Characters

The film The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) directed by Gabriele Muccino follows the story of Chris Gardner, a salesman who wants to become a stockbroker, and the challenges he faces when trying to secure his dream job. His son, Christopher, is another important character in the story, as he represents the main motivation for Chris and at the same time, his only source of comfort. The relationship between Chris and his son is, therefore, an important aspect of the plot.

Other characters in the film are presented in relation to Chris, and their actions further the development of his story. Chris’ wife, Linda is unsupportive and distrustful of him, and ends up leaving him. The people working at Dean Witter, Mr. Frohm, Jay Twistle and Mr. Frakesh, end up being impressed by Chris who earns their respect. Mrs. Chu, who owns Christopher’s daycare, and Wayne, Chris’ friend, appear as antagonistic figures, whom Chris argues with.

You can read full characterizations of the main characters, as well as an analysis of the relationship between Christopher and Chris in the following pages.

Excerpt from the study guide:

Chris is smart and has good math skills. His nickname when he was a child was “Ten-Gallon Head” (00:17:18-00:17:20), which referred to his big brain. By his own admission, when he was a child, he “could go through a math book in a week.” (00:10:59-11:00:02). He manages to solve Jay’s Rubik’s cube during a taxi ride, after having successfully worked out the mechanism behind it. When he takes the board exam, he is the first to finish it, including the essay on the last page that another candidate missed.

Chris is also creative, resourceful and able to think on the spot in practical situations. When he and his son become homeless, Chris makes up a story about travelling back in time to see the dinosaurs. He plays it up until Christopher is thrilled about spending the night in a public bathroom, which they pretend is an underground cave to keep safe from the dinosaurs. In this way, Chris changes what could have been a traumatic experience for Christopher into ...