Mental Decay In Vertigo And Taxi Driver

The ideas that a person has about themselves not only influences low self-esteem and mental decay, but it also puts also effects their functioning and their beliefs. The mental decay that takes place in Vertigo and Taxi Driver, are self-destructive and slowly prevent the main characters from reaching their full potential. Not being able to meet their full potential often furthers the decaying of their thoughts about themselves. Looking through these self-idealized concepts of the characters brings further understanding to the plot of the films. In the movie Vertigo, the audience first gets a glimpse of Scottie’s acrophobia in the beginning scene as he is chasing a criminal on the rooftop (4:20). While trying to catch the criminal, Scottie is caught up in the gutters hanging from the rooftop. When a partner tries to save him, due to the dizziness from his vertigo, Scottie does not grab his hand because he tenses up. His partner falls to his death in an attempt to rescue Scottie as he looks on in horror.

His mental decay is fueled by his continuous isolation from the world outside of his cab. Travis is a Vietnam veteran who most likely suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder just as other war veterans. While in his cab, he sees many things on the streets that make him angry and he wishes to rid the streets of it one day. His cab is his safe haven. He does not have any contact with anyone but his customers, and fellow cabbies. In his cab, he feels the most comfortable there because he is away from everything in a state of loneliness. In scene 53:10 Travis stated, “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." He has predestined his state of loneliness. He feels that there would never be any hope for a social