Essay About Letters Of Transit And Hotel Room

Casablance
Casablance
In a disturbance downstairs in the darkened, closed cafe, Carl arrives with Victor, who has been wounded in the
police raid on the Resistance meeting. After going to investigate from the upstairs balcony, Rick privately instructs
Carl to take “Miss Lund” to her hotel room through a side door so that Laszlo wont know of their meeting. As
Carl sneaks Ilsa away, Rick engages Laszlo in a conversation and a drink to stall for time – and hears again of the
Czechs firm belief in the “good” of the Cause.
Rick: Dont you sometimes wonder if its worth all this? I mean, what youre fighting for.
Laszlo: You might as well question why we breathe. If you stop breathing, well die. If we stop
fighting our enemies, the world will die.
Rick: And what of it? Itll be out of its misery.
Laszlo: Do you know how you sound, Mr. Blaine? Like a man whos trying to convince himself of
something he doesnt believe in his heart. Each of us has a destiny – for good or for evil.
Rick: I get the point.
Laszlo: I wonder if you do. I wonder if you know that youre trying to escape from yourself, and that
youll never succeed.
Rick: You seem to know all about my destiny.
Laszlo does know of their mutual love for “the same woman” – a love for which no one is to blame. Without a
need to seek vindictive revenge or find an explanation, he suggests, in his own self-sacrificial offer, that Rick use
the letters of transit to take Ilsa away from Casablanca to a safe location – as a favor to him. He would remain in
Casablanca and take his chances. Incredulous, Rick is impressed by Laszlos self-less caring, virtuous trust and
devoted love for her:
Laszlo: I know a good deal more about you than you suspect. I know, for instance, that you are in
love with a woman. It is perhaps a strange circumstance that we both should be in love with the
same woman. The first evening I came into this cafe, I knew there was something between you and
Ilsa. Since no one is to blame, I, I demand no explanation. I ask only one thing. You wont give me
the letters of transit. All right. But I want my wife to be safe. I ask you as a favor to use the letters to
take her away from Casablanca.