Derek had an obvious major conflict, in my opinion. I believe Man vs. Self is the most reasonable one for this film. Derek had to face the choices he made that affected the rest of his life. For example, he was brought up by his father whom believed ethnic groups was the main reasoning for whites "suffering". With this narrow view of thinking, Derek joined a hatred group "the skin heads" who basically made up for their suffering by killing, raping, or torturing the different races in the community. Derek eventually became incarcerated and while in prison had a change of heart. After being released Derek expressed his feelings to his family and friends. In the end, Danny, Derek's younger brother, ended up suffering the consequences of his own hatred towards different ethnicity, and was killed. Derek ended up suffering for his own actions by losing his brother. Racism and hatred were two obvious themes throughout the entire film. Prison society mirrored home society because the hatred behind bars continued even after Derek was released from jail. Doris and Davina symbolized Derek's thoughts after life in prison, and somewhat symbolized not so narrowed thoughts that Derek lacked prior to prison. In ten years from now, I can see Derek living a happy life with a family he made. He will always suffer the loss of his brother, but I can see Danny's death contributing to a more positive life style for Derek in the long run.
In the film "American History X" there were numerous social institutions that stuck out to me while watching the movie. One major institution that is portrayed throughout the entire movie is the fact that the main character Derek was involved in an anti non-caucasian group "skin heads". This group certainly shaped Derek's world views. He was raised by his father who viewed minorities as a nuisance and later was killed. Derek blamed his death on the people he learned to hate, and continued his hatred until incarceration. While in jail, Derek was forced to have a change of heart. Unfortunately he was "forced" to change his views in a very degrading way. Racism contributed to Derek's outlook on life greatly, from being the head of a racial discrimination group, to going to jail and learning to accept ethnic groups as equals.
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