Who Is Maggie's Relationship In Million Dollar Baby

Arielle Cunningham
Professor Coleman
College Writing 2B
18 February 2013
The Man He Really Is In the film Million Dollar Baby, Frankie Dunn is a trainer in California who refrains from building close bonds with others. The main source of that comes from his daughter. Though his daughter never makes an appearance in the film, their relationship affects the relationships he shares with those around him. He wishes to be close with her, but because of the distance between them, it causes him to shut others out. Frankie, played by Clint Eastwood, distances himself from those closest to him to ensure that he doesn’t lose them the way he lost his daughter. Although it is not specifically mentioned in the film why Frankie and his daughter no
The viewer sees that the letters are addressed to his daughter, Kate. Apparently, Frankie sent many letters to Kate for numerous years, but they always came back to him completely unopened. Disappointment and sadness fill his eyes when he looks at the letters sprawled out on his floor every time he comes home. This only further worsens his feelings, but he continues to send her letters anyway. He tries his hardest to make sure she knows that he still cares for her, but it weakens him when he doesn’t receive any
He reiterates several times throughout the film, “I don’t train girls” (Million Dollar Baby). Knowing that Maggie is a girl, he refuses to train her, but he also disputes the idea because she reminds him so much of his daughter. Frankie sees how driven she is about having him train her, and at first that annoys him. She refuses to quit asking him to train her until she completely convinces him that she is worth taking a chance on. She shows up everyday and beats up the punching bag that is hanging in the gym. She begins to call Frankie “boss” to annoy him into giving in, even after he tells her, “I’m not your boss” (Million Dollar Baby). She asks him if she were to stop calling him boss, would he train her. After he says no, she retorts, “Then I might as well keep calling you it!” The more he sees Maggie in the gym practicing her hits, the more she reminds him of Kate. He fears that if he were to actually allow himself to care about Maggie and let her into his heart, he could lose her just like he lost Kate. He also knows that if he trains her, she is more inclined to be seriously hurt because she is a girl, and he wouldn’t forgive himself if anything were to happen to her. He notices as the days go by that Maggie’s swings are looking better than before, but he