Casablanca’s Symbolic Analysis

Michael Hess

Professor Couch

English 131.005

December 8th, 2015

Casablanca’s Symbolic Analysis

Casablanca is a timeless classic that is of great importance, and the total opposite of what Hollywood is known as. The time period the movie was important because it represented many things that Hollywood wanted to get across to the people in regards to the war. Symbolism is used often in this film between Rick and the United States, Rick and Ilsa’s love life, Sam and his piano, the letters of transit, Lazlo as hope, and sacrificing the important things over love. As the story progresses, the symbols in the film shows that there are many important things that the producer wanted the viewer to take away from the movie.

The film has several symbolic meanings, but there are certain ones that stand out. One symbolic event that is apparent is what the café represents. This café represents the United States because of the “melting pot” that America has been known as. Café Americain was a place where people of all different races could come together, which was well ahead of its time, and only further helps the viewer understand how advanced this film was. Not only did the movie show all different types of races come together, but the film also attempts to tell the viewers that they will need to work together to get through the war. All of this occurs just in the first few opening scenes, making the viewer think about the things that they will have to do to get through the hard times that the war will bring.

Throughout the movie Rick goes through a transformation from a neutral man that was uninvolved in the war, to fighting on the side of the weak at the end of the movie. This also represents the transformation that the United States went through during the war. Rick starts out neutral, helping out no side and even states early on that “I’m not sticking my neck out for anybody,” showing that he has no care to get involved with such politics. This represents the United States because at the beginning of the war, America did not want to get involved in another war.

Both Rick and the United States reveal that they are attempting to be neutral initially. Rick does this by allowing all different types of people in his bar. America does this by selling guns to both sides. Although, throughout the war for America, and Rick in the film, both start to reveal what side they support. The way it is shown in the film by Rick is when he accepts the exit visa’s knowing that the Nazis would not want anybody getting them. It is revealed that America is leaning towards supporting one side with how they stopped selling guns to the Nazis. Even though the United States did this to the Axis powers, they never ceased selling to the allied powers.

In both the movie, and the war, there is an obvious time where both Rick and the United States decide to openly support a side. America did not officially join the war against the Nazis until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, which sent outrage to many Americans, and caused immediate action to be taken. Rick did not truly decide to help out anybody that wanted him to openly support the fight against the Nazis until Ilsa came into town. From the moment Rick saw Ilsa, he was an emotional wreck, and seeing her changed his entire outlook on the war and his involvement in it, just like what Pearl Harbor made the United States do in relation to joining the war.