Chris Chambers in "Stand By Me"

Recently we watched the movie “Stand By Me” directed by Rob Reiner and based off of the Stephen King novel “The Body”.  The story follows four young boys, Vern Tessio, Teddy Duchamp, Chris Chambers and Gordie Lachance, as they make a journey to find a dead body.  Through out the movie the boys make the change from the innocence of children into the maturity of adulthood.  One boy, Chris Chambers is portrayed as the leader of the group because he cares and looks after the other three.  He does this because he wants to prove to society that he is not a criminal, he is a respectable person.

It is noted at the beginning of the movie that Chris came from a family of criminals and alcoholics and is usually associated as one.  Chris establishes himself as the leader of the group and goes out of his way to look after the other boys to prove to society that he is a good kid not a criminal. While walking along the train tracks, on their way to find the body, they see the train coming behind them and all of the boys step off of the tracks except for Teddy.  Teddy is convinced that he can, and will, dodge the train when it gets closer.  The train gets closer and closer, but Teddy stays still on the tracks.  Chris starts pleading with him to get off of the tracks, but Teddy still didn’t budge.  Finally Chris climbs up on the tracks with Teddy and pulls him off the tracks.  This incident shows that Chris really cares about his friends.  He puts his own life at risk to make sure that his friends are safe.  He wants to show that his family is not just criminals or alcoholics, he is different. 

I think that Chris Chambers is used to show the message of not judging a book by its cover.  People can never assume anything about someone else or something without really knowing them.  People think that just because Chris’s family is made up of criminals and alcoholics that Chris is a trouble maker.  However he is not, in fact he looks after the other boys to keep them out of trouble.  People should never base their opinions about something just on physical appearance or rumors that they have heard from other people.  It makes for misleading interpretation of someone or something.