There are not a whole lot of pure citizens, whether they are good or bad, in this world. Most have both positive and negative qualities, and the potential to become a better or worse citizen within their lifetime. Karen Silkwood, Drew Stephens, and Winston, "the picture man," are three characters from the film Silkwood, who show varying levels of citizenship, which is loosely defined as bettering ones country or community through personal actions, throughout the movie.
Karen Silkwood, a model of the southern American, blue collar, confederate, activist, is a nuclear power plant worker with a mission. During the last chapter of her life she is in a battle with the company for which she works. Karen realizes the safety practices of the power plant are very lax once she accidentally witnesses the dismantling of a "cooked," or radiation-poisoned truck while leaving the plant. This, and the contamination of one of her fellow employees, spurs her on to do something about the problem with safety regulations. She joins the union at work and begins the biggest fight of her life.
This shows how much Karen cares about her community, namely her place of employment. She displays her good citizenship through her actions, which are aimed at reforming the industry that owned her hometown of Crescent, Oklahoma. By trying to expose the truth behind some of the power plants unsafe practices, Karen Silkwood defines herself as a model citizen, worthy of emulation.
Ms. Silkwood refuses to give into the powerful company and stays strong through most of the film, until she finds out that she is internally contaminated with radioactive plutonium. Once this is revealed to her she begins to show her first signs of weakness as she runs away from her problems for a short while, instead of facing them. However, she soon recollects herself and fights the power once again, until her mysterious death at the end of the film.
