Gran Torino: Thoughts on Redemption and Reconciliation

Gran Torino: Thoughts on Redemption and Reconciliation
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In life, it is often difficult to reconcile our past actions with our “ideal self.” It is this internal conflict that sets the template for the personality of Walt in the film “Gran Torino,” directed by Clint Eastwood. Moreover, the internal conflict is also a central theme that is thoroughly explored throughout. Clint Eastwood implies that if we actively attempt to do good in our present state, we may then begin to reconcile with our past misdeeds. By taking Thao under his wing and finding common ground with his neighbors, Walt was able to make peace with the darker parts of his past (Eastwood, Schenk, Johannson, et al., 2009).
The story circles around the recently widowed and Korean War veteran, Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood). Alienated from his family and left by his deceased wife, he then lived alone in his neighborhood, surrounded by a diverse group of people. Which has made him despise the world even more as he already is? His character gives off a façade of a racist, mean, and frowny older man, but inside him, he was quite the opposite. Walt’s character revolves around his past mistakes that are making his life uninteresting and rowdy. Having served as a military, he was able to maintain his sense of discipline, continually fulfilling his house works through his completed set of tools sitting in his garage. Getting through the day with all of his routine work while adjusting to his wife’s absence, he then became the beer-chugging retired man with a dog. It felt like he lost the sense to live and is tormented to live all alone. Residing in the fact that his mistakes were never corrected. The character made him appear to be the mean and foul aged man who likes to name names other people for fun.