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Essay on West Side Story

Decent Essays

West Side Story
Day 4: 2-page essay

The West Side Story portrays the lives of two different gangs living in America, as well as their beliefs and examples of living a good life. The expectations of what people consider the good life to be may vary on a person’s morals and their dreams of what life is truly about. In this movie, whether or not these characters were good people, lived a good life, or lived in a good society is a very controversial topic.
The characters of the West Side Story were not good people. The two gangs focused their lives on fighting with each other rather than attempting to get along and accept the differences between them. The gangs did not have any …show more content…

Although the characters believed they lived a good life, in my own perspective I saw the exact opposite. The good life is demonstrated through success, success through a career, education, goals, and love. The gangs only had one another and without the support of that gang, these boys would not exist as individual human beings. The Jets did not want to have jobs, and they mocked the ex-gang member, Tony, for leaving the gang to make a future for himself. Life outside the gang was not an option for the Jets. None of the boys had any future plans or felt the need for anything else in their lives. Tony did not live the good life, but he did have dreams. He knew there was a better life for him out there, and parting from the gang allowed him to search for that life. He wanted to get away from the city, have a peaceful home, and a wonderful wife. His future was important to him; he wanted to be a successful man. Tony’s character contradicts the beliefs of the Jets, allowing viewers to see into the minds of the gang members and their beliefs about the good life.
The West Side Story did not demonstrate a good society, either. The people outside the gang did not help to lead these kids in the right direction. The gangs learned to be negative towards one another, because people of higher authority did the same, such as the

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