself instead of sharing his writing with the world, valuing privacy rather than exposure. This introversion is shown when he would not answer any of Jamal’s personal questions asked unless it had educational relevance. Their conversations were of serious nature, showing little tolerance for jokes or basketball dribbling in his apartment. William Forester was an old man that lived in the past. His house was his life, each corner was full of old fashion, dark, dull, brown atmosphere that portrayed how dull and boring he was inside.

However, William’s life was taken for a twist that brought opportunities knocking at his door. Previously Forrester published a book for himself, however when the public viewers started to criticize the book trying to interpret his words, he was discouraged and got mad at the world. He decided to stop publishing his work as he shut himself away from the world so that no one could pester him anymore. For years, no one other than a man dropping off parcels embarked into his life, emphasized by the neighborhood teenagers discussing the mysterious man in the apartment. Exaggerating on details about the man in the “window” and how no one knows anything about him. When Forrester discovered a teenager rummaging through his stuff in the middle of the night, he startles the burglar changing his predictable daily routine. The teenager was in a panic that he left his backpack behind, as he decides to run away, which contained his journals full of writing. As William reads each of the books, he edits them as he writes all over the pages. Forrester did not know it then, however he had sparked a connection and some curiosity for the teenager once he read Jamal’s literature. Once he tossed the backpack onto the street from his window Jamal took his backpack, noticed the edits, and came knocking on William Forrester’s door. After William yelled at the teenager, he still came back, leaving writing for him at the front door. Even after Forrester continuously yelling at Jamal, the teenager, for being at his apartment he still did not leave him alone. Still he kept coming back and was persistent to talk to Forrester. The teenager was giving him the opportunity to step out of his little box that he was living in and help someone else. Jamal was interfering with William’s life because he didn’t want anyone nosing around in his personal life; he believes that without people’s contact he could just go through life and not feel pain. He was just fine before Jamal came into his life while he encouraged William to leave his house as he talks about observing the birds outside instead of through his window. Once the two gentlemen got to know each other Jamal consistently challenging William to go into the outside world persuading him to come to a basketball game. As they are walking into the busy crowd before the game, William had a panic attack with the amount of people, the noise, and the stress of losing Jamal for a couple of minutes. As the evening continues you, see that just leaving his front door was stressful for him, as it was so different to his isolated routine. Jamal challenged Forrester to join him at a basketball game through lots of effort, he got him out. Repetitively shown during the story it taught how to write by William. When Jamal submits a paper using Forrester’s beginning he got into trouble with the school and the issue of fraud. When Jamal asked him to help him get out of the mess, it increases the pressure for Forrester to leave his house once again. If Forrester would talk in front of Jamal’s English class the whole issue that Jamal is caught in would be cleared up. The only way to save his friend would be to leave his private comfortable life behind and talk in front of many people having to display lots of courage on Forrester’s behalf.

Consequently, because of all of Forrester’s dilemmas he made a positive step in his life. With Jamal continuously coming to his house, it allowed for William to start to mentor him with writing, in which influenced Forrester in a positive aspect. As they become closer, he struggles opening up to Jamal only asks questions that are not about his personal life. William avoids his past life, however once he started to trust Jamal he started to open up about his life. He actually went to a basketball game instead of just watching it on a TV, made William go out of his house. When Jamal got in trouble with the school William decided to leave his house, on his own and bike to the school where he spoke in front of students and professors. This took great courage for him to stand up for his friend. Once he clears up Jamal’s troubles with school, he does not go back to his lonesome house; instead, he decides to return to Scotland; to his homeland, where he has been dreaming about returning to. There he lives life to the fullest and passed away. William Forrester’s last achievement in life was when he sent a manuscript to Jamal to publish for him, overcoming his bitterness towards the reaction he got on his world-renowned book. He was willing with having people criticize his book and ideas.

Finally, through Forrester’s ups and downs that he went through he changed his life so that he would be happy once again. He opened himself up to the world and stepped out of his lonesome house to embrace the adventures that were waiting for him. Instead of reading books and staying inside all day, he took his bike out and biked around the city becoming youthful once again. After he went to Jamal’s school, standing up for his friend, he showed how loyal and brave he had become. William fulfilled his dream of going back to Scotland. Before, Forrester would watch his life go by, but instead he participated in it and loved every moment of it. The final will of Forrester was that Jamal would receive his house to Jamal Wallace after his passing. This act of kindness showed that he changed from the inside out. He did not sell the house so that he could squander the profits in his final days, instead he gives all that he had left to his true friend, Jamal, who had shown him how to live once again. He gave a thankful gift that represents how grateful he was on getting his life back so that he could live to his dying day a life that is living.

Life is a full of hardships and challenging for all people, however some people stay at the same constant routine throughout their life for way too long because of the past it is not a health lifestyle. People forget to keep living life even after horrible moments occur in their life. It is to know, however old you may be you are never too old to start living once again. This was presented as William Forrester changed his characteristic and ways through the encounter with Jamal Wallace leaving the past behind and living every day as his last.