True Identity In Miller's Crossing And Leg

Identifying with a single group is often just a part of one’s true identity, and in literature, there are many different. Identity is a major theme that … In the Coen Brother’s film, Miller’s Crossing, there are several examples of true identity. Both Miller’s Crossing and Legs reveal how one’s identity may periodically appear to change, but one’s true identity can not change. Most notably, Kennedy and the Coen Brothers depict this individual aspect through a particular symbol that is identifiable with the protagonists.

In the novel, Legs, William Kennedy portrays the inevitable return to true identity through the symbolism of Jack Diamond’s Knight’s Templar cross and his rosary. Throughout the film, Kennedy utilize the function of religion

The hat plays a prominent role as the recurring symbol that surrounds Tom. Often in literature, a hat represents identity but also can used to draw attention to one’s head or mind. In the case of Tom, the Coen brother’s provide clear evidence that the hat is a symbol of Tom’s identity as a thinker. The hat comes to prove the point of how falling back into true identity is inevitable when analyzing what scenes depict Tom with and without his hat. As a thinker, one can assume that it is part of Tom’s identity to outsmart his enemies rather than be physically violent. A clear example of this difference occurs when Tom is walking Bernie deeper and deeper into Miller’s Crossing. Bernie pleas with Tom saying “Tommy, you can't do this. You don't bump guys. You're not like those animals back there… They can't make us different people than we are. We’re not muscle Tom” (Miller’s Crossing). Bernie directly states Tom’s identity while wearing the hat. This is representative that when he is fully wearing the hat, and thus, fully in tune with his identity as a thinker, Tom can not do something such as murder because one can not fully stray from their identity. Later in the film, when Bernie begs Tom for his life after killing Casper, Tom’s hat is worn on the back of his head and depicted on the cusp of falling off, which is symbolic of Tom’s attempt to stray from his identity. Tom’s hat is off enough for his identity to be skewed and able to murder someone. The idea of a hat is also brought up when Tom tells Verna about the dream he had by explaining “No. It stayed a hat. And no I didn't chase it. I watched it blow away. . . Nothing more foolish than a man chasing his hat” (Miller’s Crossing). When Tom says that only a fool would chase after a hat, it reveals that his thought that it would be silly in running after a lost