At one point Chris Jr. and his father fancifully imagine that the scanner is a time machine, and Chris Sr. uses this as an opportunity to distract his son from their dire circumstances. They pretend that they have traveled back to prehistoric times and must seek refuge from the marauding dinosaurs. This imaginative playfulness belies the fact that they must spend the night in a subway station bathroom, one of the more touching scenes in the film.
But the scanner truly is a "time machine" in a metaphorical sense. When Gardner has finally sold the final machine, he describes it as an injection of "four more weeks" of oxygen. The sale of the machines, cashing in on their capital value, represents much needed time to complete the critically important internship at Dean Witter.
Absent from the movie are traditional hallmarks of liberal criticism of the market economy: Gardner's story is one that occurs within an America conceived as a meritocracy rather than one defined by racism or class struggle.
All of the rich white characters in the film, with one possible exception, treat Gardner with respect, fairness, and dignity, even compassion. And Gardner does in fact fight against poverty, but he does so within a context that ultimately rewards his hard work and intelligence. While there are striking images that display the contrast between rich and poor, Gardner's financial success as a stockbroker is actually dependent upon the creation of wealth through entrepreneurship and enterprise in the stock market.
The Pursuit of Happyness succeeds as a broad meditation on the themes of liberty and justice articulated in The Declaration of Independence. In an ironic twist on Jefferson's conception of the role of government, Gardner quotes the language of the first draft of the Declaration (which ultimately was not adopted), that speaks about the "disturbers of our harmony."
The greatest disturber of Gardner's harmony and the largest obstacle in his pursuit of happiness turns out to be the government itself, when it seizes $600 from Gardner's bank account for overdue taxes, leaving him with less than $25. It is at this point in the story when Gardner and son are finally evicted from their last hotel room and must seek refuge in the beds of the Christian mission's homeless shelter.
Gardner is understandably and perhaps justifiably incensed: "That's my money! They can't just take it!" The desperation in Gardner's character is as much a result of his devotion to his son and his valiant efforts to meet his parental responsibilities as anything else. When Chris' wife leaves the family for New York, he repeats emphatically of his son, "Christopher is staying with me."
Article comments
1 - Kristen
hey there i did not read the book but i seen the movie and it was good. Yeah i have to do a book report and it had to be a non fiction one so i picked this book and i am getting different information! yeah the book is different from the movie. Does anyone now any websites that are good to get a good summary of this book! please i need to help! i really do not want to do this but i do not know what to say!
2 - Grayling Johnson
I was putting off seeing the movie but when I finally seen the movie which my wife had told me several times in day and in my sleep, I was so tearful I could not loook at my kids. I did not want them to see their strong unemotional man tender and humanistic side! Now, will show this movie to my co-workeers at the city and state level in Baltimore Maryland. This movie proved to me that "It is never too late to be what you might have"...George Eliot.