FREEDOM WRITERS

Voices are used all throughout the movie Freedom Writer's as the viewer meets the characters. The piece reasons that to survive, we must break down barriers us as humans have with one another to open doors and new possibilities.

In the film, new and eager teacher Erin Gruwell begins to work with a very unprivileged

group of students at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long beach, California. The class is exceedingly segregated in racial groups. There is constant violence. She attempts to warm up to them by speaking out her opinions of the importance of trust in the class and involving them in activities to voice their feelings about racial tensions. "I'm a teacher, it doesn't matter what color I am" is her simple but great response to a student named Eva when she says white people think they deserve respect. Gruwell's response

shows that she wants to be heard and trusted by her students.

Gruwell hands out composition notebooks to the class to express themselves by writing person stories in it. They are allowed to share with the class. Student Brandy goes up in front of the class. She shares a part of her story. "In every war, there is an enemy. I watched my mother being hlaf-beaten to death, and watched as bloodand tears streamed down her face. I felt useless and scared, and furious at the same time. I can still feel the sting of the belt on my back and my legs. One time he couldn't pay the rent. That night he stopped us on the street and pointed to the concrete. He said, "pick a spot." She reads this aloud with an expressionless face. Everyone listens to her story. Brandy's deep story makes the viewer think about her reality.

I have viewed this film several times. Though there are many themes and messages, this movie focuses on using your voice to connect with others. We can learn respect from hearing all of the heartbreaking and triumphant stories of the students. Freedom Writer's is a great example of the idea that everyone wants to be share their story and be heard.

guilt

1.I know what you were thinking: What a silly way to die. What a silly, selfish, ridiculous mistake to have made. Don’t think that, brother.

2.But I felt sort of guilty almost, like if I’d kept my mouth shut none of it would’ve ever happened. Like it was my fault

3.I did not kill him. But I was present, you see, and my presence was guilt enough.

4.I'm deeply troubled, wondering if my son will be trying to wipe out the crop that nearly killed me 22 years ago. Guilt rattles my brain like a BB in a metal boxcar.

5.I still see him in my dreams.

6.Jorgenson kept pushing his hand out at me. He looked so earnest, so sad and hurt, that it almost made me feel guilty […] I hated him for making me stop hating him


7.Even now I haven’t finished sorting it out. Sometimes I forgive myself, other times I don’t. In the ordinary hours of life I try not to dwell on it, but now and then, when I’m reading a newspaper or just sitting alone in a room, I’ll look up and see the young man step out of the morning fog

8.Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red.

9.I feel guilty sometimes. Forty-three years old and I’m still writing war stories […]I should forget it. But the thing about remembering is that you don’t forget

10.Like Jimmy Cross, the boy was explaining things to an absent judge. It wasn’t to defend himself. The boy recognized his own guilt and wanted only to lay out the full causes

11.I would give most anything
if I could rewrite history
Cause in my heart I know that you
should be here instead of me

12.It’s time to cut ties that won’t ever free our minds
From the chains and shackles that they’re in

13.Guilt is the price we pay for our intentions

14.Guilt is strong regret that weighs us down without the feeling of escape.

15Guilt is the basis of heavy sorrow.

Guilt

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