Braveheart

Part I: Braveheart was an interesting movie for me. I thought it proceeded fairly slowly to the action of the film. I think the overall plot was pretty decent, however, the movie wasn't very favorable to me. Most of the movie was fighting and I kind of had a hard time following what they were actually doing in the film. I hated at the beginning how the English officers thought they could use the girls, therefore I really liked how Wallace's secret wife really fought back and didn't take what they were trying to do to her. I think although she died towards the beginning of the film, she was really the whole protagonist of the film, and her character stuck with me. I also believe that Wallace's attitude throughout the film is very admirable. Initially everything that Wallace does is out of the desire for revenge from the execution of his secret wife, and after she is killed I think he truly feels he has nothing to lose. I think Wallace's cause is very admirable, he truly wants freedom from the repression of the English, and the wrong that they have done to the Irish people. I thought it was very interesting how Wallace had a minor affair with Isabella considering all he had done for the revenge of his secret wife. However, I think my favorite part of the movie was the ending. Wallace could have easily given up and surrendered, but his cause stayed true to him throughout the whole movie. When he was being tortured at the end, he held on to everything he believed in, and ultimately screamed freedom as his last words. He hallucinated his dead wife as he was dying, and I think that really tied in with the whole idea of why he did what he did. He fought for the freedom of the Irish, however it was instigated by the death of his wife. With everything that happened throughout the movie, instead of surrendering he found his time to do, where he would meet his wife again. Although I overall didn't really like the movie, I think there were good aspects to it and the overall plot was pretty good.

Part II: To me this quote completely envisions what Wallace's character was about. Wallace truly fought for his freedom, he easily could have just gone by with each day as every Irish man did, but he had a vision, and he wanted to live for it. With this quote he is saying that every man dies, but not every man lives. Wallace wants to really live by fighting for what he believed to be right. This is completely applicable to the fight from Irish freedom from the English tyranny. All of these men could've gotten by being under the control of the English, however, with them fighting for their freedom, whether successful or unsuccessful, would enable the Irish to truly live a life not wondering what if. They could fight for their freedom and maybe be unsuccessful and die, but at least they would be fighting for what they truly believed in and wanted.
I think the same thing could be very applicable to my life. Everyone wants to have a life filled with adventure and doing different things that you truly love. I want to experience everything I can while I have the opportunity and truly live my life to the fullest. I think this includes taking advantage of my last months in high school, going to college and finding something to pursue that I truly love, and then doing that after college. I think the biggest thing for me with this quote is that I want to live a life when I'm older that I'm happy with. I don't want to have a job that I hate. I want to do something that I truly love, which would enable me to truly live. This quote ultimately symbolizes everything I hope for in my life. When I'm old and on my death bed, I hope I can say that I truly did live by experiencing everything to the fullest and doing things that I loved.