“The days go on with regularity over and over, one day indistinguishable from the next, a long continuous chain,” says Travis Bickle, the title character in Martin Scorsese’s 1976 magnum opus, Taxi Driver. Travis (Robert De Niro) is a Vietnam War veteran struggling to reinstate himself into American society following the anti-war sentiment that permeated the nation.
Although Taxi Driver was released 48 years ago, the film still resonates with men today, especially those who are in high-pressure academic situations like the students at Haverford.
To compensate for his inability to sleep, Travis assumes a job as a night-shift taxi driver in the bustling streets of 1970s New York City. To cope with his chronic insomnia and loneliness, he frequents adult film theaters and maintains a private journal to document his daily interactions, observations, and radical solutions to fixing urban decay. In one of his most memorable lines, Travis writes: “Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets.”
Aligning with the dark, complex characters of a Fyodor Dostoevsky novel, Travis’ ideas presented in his journal entries contain a cynical perspective on life. He primarily highlights the agonizing, perpetual cycle of the days getting longer paired with the years getting shorter, alluding to his exhaustion with his tedious life. His cynical views reflect not only his personal disillusionment but also his detachment from society.
As his cycle of mundanity and discontentment continues, Travis further strays away from the public, leading him to complete isolation.
“Loneliness has followed me my whole life. Everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There’s no escape. I’m God’s Lonely Man,” Travis says in a voiceover sequence after an altercation with an unnamed passenger.
Travis asserts that the sensation of loneliness has been his companion throughout his life. Travis is the embodiment of the disconnected and isolated individual, the character who is often depicted in films, works of literature, paintings, and other mediums of art.
What sets Travis apart from the traditional “lonely character” is the film’s urban setting. Isolation can be distinguished between two variants: physical isolation, where one is physically separated from others by distance; and mental isolation, where one is psychologically separated from others, even in the physical presence of people.
Travis experiences the latter, as the aforementioned line describes his alienation when he is present at social gatherings and larger crowds. Despite his physical presence in bars, stores, and other social settings, he remains emotionally adrift from those surrounding him. He is unable to hold meaningful conversations.
Although Travis is surrounded by the busy New York City streets, he still feels alienated from those around him. He always observes the environment and pedestrians crossing the roads, and he takes note of his observations into his journal. Despite his inspection of the city streets, he deliberately maintains his distance from the action, never engaging with the environment nor its inhabitants. He is physically present, but mentally adrift.
Similar to Taxi Driver, American artist Edward Hopper also explores the paradox of isolation in an urban environment. In his acclaimed 1942 painting, Nighthawks, Hopper sets the scene in a classic New York diner late at night where four characters are depicted: a man and woman seemingly in a relationship; a separate man with his back facing the audience; and a bartender glancing into the abyss of the vacant streets.
Even in the presence of other people, the painting’s characters are disconnected from each other. The assumed couple are sitting by each other, but they do not converse. Additionally, their fingers are separated, devoid of any contact. In Nighthawks, Hopper sought to portray the paradox of urban isolation by showing us a group of individuals in the same space falling prey to absolute silence.
Scorsese implements this “Hopperesque” concept in Travis, as he frequents public spaces but ultimately falls prey to his alienation and disconnection from other people.
Travis’ detachment from an urban setting reflects how teens can sometimes feel isolated, even in a large school environment.
In comparison to Travis, students might encounter a sense of mental seclusion in busy environments, where the emphasis on achieving success restricts opportunities for genuine relationships or self-identity. Furthermore, students could experience feelings of isolation when dealing with personal issues but are hesitant to open up due to the fear of being judged or misunderstood.
When everyone appears to be managing easily or adhering to societal expectations, it is simple for students to believe they are the only ones facing challenges or feeling like they don’t belong. Similar to Travis and his mundane routines, many students who feel trapped in a seemingly perpetual loop of studying for exams, preparing for class discussions, and taking notes in class may express a sense of purposelessness, especially when certain students feel as if their individual interests and aspirations are not valued in an academically-driven setting.
For young men who may feel pressure to embody a certain role, a lost sense of purpose will only undermine their aspirations. This repetition of mundane activities in school makes it easy for students to disconnect from their peers if the school does not provide that sense of purpose. The themes of isolation and purposelessness in Taxi Driver, no matter how old the film is, will continue to stay relevant and serve as a critique of today’s society.
