ctive, the film provides a hard hitting
             treatment of the state of the society in general. The fact that the hero
             feels for the ills in the society is in itself a clear message to the
             citizens to awake and free themselves of the increasing social ignorance
             that sidelines moral responsibility and rightful conduct in society. This
             paper will look at the social perspectives that the film deals with, in the
             perspective of the hero, Travis Bickle
             2. The war and after: The travails of the returning war veterans
             The genre of films that depict Vietnam veterans returning to wreck
             havoc in the society is not a new one. The formula has been tried in many
             films and has helped to create many films that are remembered for their
             intensity in portraying the emotional tensions of the main protagonists.
             Such films had during its heydays, given rise to a spate of films: some
             effective, others easily forgotten. The number of films that have
             concentrated on the post war plight of war veterans is perhaps a direct
             indictment of the society and the government because in almost all these
             films, the idea that is conveyed vociferously is that the returning
             veterans are not of any value to the society, which has easily forgotten
             their contributions. In most films, the hero returns to find his dear and
             near ones dead or that his identity has been lost among the thousands of
             war victims who are presumed dead. He finds that the government and his
             country men do not want to remember him because it brings to mind a lot of
             uncomfortable feelings that are best forgotten. It is this lack of
             ownership, which is so vividly portrayed in the films that makes it
             endearing to the viewers who seem to share the agony of a man who has been
             constrained to spend the best part of his years in a place that is full of
             dangerous surprises. The hero finds that the years of mental tension and
             the fight for survival that he has ...