Nationalism In Gran Torino

Within my paper I will like to explore the issues of nationalism through the eyes of Walt Kowalski, a polish immigrant, who always seems to be driven by his hate for the people surrounding him. Having a clear structure, the movie sets out to underline the basic struggle between traditions, culture , the construction of an ethnic group who share the same language, traditions, religion and of course the attempt of the main character to find his own national identity.
‘Gran Torino’s’ main idea is based on the exploration of the roots of the Hmong population residing on American soil. All their actions and issues can be pictured with the help of a racist war veteran Walt Kowalski. The Hmong society is a character because throughout the years it

Although the Hmong family is presented from the very begging of being native speakers of their language, second and third generation members would also be expected to expected to become know English.
Throughout the plot Walt, who had felt hostility for this nation for so many years is capable of adapting and even comes to see them as more of a family than his real one. By the end of the story Walt Kowalski is portrayed as being a hero. What is interesting about Walt is that he considers himself a full-fledged American. Everything in his life stands for the true American way of living. This is proved to us not only by the presence of the American flag on his porch but also through the most important symbol: his 1972 Gran Torino which can truly be seen as Walt’s love for America. It is because of this that he can be considered a true nationalist. I believe that by displaying the flag on his house in front of all the eyes within the community, he does not only wish to remind his neighbors but also himself that the feelings of patriotism will never leave his side. He even holds his son responsible for buying the wrong car:’ Would it kill you to buy American? ‘, thus invoking his nationalistic

At the same time it can be argued that nationalism does not really exist: the main character is always surrounded by people of different ethnicities: his doctor is Korean, the barber is Italian.
According to Smith, ‘national identity involves some sense of political community, history, territory, patria, citizenship, common values and traditions’ (Smith 1991: 9).
From my point of view I believe that by using the explanation of emplotment within the text there can be found three different ways in which the story can be identified: Romantic and Tragic and even Comedy.
First of all, through the romantic perspective we are presented the drama of the character to self-identity himself, his transcendence into the world and also his conquest over it; basically this would be represented by the period of time that Walt had spent in the war and also, even though it cost him his life, the battle won against the Hmong gangs. As White points out ‘ it is a drama of the triumph of good over evil, of virtue over vice, of light over darkness and of the ultimate transcendence of man over the world in which he was imprisoned by the