Straight Never Quite Leaves Home
Alvin Straight never leaves the rural road, thus the road acts as a constant reminder of his life and past mistakes he has made. In other movies, characters such as Thelma and Louise leave their familiar landscape, which in a way acts as a way of leaving behind the mundane and entering a new world. Straight however stays in the same space which he is use to (he even grew up in rural Moorhead, Minnesota). As our main character meets other people on the road he is constantly reminded of his own life. He has points of revelation, actualization and realization because he meets people he can relate to. Midwest people are in many ways a certain kind of down to earth people, with similar problems and struggles. For example, Straight's tractor breaks down more than once and multiple men were able to help him fix it because of their knowledge of the John Deere tractor. Also, he is able to talk to another war veteran. They are connected not only because they both fought in World War II, but also because they are from similar towns (small, rural, and simple). He is guided on the road by kind people who he can see eye to eye with. For instance, Straight gets directions by the bartender when he gets to his brother's town. He doesn't know his brother's address, but the man at the bar can relate with Alvin because of his past experiences and where he has traveled from (i.e. the bartender is very understanding when Alvin denies a second beer). In sum, Straight never leaves the familiar, so he is constantly reminded of his own life even when he meets others on the rural road. Characters from other movies who are trying to "leave behind" can temporarily escape their lives and briefly feel like their other lives are in the past (i.e. "something in me has crossed over and I can't go back Louise").