Resilience Story Presentation

Running head: RESILIENCE STORY ANALYSIS 1

Resilience Story Analysis: ​Maudie ​Film

Student’s name

Class

Professor

August 4, 2020

RESILIENCE STORY ANALYSIS 2

Resilience Story Analysis: ​Maudie ​Film

Rhetorical Analysis to the Resilience Story

Maudie ​is a drama film that came to existence in 2016. The movie was co-directed by

Aisling Walsh, Sally Hawkins, and Ethan Hawke. The biographical drama film describes the life

of Maud Lewis, a renowned artist who concentrated her artistic work in Nova Scotia. The movie

targets Lewis’ fans and other persons that would wish to learn the struggles that the artist

overcame to become who she is today. Filming of the film happened in Newfoundland at the

expense of Nova Scotia. The producers’ choice of Newfoundland was the belief that residents of

the region could offer more funding for the cinema unlike the support that residents of Ontario

and Ireland could offer. In my view, the context also corresponds to the indication of resilience

and struggles in Lewis’ life in the sense that the artist sought funding for the movie. Had Lewis’

life been smooth, the lady could not have resolved to film the movie in Newfoundland in the

hope for financial aid. The genre of the movie is drama. The genre’s impact on the message and

depicting resilience is emphasis on the events that happened in Lewis’ life. In this context, the

production focused on eliciting emotions from the suffering that the main character underwent.

The intention, in my view, is to have viewers gain insights into the resilience story and aspects of

the movie. Facing challenges in life potentially increases the victim’s resilience, the outcome of

which is success in personal endeavors.

The Character and Aspects that Exhibit Resilience

In the movie, the person that exhibits resilience is Maud. Resilience is evident in Maud’s

characters, decisions, and actions. Furthermore, the lady’s success best explains the need and

outcome of resilience. The lady encounters challenges that relate to physical infirmity. The

RESILIENCE STORY ANALYSIS 3

challenge leads to rejection by both society and family members. However, Maud believes that

she had the capacity to excel in life and even applied for a job despite the fact that the employer

was reluctant to offer her the opportunity due to infirmity. The lady also endures physical abuse

by the employer and seeks an approach to overcome the situation. The lady ultimately becomes a

professional painter and earns a fortune from the activities.

The Aspects that render the Character Resilient

Virtually every aspect of the movie involves some sort of resilience. It should not escape

the reader’s attention that the movie is filmed in the context of the 1930s. The period of the

movie suggests that it must have been hard for a person with physical infirmities to exist

peacefully in society. The movie is about a lady that faced multiple challenges in life but

overcame them all to become a successful painting artist. One of the challenges that Dowley

faced is that she suffered from rheumatoid arthritis. In this context, the pain that came with the

disorder was unbearable. Evidence of the magnitude of the pain was that the lady resorted to

heavy smoking to deal. Arthritis also caused the lady an unusual gait, which made community

members to mistake her as being stupid and incapable woman. Any person will agree that

enduring the tag of an incompetent and incapacitated person is not a walk in the park. While a

victim may endure unwarranted stereotypes from community members, the worst bit is when

family members hold a similar view regarding one of their own (​Van Breda, 2018​). Such was the

case for Lewis, whose brother and Aunt with whom she lived, held the belief that she was living

with disabilities. The other instance of resilience was discrimination when she applied for a job

as a housekeeper. In the movie, it is clear that the hirer did not want to hire a person living with

disabilities. Notably, the discrimination could not have happened at a worst time, when she

RESILIENCE STORY ANALYSIS 4

sought independence from family members. As if the discrimination was not enough, the lady

received beatings from her employer whenever the latter alleged that the former did not meet his

expectations.

What the Character Bounces back From

Maud bounces back on several occasions throughout the movie. One of the instances was

the review of her approach to dealing with the pain that emanated from arthritis. Turning to

heavy smoking to relieve pain was not the most appropriate solution. However, the lady

successfully overcame the approach, and towards the end of the movie, she is not depicted as a

heavy smoker. The other instance in which the main character bounces back is illustrated by her

decision to seek independence from her brother and aunt. In this case, the lady realized that their

belief about her situation was detrimental to her progress in life. The lady’s wit is evident in her

decision to seek an alternative and bounce back from living with Charlie and Ida and the

resulting rejection. As already highlighted, the community in which Maud lived believed that the

lady was stupid and somewhat incapable of undertaking normal activities due to her health

situation. However, the lady bounces back when she is the only applicant for a job posting to

serve as a housekeeper for Everett Lewis (​Movieclips, 2017​). I believe that the rationale of

Maud’s decision was to prove community members wrong regarding the notion that they held

about her. Maud’s potential employer initially rejected the former’s request for a job on account

of incapacity to undertake the role. In normal circumstances, a person that is rejected on such

grounds would lose morale to negotiate for the opportunity. However, Maud exhibited resilience

and bounced back from rejection by negotiating part of responsibilities for the job.

RESILIENCE STORY ANALYSIS 5

Screenshot 1: Maud undertakes one of her roles that she successfully negotiated as house help at

Everett’s home

My view is that Maud was resilient enough to have Everett change his mind and view

regarding the former’s situation and capability. The lady received a beating from her employer.

However, the beating did not discourage her from pursuing her course in life. I would expect that

the mistreatment would have prompted the lady to go back to her family members who, despite

viewing her as an absolute cripple, did not abuse her physically. However, the lady turned to

painting the interior of the house and small cards with happy pictures.

RESILIENCE STORY ANALYSIS 6

​

Screenshot 2: Maud draws on the wall to make up for the beating that she received from her

employer.

Unknown to her, the paintings would attract the attention of Sandra, a New York socialite

that promotes the former’s talent and skills. Above all, Maud’s decision to relate her experiences

is a way of bouncing back from the suffering that she underwent.

How and when Maud builds Resilience

Resilience may be viewed as the ability to overcome challenges in life. In like manner, the

concept may be defined as the overcoming and enduring capacity that people develop as a result

of undergoing suffering and hardships. In the context of the movie, several elements are

responsible for making Maud resilient, one of which is the disease that she suffered from. The

ailment taught the lady to endure hardships and develop comprehensive approaches to dealing

with hardships. It is true that the approach that she adopts initially is subject to debate regarding

its suitability. However, Maud seemingly learnt from her mistakes, and happenings later in the

movie illustrate the selection of commendable solutions to problems. As an illustration, the lady

RESILIENCE STORY ANALYSIS 7

resorted to drawing when her employer beat her up allegedly due to poor performance (​Hadfield

& Ungar, 2018​). The other element that depicted Maud’s resilience is rejection from multiple

quarters. In the movie, the lady faced rejection from, among others, family members, society,

and potential employers. However, Maud knew that she held different capabilities from people’s

views, a belief that probably encouraged her to fight hard to shed the tags. Physical abuse is the

other aspect that built Maud’s resilience. The abuse primarily takes the form of a beating by the

employer. When the beating happens, Maud does not flee the workplace. Instead, the resilience

that develops causes her to undertake drawing. Remarkably, the outcome was impressive.

Screenshot 3: Maud’s encounter with Oscar award winner. The screenshot points to the

impressive outcome that the author describes in the text.

Resilience Kinds Depicted in the Movie

The movie is a perfect example of resilience as it exhibits resilience scenarios and types. In

this case, one of the types that it illustrates is physical resilience. The variant is evident in the fact

RESILIENCE STORY ANALYSIS 8

that Maud did not flee the workplace after her employer abused her physically. In the process,

the lady would be sure that her employer would accord her a beating in the future, but the former

remained at the place of work. Physical resilience is also evident in the lady’s choice of a

drawing clear (​Movieclips, 2017​). Maud’s medical condition commonly affects a victim’s joints.

Despite the situation, Maud chose a career that involved use of hands. It is my view that no better

scenarios would illustrate physical resilience. The movie also illustrates social resilience in that

the lady courageously endures the tags that the society and family members accorded her (​Bryan

et al. 2019​). Similarly, Maud successfully endured and overcame social rejection by Everett, a

potential employer, who held the belief that the lady did not have the capacity to undertake job

related activities. The film also illustrates emotional resilience on the part of the main character.

There is no doubt that suffering rejection like Maud did would lead to emotional numerous

emotional challenges. Examples of such challenges may include stress and depression although

the movie does not highlight a situation in which Maud experienced such. However, the lady

overcame the challenges to become a successful artist that people emulate. Mental resilience is

also evident in film under analysis. The aspect mainly relates to the pain that Maud endured due

to her condition, rheumatoid arthritis. Moreover, the smoking that she practiced relates to her

mental faculties to gain relief to pain (​IMDB, 2020​). Notably, the lady thrives despite the pain.

Conclusion

In conclusion, ​Maudie ​film consists of multiple events that exhibit resilience. The movie

focuses on the resilience story of a single character as opposed to multiple characters. In the

movie, the character bounces back from multiple situations that appear to derail her prospects for

individual progress. Some of the aspects that build the character’s resilience include disease,

RESILIENCE STORY ANALYSIS 9

rejection, and physical abuse. Notably, the personality is able to overcome the stumbling blocks

to become successful against the expectations of many people. The film illustrates four types of

resilience, which are physical, emotional, mental, and social.

RESILIENCE STORY ANALYSIS 10

References

Bryan, C., O'Shea, D., & MacIntyre, T. (2019). Stressing the relevance of resilience: A

systematic review of resilience across the domains of sport and work. ​International

Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology​, ​12​(1), 70-111.

IMDB (2020). Maudie Plot. Retrieved from

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3721954/plotsummary

Hadfield, K., & Ungar, M. (2018). Family resilience: Emerging trends in theory and

practice.

Movieclips, T. (2017, Feb 2017). Maudie international trailer #1 2017 [video file].

Van Breda, A. D. (2018). A critical review of resilience theory and its relevance for social

work. ​Social Work​, ​54​(1), 1-18.