My Shot Lin-Sherman Essay

Imagine a story where history meets hip-hop and the founding fathers of America had rap battles to determine the political future of the States. This is the extraordinary tale of Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda, follows the story of a Caribbean immigrant named Alexander Hamilton and the rest of the founding fathers of America’s attempts to write their way into history during the American Revolution through a series of songs. In order to promote the theme of honor and reputation in the story, Lin-Manuel Miranda makes use of the motifs “History has its eyes on you” and “Who lives, who dies, who tells your story”. Similarly, he uses “wait for it” and “time” as motifs to represent the main theme of leaving a legacy. Miranda also

The motif “My Shot” can be found an abundance of times throughout the movie. While singing his “My Shot” song, Hamilton declares “I am not throwing away my shot! I am not throwing away my shot!” and that “just like my country, I’m young, scrappy and hungry, and I am not throwing away my Zappavigna 2 shot” (Miranda, Acts 1, 9). This line defines Hamilton as a character and how he has a powerful drive and ambition to make his mark, it shows how he is not going to let his shot slip away. It also foreshadows how his extreme ambition may lead him into facing the consequences of not taking your shot when it matters most. Similarly, the motif “Satisfied” can also be found to establish the consequences of Hamilton's ambition. During the song “The Reynolds Pamphlet”, Anglicia addresses Hamilton as she sings “You could never be satisfied”. God, I hope you’re satisfied.” (Miranda, Acts 2, 50). These words exhibit that there is a price that Hamilton is going to have to pay for publishing the Reynolds pamphlet about his affair. Moreover, Anglicia expresses through song that she hopes Hamilton is “satisfied” with the consequences he has to face of ruining his family over his ambition to save his political career. Both these motifs demonstrate how Hamilton’s ambition led him into negative

The motif “History has its eyes on you” appears many times throughout the movie to symbolize the theme that your future reputation and honour will be set by what you have done in the past. During the “History Has Its Eyes On You” song, Washington reminds Hamilton that I know that we can win. I know that greatness lies in you. But remember from here on in, History has its Eyes on you.” (Miranda, Act 1, 67). This strong message from President Washington advised Hamilton that it is important to remember that there will always be someone watching the decisions he makes and judging them in both a positive and negative light. As we see throughout the movie, Hamilton’s spontaneous actions have a lasting impact on how the future Zappavigna 3, the generation reading his story, will perceive his reputation and honour after he is gone. Furthermore, the second motif that represents the theme of reputation and honour in Hamilton is “Who lives, Who dies, Who tells your story”. In the course of the “Who lives, Who dies, Who tells your story” song in Hamilton, James Madison gives credit to Hamilton, “He took our country from bankruptcy to prosperity.” and sorrowfully admits that “he doesn’t get enough credit for all the credit he gave us.”(Miranda, Act 2, 80). That line was then accompanied by the backup