In the movie Ladder 49, the main character, Jack Morrison, struggles between his job as a firefighter and his responsibility as a husband and father. While I do not think that Jack loved his fellow firefighters any more than he loved his wife and children, I do think that he prioritized his job of saving other people's lives above the emotional well being of his family. That is not to say that he did not care about how his job affected his family; I just think he placed more importance on saving people's lives.There is one scene in the film which demonstrates Jack's desire to continue rescuing others. In this scene, Jack survives a potentially fatal situation while he was saving someone's life, and he comes home to find his wife upset after she watched him risk his life on the news. She asks him, "Do you see me right now?" By this question, she is asking if Jack understands that when she gives birth to their child, his job will become even more dangerous in the sense that his death would also affect the child, potentially leaving him/her without a father.
I do think that Jack understands what she is saying and knows that what she is saying is valid, but at the end of the day, I think his job is more important to him. He tells her, "I saved that man today." When he walks away after that statement, he is letting her know that is the most important thing to him.
There is another scene where Jack tries to explain his feelings about his job when he is talking to his son about the injury of his fellow firefighter. His son tells him that he does not want his father to get hurt, and Jack tries to reassure his son that he has been trained to do this job. He says, "We're not afraid because we do it to save people. It's worth it to save people, right?" I think this question sums up Jack's feelings on why he does what he does. He loved his wife and children, and I do not think he placed more importance on his firefighting comrades, but I think to Jack, there was ultimately no better feeling than saving another person's life.
1 comment:
Very good blog. The two scenes you have chosen to discuss reveal that, while Jack loves his family, he feels calledmto risk his life to save others. That important distinction framesmthe whole movie. Jack's wife and son think he can simply give up the risks form them, but Jack sees the issue differently. He has accepted an almost sacred responsibility, and must no shirk his duty.
Post a Comment