Violence Does Not Solve Anything

8 Pages 1919 Words

When you feel very strongly about a certain issue, you want to share your thoughts and ideas with others, in hope that they will agree and join your viewpoint. According to the Peace Pilgrim, “When you find peace within yourself, you become the kind of person who can live at peace with others.” Tony Kaye’s American History X and Mathieu Kassovitz’s Hate both exemplify how one’s audacity to share his or her outlook, which may have altered over time, can influence other’s perspectives and help bring about more optimistic reformation for all of society.
To say that the film American History X depicts those of different races to be on bad terms with each other would be quite an understatement. Through characters’ conversations and numerous acts of violence, Kaye conveys this premise of hostilities. Hate of those who are different than they drive the protagonists to violence. The protagonists, neo-Nazi skinheads, go to far extents to show their abhorrence towards people of other races.
At times, neo-Nazi members do not need to be around their enemies to show their detestation of them. At one point in American History X, Seth and Danny, two skinheads, have a conversation that consists of the following:
Seth: Who do you hate, Danny?
Danny: I hate anyone that isn’t white Protestant
Seth: Why?
Danny: They’re a burden to the advancement of the white race. Some of them are alright, I guess…
Seth: None of ‘em are fucking alright, Danny, OK?
Seth made his last statement with extraordinary amounts of vigor. People of other races could be the nicest, smartest people Danny and Seth ever met. They would not know this though since they would never consider getting to know people that are different from them.
Without any knowledge of others as individuals, the neo-Nazis jump to conclusions about the people as a group. The statement “One in every three black males is in some phase of the correctional system....