OTW Appears in The Running Mate

First of all, I have to write about the reference in the book made to the movie we watched in class recently On the Waterfront. The exact quote is, “Lanny assayed a modified Marlon Brando: ‘You coulda been a contender. You coulda gone all the way.’”
This quote brought to mind many other similarities between The Running Mate and On the Waterfront. I think Charlie Martin’s days in Vietnam were similar to Larry’s boxing days, and now Charlie has settled into the life of a politician, but has some moral doubts about it. If fact we recently found out, Charlie had a son with a Vietnamese girl he had no idea about. I believe this ethical dilemma may push Charlie over the edge like Joey’s death did to Terry. It will be interesting to see how Charlie handles his moral dilemma differently than Terry or Joe Keller.
Another theme brought up in the book is the effect of the war in Vietnam. There is really no way for anyone in our generation to understand that effect in the slightest. However, its effects are still prevalent today in ways as important as John McCain’s presidential candidacy. It is almost impossible to imagine a world that does not bear the scars of Vietnam. It is also difficult to imagine in the war we are waging currently is going to have as lasting of scars on the world. We have already seen one veteran of Iraq run for public office in Ashwin Madia and without any doubt there will be many more to come.