Too Little Too Late Essay, Research Paper
Too Little, Too Late
The story of American History X follows an intelligent young man named Derek Vinyard
and his decline into the world of disillusion and hate known as White Supremacy. Once a
thoughtful and easy-going teen, he soon begins his change when his father is shot and killed by a
black man, while trying to put out a fire at an alleged crackhouse. Derek becomes a smart,
articulate, and an utterly committed monster who assumes a leadership role in the white
supremacist movement of suburban Los Angeles. Alienated young men, including Derek s
younger brother Danny, respond to his hate and are eager to act out against anyone who isn t
white and Protestant, or the people who they think are plaguing society by their mere existence.
While the local movement grows, Derek s soul withers further and further away, polluted more
and more by hate. This moral deterioration culminates when Derek kills two out of the three black
gang members trying to steal the truck that use to be his father s. This act of rage and hate lands
Derek in jail where he would soon come to a realization that would surely undo what his
environment had taught him.
In jail, Derek is quick to try an develop friendships with those involved in similar beliefs as
him, alertly knowing it was the right way to go if he planned on remaining alive. This was the only
reason needed to lead Derek right towards the white supremacists who provided him with
protection that came as a result of their prison gang. Fresh from the streets, Derek was set in his
beliefs, beliefs that stemmed from his learning of bigotry at the kitchen table to the words of a
radical hatemonger (Cameron) who flourished by subjecting alienated youth to the easy answers
provided from neo-Nazism. However, Derek was becoming disgruntled at his fellow skinheads for
their associations outside the group and was building relationships with two black man essential to
his well-being. During this time, Derek begins to understand that the propaganda he was being fed
in and out of prison was worthless and that the beliefs he once stood by, were not honorable, but
just simply ways of people to manipulate the minds of those most vulnerable to it.
As Derek approaches the realization that he needs to change, he is led towards this
decision with the help of two friends and the love and concern he has for his family, especially his
brother Danny. His first step towards recognizing he has to change are provided by his old teacher
Dr. Sweeny. Now his younger brother s principal, Dr. Sweeny points out to Derek that he is way
to smart to be wasting his life in jail, and that he should see the holes in his whole system of belief.
Furthermore, Dr. Sweeney tells Derek of the insurmountable influence he has on the life of his
little brother and the fact that his own hatred leaked through to the mind of his young,
impressionable brother. Derek realizes the racist gang life and the act of following Cameron all
influenced his brother, who simply worshipped him as both a friend and father-figure. While he is
in jail, his negative influence starts Danny down the same path of self-destruction that has taken
away three years of hi
world he helped create, he is also trying to save his brother from making the same mistakes he
made.
Another essential part of Derek s reformation in jail was the friendship he formed with his
black work partner. After years of folding sheets and small talk, there was no barrier anymore and
Derek saw past the color of his partner, recognizing the character of the person instead. He was
helped by this same friend to step out of the environment that had shaped his views and to use his
own intelligence to judge someone. Part of his realization is when he judges his work partner as a
friend, a friend with whom he owes his life. At this moment, along with being raped by the
skinheads, and Dr. Sweenys reminding him of the strong influence he has on his family, Derek
grows a newfound distaste for his old ways.
The end of the story becomes very ironic because of the way Danny dies. Derek s little
brother is gunned down in the bathroom at school by a black student. Just the night before, Derek
had explained what he went through to his younger brother and was on his way to directing his
brother down a more promising path for the future. It is ironic that the root of their evil comes
back to ultimately devastate them, making Derek unable to get off the hook for his actions and
making both of them the victims of the investment that always pays back, hate. Although he
learned the hard way, Derek was growing up and putting his mistakes behind to prevent what
eventually might be his brother s future mistakes. The accounts of his miscues sent an influential
message to his little brother, one that was received and portrayed in the last lines of his brother s
homework paper, which read:
We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion
may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic cords
of memory will swell again touched as surely they will be by better angels
of our nature. – Abraham Lincoln
This is a message suggesting there is a better side of people that will overcome the animosity and
the hatred they once possessed. This better side was brought out in Derek, whose realizations
then helped instill it in Danny, only to be disregarded by the devil of one s nature.
American History X is a tough film to watch. The various scenes of brutality and
violence are shocking and at the same time effective in showing the rise and fall of the main
character. The characters, actions, and ideas are fascinating and compelled me to try to look
further and become more involved. The movie itself was very entertaining and is well worth
seeing because it kept me glued to the television screen demonstrating how fear, poverty, and
neglect spawn racism of all kinds. The main reason I was able to see it numerous times was
because the film has something to say and it says it quite clear, that hate is a virus that affects us
all, a virus that is equally as destructive as any known disease out there. The film is also smart
enough not to offer a clear cut answer. It instead leaves that for the audience to ponder and to
ultimately try to hear the better angels for themselves.