Iris Between Escape and Entrapment

Taxi Driver

This thread follows Iris’s limited choices, from the brief attempted departure in Travis’s cab to her return to family life after the violent rescue.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Brief Attempt A Brief Attempt from "Taxi Driver". A Brief Attempt Into the taxi Iris gets into Travis’s cab and asks him to leave quickly. Sport pulls her out before the cab can carry her away.

A Brief Attempt from "Taxi Driver". A Brief Attempt Into the taxi Iris gets into Travis’s cab and asks him to leave quickly. Sport pulls her out before the cab can carry her away.

A Brief Attempt Into the taxi Iris gets into Travis’s cab and asks him to leave quickly. Sport pulls her out before the cab can carry her away. A departure without consent The incident suggests that Iris has tried to leave, but she later says she was intoxicated and had nowhere else to go. Her wishes remain difficult for Travis to interpret.

The Street Routine The Street Routine from "Taxi Driver". The Street Routine Work under supervision Iris continues walking the streets with other young women while Sport manages access to her.

The Street Routine from "Taxi Driver". The Street Routine Work under supervision Iris continues walking the streets with other young women while Sport manages access to her.

The Street Routine Work under supervision Iris continues walking the streets with other young women while Sport manages access to her. Travis spots her again but first drives away when she approaches. A complicated connection Her work is plainly dangerous, but she does not present herself as a passive figure awaiting rescue. The distance between her view and Travis’s becomes central to their later talks.

The Room Called Home The Room Called Home from "Taxi Driver". The Room Called Home An ordinary interior Iris leads Travis to the room where she stays, decorated with music and posters.

The Room Called Home from "Taxi Driver". The Room Called Home An ordinary interior Iris leads Travis to the room where she stays, decorated with music and posters.

The Room Called Home An ordinary interior Iris leads Travis to the room where she stays, decorated with music and posters. She calls it home and treats the paid visit as routine. A gap in understanding Travis sees a child who must be removed from danger, while Iris regards his rescue demand as strange. Their exchange reveals how different their definitions of safety have become.

Parents and a Possible Community

Parents and a Possible Community Rejected home Iris says that her parents hate her and explains why she left. She considers a community elsewhere but does not want to travel alone. A tentative offer Travis offers money and a future letter, presenting departure as a chance at safety. He does not tell her that he expects to disappear into a dangerous plan.

Return to School Return to School from "Taxi Driver". Return to School A new setting Iris returns to school and works hard, according to her parents’ letter to Travis.

Return to School from "Taxi Driver". Return to School A new setting Iris returns to school and works hard, according to her parents’ letter to Travis.

Return to School A new setting Iris returns to school and works hard, according to her parents’ letter to Travis. Her family is relieved that she has come home. A guarded resolution Her parents say they have taken steps to prevent another escape. The letter frames her return as a happy ending while leaving Iris’s own long-term feelings unclear.

Late one night near Tompkins Square

After the failed ride, before Travis finds Iris again

During Travis’s paid visit to Iris

The afternoon after the visit

After the shootings and Iris’s return to Pittsburgh