abbey
English 1A Response Paper #4
28 September 2013
“We Blew It”
In the movie “Easy Rider” Wyatt and Billy smuggles drugs for easy money and hides it away in the gas tank of Wyatt’s patriotic dressed bike. The two bikers hit the road on a quest to find escapism and freedom in America.
On their journey Wyatt and Billy meet a range of individuals and circumstances that reveal the American experience of the 60’s. The first being a hitchhiker who needs a ride to a commune. The commune housed young adults and their children, who chose to live outside of society rules and ideals. (People of the counterculture) The people of the commune engaged in “free love” and drugs, trying to survive on the land with little resources and knowledge of how to do so proved to be a struggle for them. Although Wyatt and Billy appeared to have the same mind set as the commune, to live free individualized lives without any expectations, they were not content enough to stay and contribute where there was so many struggles. Although they had the money, neither of them did anything to help. Instead, they chose to continue on their journey, hording their money, to retire in Florida.
As much as Wyatt and Billy wanted to be a part of the “freedom movement” they also didn’t want to struggle to survive. The people and circumstances that Wyatt and Billy encountered on their road trip caused Both Wyatt and Billy to realize that they was living in a grey area of thinking. When Billy says to Wyatt, “We did it, man. We did it, we did it. We're rich, man. We're retirin' in Florida now, mister” (IMBD Easy Rider Quotes, 1969). He is expressing his choice between life as they just saw at the commune and life in society. He is saying, don’t worry man, we’re rich and we have it easy from here on out. Wyatt’s response, “You know Billy, we blew it” (IMBD Easy Rider Quotes, 1969) Wyatt understood that they had rejected and went against...