Losing care and hope for the things that drove you to be who you are is a very hard thing to swallow and deal with. The loss of humanity makes it harder to remain sane but most if not all people, have loved ones who care about them enough to bring them back into their natural state of mind. Redemption is the only way back to humanity, and you can only go so far without it. In the movie, “I Am Legend” the characters struggled from the loss of humanity, they had nobody to depend on and they were stuck to do it all by themselves. Facing the world’s hardest times on their own such as a world wide infection that caused them their lives was something that they couldn’t bare. As for the main character, he had all the resources that he needed to save the world but the only way to do that was to gain his humanity back and fix what he knew only he could solve. With the loss of humanity and redemption being tossed to and fro, there were universal story elements that were needed in order to help the characters balance the two which were Heroic Scenario, Parable, Sacrificial love, and Social cohesion.
Heroic Scenario is the very first universal story element that helps build the theme of redemption in the movie, “I Am Legend”. Robert was ready to give up and throw in the towel because he had lost his humanity and focus. Things were not going the way that he planned them to go so he no longer wanted to live. There was a startle factor in the movie when Robert was in the middle of
When one hears the title I Am Legend being mentioned, they usually associate it with Will Smith and the terrific job he did in portraying the protagonist of the story Robert Neville. However, what they typically leave out is the equally terrific job done by author Richard Matheson coming up with the storyline and writing the original book version. While Richard Matheson’s post-apocalyptic science fiction book, I Am Legend, and Francis Lawrence’s post-apocalyptic science fiction movie, I Am Legend, both have similarities and differences, in the end, the original book version prevails mainly because the movie version alters the original storyline too much.
The five aspects of a quest are ( A.) a quester, ( B.) a place to go, ( C.) a started reason to go there, ( D.) challenges and trials en route, ( E.) and a real reason to do there. “Once you figure out quest, the rest is easy”. The started goal fades away throughout the story line and a new one is created. In the movie The Wizard of Oz the ( A.) Quester is a young, naive Dorothy, who is from Kansas. Dorothy is caught in a tornado and lands in the Land of Oz. ( B.) A Place To Go: When Dorothy arrives in Oz she finds out the only person the can get her back home is The Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz, who lives in the Emerald City, and the only way to get there is to follow the Yellow Brick Road. ( C.) As Stated Reason To Go There: Dorothy wants
Chris ventured off into the wild and away from his course of life for one reason, to escape his problems and society. Chris was brought up in a privileged household,, but not everything in his childhood was perfect. Jon Krakauer, the author of Into the Wild, interviewed Chris’s sister who said, “‘We learned to count on each other when Mom and Dad weren’t getting along’”(75). He had problems that he could no longer endure and his only solution was to permanently run away. But in Robert Neville’s case in the movie I Am Legend, he had problems with zombies, or Darkseekers, and there was no society to run away from. He believed he was the only person and
Many people say that the metal of a man is found in his ability to keep his ideals in spite of anything that life can through at you. If a man is found to have done these things he can be called a hero. Through a lifelong need to accept responsibility for all living things, Robert Ross defines his heroism by keeping faith with his ideals despite the betrayal, despair and tragedy he suffers throughout the course of The Wars by Timothy Findley.
How does Andrew Niccol use film techniques to interpret the key themes and values in GATTACA?
Hillenbrand, L. (2010). Unbroken: A World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption. New York: Random House.
Out of the Past is definitely an interesting movie with a lot of things to talk about. I will touch briefly upon two main things I have noticed during the screen: the film noire genre and the image of the femme fatale.
In the book, Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, Louie Zamperini was majorly obsessed with vengeance throughout the end of the book that his life was consumed by the quest for it. Louie felt as if the Bird had stolen his dignity at the POW campsites, where he was beaten, humiliated, starved, and stripped of his powers of self-defense. Louie was overwhelmed with his anger that the only objective he sought was to get revenge on the Bird. In other words, Louie was angered about his loss of dignity at the POW campsite, he wanted to get revenge on the Bird by killing him, and how Louie eventually forgives the Bird for what he did to him. These three reasons show how Louie’s loss of self-dignity in the POW camp was pursued.
Guided by his undying love for his sister, Robert’s call to action is intrinsically motivated by an ironic catalyst that leads to his own eventual death; the desire to preserve life. At the climax of the novel, Robert’s courage tempers out his Achilles’ heel of introverted moral justness. His ascendance to the position of officer is only natural considering that his resilience and persistence strengthen significantly as he begins to imitate the hero archetype upheld by most war novels, though his concealed struggles with morality and obedience as exposed by his actions confirm him to be a tragic hero. Even with his elevated position, Robert demonstrates many instances of nurturing as he develops into a strong man weathered by the war, as opposed to the typical hardening experienced by most men on the front lines. The telltale quality of morality demonstrated only by a tragic hero is a tragic flaw in itself, as it forces acts that would otherwise be self-indulgent to take on an air of humility. “The man with the broken legs was lying by the water’s edge. He was already the colour of death. … ‘Put that [gas mask] over his face.’” (124) Robert’s dangerous, selfless acts for those who are arguably hopeless are not only consistently futile, but they endanger him and jeopardize
I Am Legend depicts morality as derived from the beliefs of one man. The novel takes place following the end of society caused by war, drought, and widespread disease. In the pre-apocalyptic society morals are formed through a general consensus reinforced through traditions that are centuries old. However, the society that once was no longer remains in I Am Legend. Following the collapse of human civilization and the death of almost every human, morality becomes a completely egocentric principle. Robert Neville is the only human to be immune to the vampiric disease. As such, he believes that he is the only sentient being. He is the last surviving person, the last relic of an era. With a loss of society, there is no one
The theme is a tremendously essential part of any poem. The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics defines a theme as something that “refers simply to the subject or topic treated in a discourse or a part of it” (R.O.E. and T.V.F.B. 1281). In other words, the theme is simply the focus of one’s work or discussion. The two poems, “Musée des Beaux Arts” and “Waiting for Icarus,” contain similar themes. In “Musée des Beaux Arts” and “Waiting for Icarus” there is a strong theme of abandonment found throughout both of the poems. In “Musée des Beaux Arts” it is Icarus, the subject of Breughel’s painting, who is being abandoned while drowning in the sea. Auden clearly portrays this when he writes, “In Breughel’s Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away / Quite leisurely from the disaster” (lns. 14-15). Auden uses these lines to describe how everyone is ignoring Icarus’ current predicament. Auden examines the disaster even further by stating, “the sun shone / As it had to on the white legs disappearing into green / Water” (lns. 17-19). Here, Auden is clearly telling his readers that Icarus is drowning, but life was carrying on anyway; thus proving the theme of abandonment. “Waiting for Icarus” also incorporates the theme of abandonment, although Rukeyser does not depict it as fatally as Auden does. Rukeyser expresses the theme of abandonment in her poem when she writes, “I have been waiting all day, or perhaps longer. / I would have liked to try those wings myself. / It would have been better than this” (lns. 20-22). Here, Rukeyser depicts the persona as someone who has been waiting a long time for her lover to show up and Rukeyser makes it pretty clear that he is not going to. Therefore, Rukeyser shows her readers that the persona has been tragically abandoned by her lover. Auden and Rukeyser both use the theme of abandonment in their poems in order to show their readers how painful it is to be discarded by the world.
Although epic hero’s either fictional or non-fictional have similar journeys while becoming a hero, each character has distinct characteristics that present divergent outcomes. Two of the most evident characteristics that come to mind when thinking of a hero is bravery and strength. Amongst Gilgamesh, Beowulf, Luke Skywalker, Sunjata, and Rostam they’re all brave strong men with their own traits that shape them into heroes. All five of these men’s lives begin in an ordinary world when they receive a call to an adventure. Each hero has the choice to either refuse or accept the journey that they have been called upon. In “The Hero With A Thousand Faces,” Campbell’s gives an example of how the call to adventure
Horror Essay Within many of the stories we discussed, determination is seen as a key factor when it comes to one's survival. For instance, in Survivor Type, Richard Pine’s survival is motivated through his arrogance. Similarly, Sanger Rainsford’s survival, in The Dangerous game, is motivated through his determination in not allowing himself to succumb to his fears. The movie I am Legend shows the contrary, as Robert Neville falls into a suicidal state, losing all hope in survival, once his dog dies.
In comparison to classical heroes otherwise known as ordinary people, a hero is seen as a person who is admired or idealized for outstanding achievements, courage and noble qualities. Robert tries to take on the responsibility of a “guardian”, to protect his sister Rowena, who is in an abnormal state and looked down upon by society. Yet, when Rowena desperately needed Robert, “he was locked in his bedroom. Making love to his pillows” (Findley, 16). After Rowena’s death Robert reacts by enlisting himself in war. “So Robert Ross was admitted to the army, 2nd of April, 1915” (Findley, 24). In search of innocence, Robert Ross loses his own due to the calamities of war. Rowena’s death served as a catalyst for Robert to join the army. Initially,
However, since the hero is part of society, the journey is also one of personal development. On a more psychological level, one could suggest that the hero’s quest is symbolic of all personal conflict. Conflict begins when a problem arises that must be dealt with. Most people, at first, refuse to come to terms with whatever this problem may be, and attempt to ignore it. With enough mental determination and/or aid from an outside source, however, one can bring themselves to cross the first threshold, and begin their journey into the heart of the problem. For example, victims of rape or other types of abuse must face what is haunting them in order for it to be exorcised properly.