Where's the rearview mirror?
Alvin has a lot of time to think—to think about anything and everything. He is riding a lawnmower across a state by himself. The six week journey allows space for Alvin to “become� himself. The mode of transportation is important to look at. He is using a lawnmower not mow grass but as a car—not what its original purpose was made for. Since he is using a nontraditional mode transportation some of the road theories go missing. Mainly the notion of the rearview mirror, the concept that one is penetrating the space in front and can view what one is leaving behind through the mirror. The lack of the mirror signifies that Alvin isn’t leaving anything behind; instead he is discovering the world around him and at the same time himself. We have seen this self discovery in other films like, “Little Miss Sunshine�, “Thelma and Louise�, “Search for Angela Shelton�, but all these films the characters were searching for some kind of resolution or cleansing. They left knowing/hoping things would change in their lives. Alvin didn’t need anything to change, he wasn’t escaping. If he was, he sure would not have used a lawnmower as his “get away� car. Also when one travels in a rural setting they are surrounded by nature and life—not buildings and cement. They start to realize what it means to truly live, to live like the plants around them, to be in touch with nature.