17th October 2018

Reading Log of Stand By Me

Gordon Lachance reads in the newspaper that says “Christopher Chambers has been stabbed to death”. It reminds him his childhood memories and starts narrating the story of journey to find a missing body with his three friends, Teddy, Vern and Chris in Oregon, over Labor Day weekend of a summer in 1959.

In this movie, the main character is young Gordie, a quiet boy who likes telling stories. However, I felt that Chris is the most attractive and fascinating person in the story (others who’s seen this movie would agree). He is the leader of the group and best friend of Gordie. He came from “a bad family” according to Gordie, but he is fun, clever and more mature than the others. Other two boys, Teddy Duchamp is the craziest guy in their gang, Vern Tessio is a overweight and timid boy, they belong to the “gang’ of theirs, hanging around in the secret tree house where none of their family know.

There are several scenes those boys face to problems. When Gordie accidentally shoots Chris’ dad’s gun, when Teddy tried to dodge the train, when they locate the dead body and encount Ace Merrill and his gang including Chris’ older brother, and even when any of members started a little quarrel, Chris always tries to find solution as a leader of the group. He looks into their eyes, calm and slowly persuade.

I didn’t have a friend like Chris when I was 12 but if I had such a friend, he would definitely change my life in good way. I felt that the story of the movie and those characters is what many people (especially boys? or is it only me who felt like this?) wished and desired for their childhood because people barely have those experiences in their lives like Gordie and others had. In the end of the movie, adult Gordie writes a sentence which evokes emotions of reminiscence from the audience, as “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?”.

… Jesus, does anyone?

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Writing