Comments | hated_character: In Defense of Lieutenant Schrank

insaneladybug in hated_character

In Defense of Lieutenant Schrank

May 31, 2011 02:53

I’ve only posted one actual character defense here, since other members have already, excellently defended all the other characters I wanted to see defended in the past. But I’ve been getting an urge to defend another character who, as far as I know, has not had anyone else defend him. He seems to be alternately misunderstood or outright ignored ( Read more... )

"how dare you make a mistake!", missing the point, double standard, character exaggeration

Comments 17

petzipellepingo June 3 2011, 18:47:59 UTC

Hmm... I'd definitely agree with the venom and fear notions, especially with the fear that things have simply gotten beyond his control - or really anyone's control at this point.

It is possible that he is racist for real, against many groups and not just the Puerto Ricans
Possibly, although we really only see his interactions with Puerto Ricans. And then he makes remarks like "Don't you people have any aspirin", I've always found highly prejudiced people to refer to groups/individuals they despise as "you people/those people, etc".

Is he the villain of the piece? Not at all, IMO the true villain is hatred - hatred of anyone or anything "different".

Whether he’s bigoted or not is up for debate, but at least he’s human enough to regret what he said. He seems to be a man trying to do the right thing who has gotten extremely jaded and is at the end of his rope. Cut him some slack. He needs understanding just as much as the Jets and the Sharks do.

Nods. Nice analysis.

insaneladybug June 3 2011, 18:52:59 UTC

Yeah, I think that feeling of utter helplessness would definitely be enough to push his fear and anger into overdrive.

True, but there's also the comments he makes to the Jets, such as "you and the tinhorn immigrant scum you come from." That really makes it sound like, to me at least, that if he's prejudiced against anyone, it's against more than just the Puerto Ricans.

And exactly. Maria summed that up very well in her final speech, when she says that everyone killed Tony with hate rather than bullets.

Thank you!

Good point, insane ladybug! mapol February 25 2017, 23:22:34 UTC

The fact that Lt. Schrank made the "You and that tinhorn immigrant scum ya come from" and the "How's your old man's D. T.'s A-Rab?" and the "How's the action on your mother's side of the street, Action?" comments indicates that Schrank is not only prejudiced against the Puerto Rican Sharks, but against all other immigrants, ethnic groups and familial backgrounds that are unlike his own, in any way.

Lt. Schrank is very much a part of the system that leaves the Jets, the Sharks and other people like them competing for the crumbs that society has left for them.

Yup! mapol February 25 2017, 23:47:29 UTC

Maria's angry speech of

"You all killed him! (meaning Tony), and my brother and Riff! Not with bullets and guns. With hate! Well, I can kill too, because I have hate."

indicates that Maria has discovered her true feelings: That she, too, has enough anger and hatred to be capable of killing or whatever.

Thread 15

To put it this way: mapol February 25 2017, 23:23:55 UTC

In West Side Story, there are no good guys, nor are there any bad guys, if one gets the drift.

WEst Side Story's message has a double-edge sword: mapol February 25 2017, 23:38:37 UTC

That, on the one hand, anger, fear and hatred are counterproductive, and have deleterious consequences to both the victim(s) and perpetrator(s0 alike, and, yet, on the other hand, the fact that several Jets and several Sharks came together to carry off Tony's body after he'd been shot dead by Chino, hints of possible intergroup reconciliation between the Jets and Sharks.