Truman Show Essay

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Kyle Crawford 24/8/2009 Analytical essay; The Truman Show: directed by Peter Weir TASK: Discuss the ways in which Weir uses the Garden of Eden narrative as vehicle for his film. There are many similarities between “The Truman show” and the Garden of Eden. Both stories have gods, and they both have ignorant characters who in time learn the truth about themselves, and the worlds they live in. Many of the similarities between the two narratives, are between the two major characters in each; Christof and God. Both of these characters created the worlds in which they set their ‘creations to live’. Christof created the TV show and Seahaven and the land around it, while god created Earth. Another thing that both “Gods” created was fear. They created this fear in their subjects, to stop them from doing something in particular. In the case of Christof, he made Truman fear dogs and most of all the water, to stop him from escaping. God created Adam and Eve’s fear by telling them, “You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day.” He told them this so as to avoid them becoming like him. After creating their separate worlds, Christof and God created people to occupy these worlds. One of the points of resistance between the two narratives was that where Christof created many people; enough to fill a whole city, God only created two. This fact that they could choose how many people, and who they would be in itself, emphasises the power that each “God” held over their worlds. Christof saying to, “Cue the sun”, is just one such example of the power he held over his world. This includes over the weather patterns, and in the instance of telling everyone to go to first positions. God also showed his power by creating life; firstly Adam, then the animals,
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