Our role as individuals in this modern world are often obscured by our desires of happiness as discussed in Robert Warshow's The Gangster as Tragic Hero. Warshow argues that society has developed a model life of happiness, which often "becomes an obligation of citizenship" (336). We want to be happy: to follow the proper path to success and happiness often to the point that, in essence, we lose our individuality in exchange for mainstream living. We all, at some point, want what society, through generations of repetition, acknolwedges as the life that is morally correct. In a sense, it is almost kind of folklore happiness: "understandable only because it has been repeated so often" (Warshow 337). This same happiness, of which Warshow addresses in his essay, is, however, ultimately unsatisfying, and therefore, we often find ourselves searching for a way to escape the world of our manufactured happiness; we want to find something more. Consequently, according to Warshw, we are able to express this act of rebellion, almost counterculture, through various art forms including film, and in particular the archetypal gangster genre. Accordingly, in Infernal Affairs Yan is a detective working undercover as a gang member. Consequently, Yan must find a way to expose the gang's boss for all of his criminal injustices. His task, however, proves to be difficult thanks to Lau, another detective working in the internal affairs department, and who is secretly sided with Sam. In many instances, Lau embodies Warshow's portrayal of the gangster, and in other cases they differ greatly.

Just as Warshow's portrayal of the gangster, Lau's "activity is actually a form of rational enterprise," (Warshow 337). Happiness, despite its selfish existence, is, afterall, still a valid propostion, and Lau's execution to attain this goal remains realistic. He may not be slaying half the population of his town to avenge the death of a close friend, or even lover, but his search for happiness through deception is no different than if he were to find it through bloodshed. Rationality, fortunately, has sided with the otherwise unfortunate Lau. Like Warshow's gangster, Lau reaches his position of satisfaction through various techniques. In Lau's case, deception and is his agreebale persona are the main mediums of his tactics that ulitmatey enables him to reach his goal.

Thus, once the pinnacle of success has been attained, the gangster, according to Warshow, experiences a "...precipitate fall," (337). As the film winds into an end, we finally see the once perfectly intertwined threads of Lau's life unravel. His strong, almost family ties with Sam, and his picturesque relationship with his fiance begin to crumble and we see the unfortunate pitfall of his character. Despite its ill-fated turn out, we enjoy it, gaining a sense of double satisfaction at witnessing the gangster's sadism and then wathicng it turn against himself. It isn't an obvious change, and it certainly does not end in his physical death, but a death is there nonetheless. Instead, we, the audience, begin to notice trivial changes in Lau's character--changes that initially imply that a positive transformation has taken place throughout the span of the film. In one particular instance after his fiance leaves him, he calls her, claiming he has changed: his voice is marked with genuine honesty. Finally, the pinnacle of this transformation is captured at the end of the film when Lau pulls the trigger on Sam. The death of Sam by his own hand, and not Yan, is the ultimate evidence of Warshow's theory. For the first time we are able to come to the conclusion that the gangster Lau is, fundementally, the tragic hero.

However, unlike warshow's portrayal of the gangster, Lau's whole life is not spent as "an effort to assert himself," (Warshow 337). Although, it might initially seem as though he is trying to differentiate himself at his job, ultimately it follows warshow's theory of society's commitment to happiness. Lau wants a mainstream lifestyle, therefore he has taken the inititave steps of progression to attain this goal: he has a stereotypical relationship, moved into a place of his own, and is working his way up the ladder in the interal affairs department. It all follows rigorously with Warshow's argument. There is nothing superior or different to his lifestyle that could otherwise prove that he is trying to individualize himself.

Despite some differences, Lau is the gangster as tragic hero; he is that epitome of Warshow's portrayal simply because he has goals in which he attains through various, almost brutal, techniques, and who, after reaching the climax of life, experiences failure. Lau, not only perfectly embodies Warshow's portrayal of the gangster archetype, but he ultimately symbolzes society as a whole: the ones of us who chase after happiness. In retrospect, we must all be gangsters, and the life lived vicariously through these fictional characters are simply our scapegoats because we're too fearful, too caught up with mainstream life to cross the lines of folklore happiness.