Charlie Babbitt In Lorraine Hansberry's The Rain Man
Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise), is the perfect image of the 1980s' yuppie, as a used
car dealer with major money problems and has only a girlfriend, Susanna. Because
having learned that except for a few rosebushes and a vintage 1949 Buick Roadmaster his
recently deceased father has left him, virtually all of his fortune goes to his autistic
brother Raymond (Dustin Hoffman). A brother he didn't even know he had, Charlie
decides to kidnap Raymond from the Cincinnati facility where he lives, take him to
California, and demand half the inheritance in exchange for his brother's return.
Raymond is a person with autism who has some very interesting traits and
behaviors that really must have been difficult for people …show more content…
Or even when Raymond is touched by a person that he is not familiar with. He
goes into one of his fits, not understanding the scene that he may be putting on in front of
other people. It is seemingly the only way that he can make Charlie understand his
feelings or emotions. Because of the fact he cannot express them the way "normal"
people do.
Not all autistic people are so-called "savants" like Raymond, (i.e. possess genial
mathematic or other abilities within the shell separating them from the outside world).
So don't go rushing off with them to Vegas for an exercise in "counting cards," at least
not before you've verified that they can memorize entire phone books (at least up to the
letter "G"), count the toothpicks in a pile on the floor with one glimpse of an eye and
determine the square root of a four- or five-digit number within a matter of seconds
without so much as looking at an electronic calculator. These were just a few of the
noticeable stereo typical behaviors that Raymond encompasses. Raymond also had an
impeccable need to follow a schedule that consisted of things like watching Jeopardy at
5:00 o'clock and going to bed at a certain time. Another was his need to wear
car dealer with major money problems and has only a girlfriend, Susanna. Because
having learned that except for a few rosebushes and a vintage 1949 Buick Roadmaster his
recently deceased father has left him, virtually all of his fortune goes to his autistic
brother Raymond (Dustin Hoffman). A brother he didn't even know he had, Charlie
decides to kidnap Raymond from the Cincinnati facility where he lives, take him to
California, and demand half the inheritance in exchange for his brother's return.
Raymond is a person with autism who has some very interesting traits and
behaviors that really must have been difficult for people …show more content…
Or even when Raymond is touched by a person that he is not familiar with. He
goes into one of his fits, not understanding the scene that he may be putting on in front of
other people. It is seemingly the only way that he can make Charlie understand his
feelings or emotions. Because of the fact he cannot express them the way "normal"
people do.
Not all autistic people are so-called "savants" like Raymond, (i.e. possess genial
mathematic or other abilities within the shell separating them from the outside world).
So don't go rushing off with them to Vegas for an exercise in "counting cards," at least
not before you've verified that they can memorize entire phone books (at least up to the
letter "G"), count the toothpicks in a pile on the floor with one glimpse of an eye and
determine the square root of a four- or five-digit number within a matter of seconds
without so much as looking at an electronic calculator. These were just a few of the
noticeable stereo typical behaviors that Raymond encompasses. Raymond also had an
impeccable need to follow a schedule that consisted of things like watching Jeopardy at
5:00 o'clock and going to bed at a certain time. Another was his need to wear