Great Characters: George Bailey (“It’s A Wonderful Life”)
Who doesn’t remember this face?
Who doesn’t remember this face?
And this one?
That contrast right there speaks to the heart of why George Bailey (played by my favorite actor of all time James Stewart) is a great character, representing the emotional core of the Christmas classic It’s A Wonderful Life. A Protagonist character who lives for decades in a pronounced state of Disunity: all he ever wanted to do was see the world and build big things, yet here he finds himself stuck in his home town, forced to run his family’s “penny-ante Building and Loan.” And worse about to be thrown in jail, a disgrace, all due to Uncle Billy accidentally handing over $8,000 of the Building and Loan’s money to Mr. Potter, putting George Bailey on the brink of committing suicide by plunging to his death.
Over the years I’ve read analysis critical of the movie because George is not proactive character, as if all Protagonists must have a specific goal in mind they actively pursue. But in my view that’s missing almost the entire point of the movie: George Bailey is a hero, not in the vainglorious manner he imagined himself becoming when he was a young man, but rather through the daily sacrifices he has made — for his family, the Building and Loan customers, and the town of Bedford Falls. He is a hero precisely because he does not pursue his dreams, but rather serves something larger than his ego — his fellow human beings.
Think of it this way: He is not proactive, but reactive. Time and time again, he responds to the needs of others and in so doing benefits their lives.
As Joseph Campbell says, “A hero is someone who has give their life to something bigger than oneself.”
George was too young to hear the wisdom in his father’s words:
You know, George, I feel that in a small way we are doing
something important. Satisfying a fundamental urge. It’s deep in
the race for a man to want his own roof and walls and fireplace,
and we’re helping him get those things in our shabby little office.
And George is too distraught to grasp the truth of Clarence’s words much later:
Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives,
and when he isn’t around he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?
But after his own act of faith — “I want to live again” — George gets to see full well the hero he has been to the town of Bedford Falls.
Distracted by visions of a life he wanted to lead, through the remarkable chain events of the days leading up to Christmas, George Bailey finally realizes he has in fact been living just the life he needs.
Isn’t that in some way a message we all need to hear?
Why do you think George Bailey is such a great character?
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