the rural and "becoming"
The rural offers something completely different than the urban landscapes of other films, such as Set It Off. The urban is defined by bright lights, loud noises, concrete, fast paced, traffic, and a sense of containment. In contrast the rural is composed of openness, serenity, ability to witness the elements, a slow pace, and down to earth people. Had Alvin traveled through an urban environment his journey would have been drastically different. First of all, he would not have been able to travel by his lawnmower/tractor. We saw the urban represented in the semi trucks, wiz past him, nearly running him off the road. The urban semis were juxtaposed against his slow moving John Deere. Therefore the pace of his journey was important to his "becoming". The lengthiness of his travels gave him time to witness the elements of nature, see the stars and open land, with no distractions and plenty of time to think. Had his journey been shorter he would not have met all the people he did on the road, who all added to his "becoming" and self realization by the end of the film. Alvin witnessed the generosity and open mindedness of rural people when he is taken in by the family. He forms a relationship with them while his tractor is being repaired, learning from them, and sharing stories, such as his war experiences, that he could not have spoken about before; here again, the slowness of the rural is crucial to his self actualization. Driving on a urban highway or heavily traveled road would not have given him these opportunities to interact with people and add bit by bit to his realization of the important things in life. Perhaps he wouldnt have even made it to his brothers had he not had the experiences that only the rural could offer him. We see a symbolic moment of his progress when he stops and allows himself to have his first beer in a very long time. Without his journey through the rural midwest he could not have "become" the person he is by the end of the film.