MAN AGAINST THE WORLD: TAXI DRIVER

 Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver  (1976) focuses on the antagonism between man and the modern society. Taxi Driver’s Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) portrays an aversion for the world in which he lives. A former civil servant, Travis Bickle settles into a life of self- imposed alienation and is further resigned to socially subversive behaviours. The subject of his writings translates his frustration with the pervading physical and moral decadence of his time. Scorsese's film examines the mind of a marginalized anti- hero who struggles against the changes of a modern society.
The narrative format in Taxi Driver is ideal for the viewer to distinguish the mental disposition of the movie's main character. The first person narration is achieved through the voice over technique. The accounts of Travis’ diaries are echoed by the main character himself, thus giving it a personal appeal. He plots his revenge against society, armed with guns and knives he waits to be opposed by anyone in order to unleash his anger. Living on the margins of society, Travis Bickle appears as an outsider in his own world. The streets of 1970’s New York City, littered with drugs, guns and prostitution, a grave abhorrence for Travis who wishes for “the rain to wash the trash off the sidewalk”, ironically has an influence on him as he unconsciously partakes in all its vices. His affinity for pornographic films as well as his nonchalant attitude towards the passenger, who explicitly reveals how he would deal with an adulterous wife, suggests Travis’ oneness with this place he professes to hate. Travis is not only isolated from their physical environment, he also bares an emotional detachment as he fails in his attempt to secure meaningful relationships with those around him. Travis describes himself as “God’s lonely man” and further laments his isolated and purposeless life, he says “All my life needed was a sense of someplace to go. I don't believe that one should devote his life to morbid self-attention, I believe that one should become a person like other people.” Although his line of work enables him to come into contact with a number of persons he does not know how to reach out and alienates himself in his taxi, observing the changing world through the windshield of his car.When his loneliness overwhelms him and he attempts to make a connection with his fellowmen, his lack of social graces and inability to articulate his opinions make his efforts futile. A relationship with Betsy(Cybill Shepherd) was a chance for him to integrate into society and gain a sense of purpose, but this also fails as he seems unaware that his movie preference is ill suited for a date.

 
The movie also features instances of anti- heroism in its main character. Travis is faced with the challenge of rescuing a young prostitute from a life of peril and although he successfully follows through with his intents to rescue his social victim, Travis’ self- hatred and acts of violence blurs his heroic image. 

He sees saving Iris (Jodie Foster) as a way to save him form a meaningless existence; “Now I see this clearly. My whole life is pointed in one direction. There never has been a choice for me.”

Martin Scorsese's 1967 film Taxi Driver explores the life of a marginalized anti- hero who struggles against the changes of a modern society. Travis tries unsuccessfully to re-integrate into a society which to him is suffering from moral decline.