Stand By Me Themes

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"Stand By Me is the story of true friendship and the loss of innocence, not about finding a body. It brings all childhood insecurities, fears and dreams into focus." To what extent do you agree?Raymond Zhang T19

The film "Stand By Me" directed by Rob Reiner revolves around the main protagonist and narrator of the film, Gordie Lachance, and his three friends; Chris Chambers, Teddy Duchamp and Vern Tessio. In an extended flashback by adult Gordie, the boys set out to find the dead body of Ray Brower, a kid their age who had disappeared and presumed to have been hit by a train. However, the film's deeper message is about finding true friendship and the loss of innocence rather than being about finding the dead body. Finding the dead body was …show more content…
Gordie realises that friends could be a family at times when your family seems to have abandoned you and witnessing a dead body would help him get over his brother's death. This is shown when Gordie mentions that "[he] had become the invisible boy". His father does not "give a shit about [him]" and "hadn't laid a hand in him since [he] was three". His father is also much more concerned about his older brother and football that he ignores Gordie and doesn't pass him "the potatoes". This shows how much Gordie's parents, especially his dad, don't care about him, whereas Chris who is a friend is much more concerned about his future and does not want to "drag [him] down". Gordie is also impacted on by his brother's death and frequently asks himself "Why did Denny have to die?". He believes that "it should have been [himself]" and hasn't adapted to Denny's non-existence anymore because "[he] didn't cry at Denny's funeral" which suggests that he still sub-consciously believes that Denny is still alive. This shows that Gordie's misses his brother despite him being more popular and he feels that he should have died instead since he feels that he is not as important, however after seeing the dead body Gordie has a much more mature thought over his brother's death which makes feel that "the town seemed ... smaller". It is clear that the journey has served as a …show more content…
Teddy suffers from taunts about his father, however his friends are there to help him share the burden. This is shown when Gordie mentions that "Teddy Duchamp was the craziest guy [they] hung around with" and that his father "almost burned [his ear] off". Teddy also attempts to dodge a train to prove that his dad was at the "beach in Normandy", however is pulled off by his friend Chris. This shows that Teddy sees his dad as a hero and hasn't come to accept that his dad has come back with post traumatic stress disorder and risks his life to prove that point, however he discovers that he is not alone and has supportive friends who don't want him to get hurt. It is also shown in the encounter with Milo that Teddy tries to defend his father, however gets taunted as well such as "no wonder you're actin' in the way you are". However, his friends help him out and taunt back with "sure, you only outweigh him by five hundred pounds, fatass". Teddy stills believes that his father is a loving and caring hero, not a "loony". This shows that Teddy truly loves his father and discovers the importance of friendship in helping him carry this burden and feels bad for "spoiling everyone's good time". This further proves that the film is about the boys finding the importance of friendship rather than being about finding the dead
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