In various guises, a search for redemption is a common feature of many of the protagonists in Scorsese's films. J.R. (Who's That Knocking at My Door, 1969), Charlie (Mean Streets, 1973), Travis (Taxi Driver, 1975), Christ (The Last Temptation of Christ, 1988), Henry (GoodFellas, 1990), Sam Bowden (Cape Fear, 1991), Sam Rothstein (Casino, 1995), Frank (Bringing Out the Dead, 1999), Amsterdam (Gangs of New York, 2002) or Teddy (Shutter Island, 2010) are just some of the characters in Scorsese's filmography whose stories of redemption constitute the central conflict of their respective narratives. This search for redemption usually involves the character going through a violent process to cleanse him of his faults. Sometimes this takes the form of physical cleansing elements, such as blood in the case of Mean Streets, Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, or fire as in Casino. As Michael Bliss says, "this pattern of violence followed by enlightenment continually reasserts itself, a horrifying situation since it makes violence a prerequisite to self-awareness."3 This is why violence in Scorsese's films, unlike in those of Sam Peckimpah or Sergio Leone, for example, is presented more from the individual than the social perspective.
This doesn't mean that all of the characters mentioned achieve redemption. In Scorsese's explorations of the role of violence in redemption, a spectrum of possible versions range from the clearly redeemed Frank of Bringing Out the Dead, to Sam in Casino who achieved and then lost it, right up to Henry in GoodFellas who seems immune to any possible redemption. But of all the characters that undertake this search, perhaps it is the story of Jake La Motta in Raging Bull that for many reasons presents the greatest challenge to understanding redemption's role in the narratives of Scorsese's films. Is Jake La Motta a redeemed character at the end of Raging Bull? It might seem a straightforward question that would require a yes or no answer, but the reality is that it is a much more complicated issue.
