Character Analysis: Rocky Sullivan Vs. Clyde Boner

Rocky Sullivan gives the outward impression of being a real tough guy, and he is, but at times he appears to be nothing more than a great friend to his child hood friend Jerry Connelly, who also happens to be a priest. Growing up wild with no male guidance, Rocky and Jerry always got into one scrape after another until one day, Rocky got caught and finally wound up in the government institution. It is in this institution and later on in jail that Rocky learns the “tricks of the trade”. Rocky’s main motivation throughout the film is to get his money and go one with his life with as little complications as possible. Unfortunately nothing ever really goes as planned.

Clyde Boner is an easy going pretty boy who takes nothing too seriously

and give others the impression of being a tough Gangster, which he isn’t. Apparently Clyde and his brother use to be in it together for the sheer purpose of amusement. This soon came to an end when Clyde was arrested for armed robbery and sent to jail. Upon his release it appeared that Clyde was pretty much attempting to ease back into his old life and then he met Bonnie. With this meeting Clyde was goaded by Bonnie to prove how tough he was, and simply to impress her, he did, and was thrust right back into his old ways.

Their similarities run like an artery through their lifelines, or in a different light, their saving graces. Rocky Sullivan’s saving grace was of course Jerry Connelly, his best friend. On the day of his execution, Jerry made Rocky an offer that he would have been crazy to refuse. This offer would allow Rocky to put an end to the life of crime that ultimately faced the young boys that he had so much influence over and it allowed him to regain the heart that he believed he’d lost so long ago.

Clyde’s motivation and driving need is more basic than Sullivan’s, though he too is influenced by an outside force, namely B

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