How Does Society Justify Killing in the Novel Blade Runner

781 Words4 Pages
How do we justify a killer? Deckard kills Zhora - slow motion effect as she gets weaker and weaker with every shot from D.’s gun - highlights her struggle, contrasted by how easy it is to kill her - Deckard shows dominance over her in this way - we understand the dominance as a owner and pet, making it okay for Deckard to kill his own ‘pet’ - the easily broken glass represents Zhora in her see through outfit - represents that just as easily as breaking glass, Zhora could be killed by Deckard - more notion to justify Zhora’s life as unnecessary - the music is sad, and not revengeful/action packed which makes it seem as though Deckard regrets to some degree what he has done  we ‘forgive’ Deckard for killing her (his killing is justified) because he regrets his actions - Deckard is also told to kill her by a higher power, which also allows us to forgive him for his actions and sooth the idea of murder - The label for killing a replicant is ‘retirement’ which dehumanizes Zhora and makes it easier to kill her and not feel bad - therefore the fact that she is a replicant makes it easier to kill her Roy kills Tyrell - ‘you were made as well as we could make you’ – large echoing, fatherly, caring voice mimics God, you also cannot see him when he says this which allows us to think of him as an omnipotent power from above - The high angle shot of Roy diminishes him, but makes Tyrell more powerful and God-like - Another clue that the producer wanted to make Tyrell seem omnipotent is through the way he is killed - The eyes can symbolize omniscience, and when Roy pushes Tyrell’s eyes into his head we can see this as a way of Roy challenging Tyrell’s infinite knowledge - Making Tyrell a creator, and playing the creator role of God, we draw positive thoughts towards him - The opposite of him, is the angry Roy, who we see as the antagonist,

More about How Does Society Justify Killing in the Novel Blade Runner

Open Document