What is your opinion of the idea that our beliefs are influenced by the

actions of others?

Nowadays, the beliefs of society are influenced by many things such as the challenges of being

persuaded to accomplish something and then competing with others. Faith and confidence in

someone's determination motivates our desire to work with them. The way behaviour can alter is

through the influence of people on us. The actions of someone motivates us to achieve something

better in life. Thesis: In Gus Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting, Will’s intelligence opens him up

with many opportunities in life but he was afraid to take chances because of negative life

experiences. Will was smarter than everyone else in the college but he needed the right guidance

from Sean on how to live life in a better way. Sean teaches Will and he starts to experience life

through his philosophies through which he is able to be more open-minded. In my personal life, I

have always looked up to my father who had struggled a lot when he immigrated to Canada and

had no job. His determination to look after his family motivated his desire to earn a diploma in

civil engineering and support his family.

Individuals are often lost in thinking about their past which haunts them. In order for them to

overcome this, they would need help and support from someone who would be able to

understand their feelings in a much better way. The right guidance would motivate individuals to

make better decisions in their future. In the film, Will is a character who starts off as someone

who struggles with internal conflict which was mainly because he was the victim of childhood

abuse. He had been assaulted by many of his foster parents. Will was a janitor who had a genius

level IQ. This quality has given him the capability of becoming a very successful individual

though he seems to be confused about what he wants from life and what he wants to achieve.
Sean becomes a mentor to him who guides him towards the right way and makes him realize

what he wants to achieve. Sean tries to explain Will that he needs to open up and reveal things

and people who he loves. “I ask you about love, y'probably quote me a sonnet. But you've never

looked at a woman and been totally vulnerable... known someone that could level you with her

eyes.” Sean realizes that Will is stuck between the uncertainty of love and he doesn't know if

there is anything which he would love or would do anything for. Sean realizes that Will is not

serious about the therapy and his life so he makes sure that he starts off with something which

would motivate Will to reveal more about himself. Sean realizes that Will has gives importance

to love and which is wrong since love is also a basic human what which everyone needs and

desires. Sean realizes Will’s weakness and tries to make him understand the importance of love

in an individual's life. “You don't know about real loss, because that only occurs when you love

something more than you love yourself. I doubt you've ever dared to love anybody that much.”

Sean tries to explain to Will that he has not experienced the pain of losing someone special since

he has not given anyone the chance to become very close to him. The feeling which an individual

goes through when they lose someone special is unaware to him as he has never had the courage

to expose himself to it. According to Sean, people who have not loved someone else have not

lived their life to the fullest which he tries to make Will understand and accept. As the film

progresses, Will allows his fear and weakness to overtake over the love which he has for Skylar.

“I don't love you.” Will is afraid of getting in a relationship since he is petrified of the

consequences which it can lead to and break his heart. Will still has not gained enough

confidence to allow himself to be vulnerable to someone else in a relationship. As Will goes

through many counselling sessions with Sean, he opens up to him and starts to trust him more

than any other person. Will understood what he wanted from life. “Sean, if the Professor calls
about that job, just tell him, sorry, I had to go see about a girl.” After taking many counselling

sessions from Sean, Will was able to make up his mind and realize that he had to give Skylar a

chance in his life otherwise it would be understood that one's past negative experiences have

managed to overpower one’s present life decisions. Will has embraced and accepted what Sean

had taught him as a mentor. Finally, he had decide that he would leave the high-paying job and

would leave to California to be with Skylar. Will has made the decision which might turn out to

be better for his future. This surely doesn't mean that everything will work out with Skylar but

what does matter is that Will has given love another chance in his life.

There is always someone in our lives whom we look up to whether we are young or adults. My

father is the one whom I have always looked up to. Have you ever felt so lonely that you feel like

doing nothing? Have you ever experienced loneliness so much and you feel that you have no

idea where life is taking you? Have you ever felt worthless and felt that your life had no

purpose? In my personal life, I have been through a very tough phase in my life when I had to

see my father work through the hard times in his life. It all started when we came to Canada and

during the time my father used to struggle to find a perfect job which would suit him. I have

always appreciated him for his efforts to find a job. “I would do anything to support my family

even if I have to do an ordinary job.” By this, I learned that everyone has to go through a good

and a bad phase in their lives and for us this was a bad phase since my father was the only bread

earner in the house. My father started his job as a security guard at Paladin Security. He would

feel very nervous whenever he had to realize that he has to go for his duties and to look after us.

Imagine someone earning money for five family members, wouldn't that be hard? My father

could've left his job and sat at home but instead he chose to look through the difficult situations
and decided to face them on his own. My father completed his civil engineering diploma

alongside doing a job at the Paladin security. I still remember when it was the month of Ramadan

(Muslim month of fasting), he still went for his duties and would still fast during those days since

he is a very religious man. My father has taught me the lesson that we should never be giving up

no matter how bad the situations are in our lives and we need to learn to stand up for our needs.

In conclusion, anyone can influence an individual to do something and or achieve something

great in their lives. All individuals are capable of achieving wonderful things in life and in

unique ways. It is the guidance and the action of other people which influence us to try and do

something better which could also benefit us in the future. In Gus Van Sant’s Good Will

Hunting, Will’s intelligence opens him up with many opportunities in life but he was afraid to

take chances because of negative life experiences. Will was smarter than everyone else in the

college but he needed the right guidance from Sean on how to live life in a better way. Sean

teaches Will and he starts to experience life through his philosophies through which he is able to

be more open-minded. In my personal life, I have always looked up to my father who had

struggled a lot when he immigrated to Canada and had no job. His determination to look after his

family motivated his desire to earn a diploma in civil engineering and support his family. Once

we trust someone a lot, we begin to realize the influence they have in our life and over us.