The Bucket List

I. INTRODUCTION The quiet mechanic, Carter Chambers, has been married for forty-five years to his beloved wife Virginia and has three children. Of the two sons, one is a lawyer and the other an engineer; the daughter is a violinist. The caustic and bitter billionaire Edward Cole owns many hospitals, has been through his fair share of divorces and has one missing daughter. The Corporate billionaire Edward Cole and working class mechanic Carter Chambers have nothing in common except for their terminal illnesses. Following Edward's work ethics, rather than give him a private room during his stay, his hospital puts him in the same room as Carter. As time goes on the two men become close and when Edward finds Carter's 'bucket list' in the garbage, listing all he wanted to do before dying, he includes his own items on the list and invites Carter to a journey of friendship, discovery and redemption. Both of them heal each other, become unlikely friends, and ultimately find joy in life. Their initial adventures, like sky diving and race car driving, are high-adrenaline stunts embraced with macho zeal; they even visit a tattoo parlor. As they follow an itinerary that takes them to the south of France, the Pyramids, the Taj Mahal, the Himalayas and Hong Kong.

II. ANALYSIS AND REACTION

A. ANALYSIS

When Carter begins writing a "bucket list", or things to do before he "kicks the bucket" or dies. After hearing he has less than a year, Carter discards the list. Edward finds it the next morning and urges Carter to do everything on the list and adds more things to do, and offers to finance the trip for the both of them. Carter agrees, despite the protests of his wife, Virginia. Edward and Carter begins an around-the-world vacation. They go skydiving together, drive a Shelby Mustang, fly over the North Pole, eat dinner at Chevre d'Or in France, visit and praise the beauty and history of Taj Mahal, India, ride motorcycles on the Great Wall of China, and attend a