An Essay on the Friendship Between Miss Daisy and Hoke (Film)

This essay provides an analysis of the friendship and companionship that develops between Miss Daisy and Hoke in the film "Driving Miss Daisy." The essay explores how their bond transcends societal barriers of race, religion, and social status prevalent in 20th-century America. It highlights Miss Daisy's initial prejudices and reluctance to accept Hoke, contrasting this with the eventual deep connection they form over 25 years. The analysis examines key events, such as the death of Miss Daisy's household assistant and the bombing of the synagogue, which contribute to the evolution of their relationship. The essay emphasizes how their friendship challenges and ultimately overcomes the prejudices and social norms of the time, culminating in Miss Daisy's acknowledgment of Hoke as her best friend. The essay concludes by asserting that the film uses comedy to underscore the idea that genuine friendship is not defined by superficial attributes like race or social standing, but rather by mutual respect, understanding, and shared experiences.

Running head: DRIVING MISS DAISY
DRIVING MISS DAISY: AN ANALYSIS OF THE FRIENDSHIP AND
COMPANIONSHIP BETWEEN MISS DAISY AND HOKE
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1DRIVING MISS DAISY
As opined by Bernardi and Green, friendship and companionship not only form an
integral part of the lives of the individuals but over the years had formed the central themes
of a great many motion pictures as well. England, Ganzer and Tosone are of the viewpoint
that the friendship and the companionship that the individuals share with others are
influenced by the diverse social factors like race, skin colour, social status and others. In this
regard, the movie “Driving Miss Daisy” is an important one since it shows the development
of a friendship and companionship among Miss Daisy and Hoke in complete contradiction to
the societal norms which were being followed Georgia, USA back in the 20th century. This
essay will undertake an analysis of the friendship and companionship that Miss Daisy share
with Hoke in the movie “Driving Miss Daisy”.
The movie “Driving Miss Daisy” (1989), directed by Bruce Beresford, is a cinematic
version of the play of the same name which was written by Alfred Uhry (Imbd.com). The
concerned movie is generally considered to be one of the best comedy movies produced in
the nation of America and this becomes apparent from the fact that at the 62nd Academy
Awards it won four awards (Canby). The movie under discussion here features Morgan
Freeman, Jessica Tandy, Dan Aykroyd and others in the lead roles and is often considered to
be one of the most important initial movies of Morgan Freeman (Rollingstone.com). In this
regard, it needs to be said that the central plot of the concerned movie revolves around Miss
Daisy, a wealthy Jewish woman in her 70s with a son and Hoke, an African-American
chauffeur (Imbd.com). As a matter of fact, it is seen that the movie through the representation
of the bond that Miss Daisy and Hoke share with each other highlight the different facets of
the 20th century American society like racism, anti-Semitism, prejudice, racial violence and
others (Billington).
The movie “Driving Miss Daisy” in a succinct manner highlights the manner in which
a strong bond of friendship and companionship grows between the two protagonists of the

2DRIVING MISS DAISY
movie over a span of 25 years. For example, at the very outset of the movie it is seen that
Miss Daisy is just like the other American individuals with a substantial amount of prejudice
and hatred for the African Americans of the concerned nation. This finds evidence from the
rancour that Miss Daisy displays towards Hoke at their first meeting in the words “I wouldn't
be in your shoes if the Sweet Lord Jesus come down and asked me himself” (Imbd.com).
Needless to say, she was very reluctant to hire Hoke as her driver and displayed a substantial
amount of prejudice and also indulged in racist actions that becomes apparent from her
behaviour as well as the manner in which she addresses Hoke (Billington). However, the
status quo of the relationship between Miss Daisy and Hoke soon begins to change after the
death of Idella, her household assistant, the bombing of the synagogue in which she goes to
pray, the alienation that she had to receive at the hands of her own son who as a matter of fact
completely forsakes her and others (Canby). The resultant effect of this is that Hoke
gradually over a span of 25 years not only becomes a companion of Miss Daisy but at the
same time a close friend of hers as well.
The friendship as well as the companionship that Miss Daisy and Hoke share in the
movie under discussion here transcends the commonly held opinions regarding the same in
the 19th century American society (Rollingstone.com). For example, although at the initial
stages of the movie Miss Daisy is prejudiced against Hoke and judges him on the basis of his
skin colour as well as the social status to which he belongs (Billington). However, it is seen
that the conception of Miss Daisy towards Hoke changes in a significant manner as the movie
progresses on the score of the different events which happens. As a matter of fact, at the end
of the movie under discussion here Miss Daisy even acknowledges the fact that “Hoke, you're
my best friend” (Imbd.com). This is important because of the fact that while highlighting the
social paradigm of the 20th century American society, the movie through the bond that Miss
Daisy and Hoke share with each other in a succinct manner also highlights the fact that

3DRIVING MISS DAISY
friendship transcends race, skin colour, social status and other attributes which are considered
to be important factors even in the present times for the inculcation of friendship.
To conclude, the friendship and companionship that Miss Daisy and Hoke share with
each in the movie “Driving Miss Daisy” forms the fulcrum point of the concerned movie. In
this regard, it needs to be said that the friendship or the companionship that Miss Daisy and
Hoke share with each other transcends the entities of race, social status, skin colour and
others which were considered to be the most important determinants for the inculcation of
friendship with the individuals. Thus, it can be said that the most important aspect of the
movie under discussion here is the fact that it uses the genre of comedy to highlight the fact
that the bond of friendship does not depends on the attributes of race, skin colour and others.
These aspects of the movie “Driving Miss Daisy” and the friendship between Miss Daisy and
Hoke become apparent from the above analysis.

4DRIVING MISS DAISY
References
Bernardi, Daniel, and Michael Green, eds. Race in American Film: Voices and Visions that
Shaped a Nation [3 volumes]. ABC-CLIO, 2017.
Billington, Michael. "Driving Miss Daisy – Review". 2019,
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2011/oct/06/driving-miss-daisy-theatre-review.
Canby, Vincent. "Review/Film; 'Miss Daisy,' Chamber Piece From The Stage". 2019,
https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/13/movies/review-film-miss-daisy-chamber-piece-
from-the-stage.html.
England, Suzanne, Carol Ganzer, and Carol Tosone. "Memory's Stories and Sites in Driving
Miss Daisy." Storytelling (2015): 7.
Imdb.com. "Driving Miss Daisy (1989) - Imdb". 2019,
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097239/.
Rollingstone.com. "Driving Miss Daisy". 2019,
https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-reviews/driving-miss-daisy-116330/.