Everything is perfect…who knew that life was this easy? Lester and Angela agree that people in the contemporary society live in a lie and that they are unable to see the truth because they are actually in love with the imagined world and they hold on to it regardless of the costs. Lester thinks about how he was about to commit suicide just a day before, but he stopped because he realized that there was more to life than that. As the couple get closer to a gas station they are about to rob, they become less enthusiastic about their condition, but they proceed with their plan. Angela needs to get the cashier's attention and influence him in abandoning the cash register while Lester moves in and silently steals the money -- they believe that it is easier for them to get money without using their guns. The plan works perfectly until the cashier violently pushes Angela and attempts to rape her. Lester is left breathless as he realizes the gravity of the situation and yells: "Stop! You and people like you are the reason I do not want to live on this planet anymore! Corruption is everywhere and no matter how much I try to escape…the only solution is for me to take action." He shoots the cashier, grabs the money and the girl and performs a getaway in the red firebird...

He opens his eyes and feels a powerful pain in his throat. The gun he stole from the colonel was filled with blanks. He sighs and accepts his fate, acknowledging that none of his dreams will ever materialize…not even the one when he takes his own life. He doesn't know whether to be happy about it or whether he should cry.
Works cited:

Hasford, Gustav. "The Short-Timers." Harper and Row, 1979.

Woolrich, Cornell. "It Had to Be Murder." Retrieved December 14, 2011, from the Miette Website: http://www.miettecast.com/woolrich.pdf

Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Rear Window. Paramount Pictures, 1954.

Dir. Clint Eastwood. Unforgiven. Warner Bros., 1992.

Dir. Fred Zinnemann. High Noon. United Artists, 1952.

Dir. Sam Mendes. American Beauty. DreamWorks Pictures, 1999.

Dir. Stanely Kubrick. Full Metal Jacket. Warner Bros., 1987.