Bong Joon-ho begins fostering a sense of rebellion during the earliest stages of the film, where the poorest sector of the train must live in sordid filth and overcapacity. He achieves the birth of a revolution against their condition through a claustrophobic camera angle, a dark color palette, and a symbolic prop that all portray the dehumanization of the tail members caused by the structure of such capitalist systems. One of the first scenes in Snowpiercer illustrates a seemingly routine check on the tail section with a head count. Within this scene, all the tail sectioners stand neatly in rows, one behind the other, and fall back with every click of the authoritarian guard's counter (Snowpiercer). Specifically for this occasion, Joon-ho elects to show the head count with a long shot, or a view of a …show more content…
Using a food prop, Joon-ho reveals a horrifying secret about the treatment of the poorest members in Snowpiercer. In the tail section, the main source of daily nutrition comes from protein blocks, which are essentially black bars of subsistence. While the bars appear unappetizing, the protein blocks are actually a symbol of reassurance from the front of the train because they are a better alternative to the tail section's former phase of cannibalism (Snowpiercer). However, Bong Joon-ho shows the reality of the impoverished people's situation and utilizes a scene where the revolution passes through the food production car in order to reveal the true contents of the bars: insects. The disgusting truth about the protein bars signifies a lack of empathy towards the lower class and how the elite in this capitalistic system only seek to satisfy them through ignorance. In the end, the poor are given the benefit of the doubt in every aspect of their life, while they are barely kept alive to sustain the bottom-feeder position of the full
Eric Schlosser enters the slaughterhouse in the High Plains to show behind the scenes of fast food and how it is made. He was not expecting what actually lies behind the cold doors of the factory. People remain to have the misconception of fast food being made in the restaurant. Nobody thinks about there being a dark side to it all. Schlosser pulls on his knee high boots and guides readers through a pool of blood to show where we manufacture our food.
Within a society there are those who promote non-conformity in a positive light, this idea is explored through the institutions of both texts by Ken Kesey and James Mangold. In Kesey’s novel, characters often shown as controlled by the system but there are also those who do not confront to such order and disrupt the enforced demand, by the system which is seen as the government. The character Randle McMurphy is one who is seen as conductor of rebellion, he introduces laughter to the ward which is an element of revolution within characters. McMurphy knows that one has to laugh “to keep the world from running [one] plumb crazy” (p.214). The use of sound throughout the novel displays that the power of this laughter represents McMurphy promoting non-conformity. Dictatorship rules the system and enforces conformity, Kesey’s use of imagery portrays that the fog machine is a pigment of Chief Bromden’s imagination but represents a way in which the characters are controlled. Chief figures that the “fog machine had broken down in the walls” (p.140), this symbolises his own building of rebellion and a defence against conformity. Similarly, Mangold’s Girl, Interrupted also shows the positive effect of rebe...
Pathos is the most effective appeal used in Food, Inc. because many strong visual images evoke the viewer’s emotions. The food industry’s maltreatment of farm animals provides several examples of pathos. A particularly disturbing scene of a close up of a dying chicken lying on his back, bleeding and gasping for air appears early in the film when a farmer allows cameras into her chicken houses. A farmer, Carole Morrison, explains quite candidly that the chickens are grown too quickly and that their bodies cannot support the rapidly growing internal organs and oversized breasts. The crowded filthy conditions in which the chickens live are deplorable. Later sick cows, unable to walk and mistreated by workers, further illustrates the deplorable treatment of farm animals. The filmmaker reinforces his point that the industry is inhumane to the animals prior to slaughtering them for food, while visually appealing to the viewer’s emotions.
The audience is directed to react positively to the protagonist through the use of costume colour choice. The protagonist is wearing white pyjamas underneath a yellow rain coat; white is the symbol of purity and innocence while yellow represents warmth and happiness. During the tension scene, an axe is used as a symbolistic prop. The axe, when used in a barn house, represents the seriousness of farm life, where animals are commodities and not family pets. The placement of the axe in the shadows emphasises it use as tool for death. As the axe is lifted from the wall the blade glints in the light, which does two things: it draws the viewers’ attention to the ominous object, adding to the tension, whilst warning viewers of the blades sharpness and reminding us of its use. Lastly the axe is used to propel the protagonist into action and become a voice for the pig, a voice for mercy and
The first time Professor Marx mentioned that we would be given the opportunity to witness a pig slaughtering, I immediately decided that I would do it. I chose the Abattoir because I wanted to be informed about the process. As I walked down the path to the Abattoir I tried not to think about what I was about to witness. After passing through the huge metal doors, stepping in the soap water to disinfect the bottom of my shoes, putting on the hair net, the apron, and hard hat, I felt like I was about to walk on to the production floor of a large factory. The room was an obsessive-compulsive person’s paradise. Everything was spotless and in top condition. On the ceiling were a series of wheels on rails that connected to hooks, which moved the pigs from station to station. Other than an assortment of carts, a monstrous machine in one corner, four butchers, and an inspector, the room seemed empty.
In conclusion, The Jungle offered a detailed insight to the working conditions and highly unsanitary processing methods in the meat packing industry. Although he failed to successfully promote Socialism, the book has been widely successful, mainly for the horrid descriptions and images of working in the plant. It will continue to be a memorable novel for history enthusiasts alike, and a captivating story to portray life of a working class citizen during the Progressive Era.
Initially Gaskell creates a rift between the social classes by comparing the differences in their residences and lifestyles. The scene where John Bart...
George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” is a political allegory based off the Russian Revolution of 1917, where the author explores the cruel dictatorship of Napoleon, and his comrade Snowballs views on Animalism. The value that both Snowball, and Napoleon share is mainly the factor of pig’s superiority, however, there are attributes they both contrast in; Snowballs goal to create egalitarian communism while Napoleon is in favor of gaining power over the animals.
Bound by the confines the train, the plot can only move forward. Once Everett's revolution begins, it cannot stop. Survival, like the train they live on, depends on moving onward. The further characters go, the harder it becomes to reach the end of the train. Obstacle after obstacle appear, often appearing in a deceptive form. In addition, it is made even more difficult by the fact Everett cannot leave the train, nor can he harm it. Their society is a balanced ecosystem depending upon all the parts to stay where they are. The children stay in their car, the workers in theirs, and the wealthy in theirs. However the back section cannot stay the same if they want to survive. It is unfair and dangerous. American movies like The Purge II, or The Hunger Games show governments that strip others of basic rights. Snowpiercer addresses this in more chilling manner. There are no fresh faced characters, suburban heroes, nor mutilated monsters. The heroes stand flawed and the only monsters are
shows the effect of the society on them, the loss of hope they had in
The novel describes much of the procedure of running a communist state. It includes the organization of committees, and the indoctrination of the public in the form of the sheep. Snowball, one of the two pigs who leads the animals after the revolution, teaches the sheep to repeat the maxim "Four legs good, two legs bad," which, he feels, sums up the laws of their new system - completely against humans. Methods of propaganda are also explored. Carrier pigeons are sent to neighboring farms to deliver heroic tales of the revolution and convert other farms to 'Animalism' - the domino effect in action. Internal propaganda is the responsibility of a pig named Squealer, whose primary function is to convince the animals that the actions taken by the pigs are for their own good. This is a clear description of how to keep a communist regime in power: as long as the pubic is convinced that all actions are for their own good, they will go along with anything.
...of the North and The Road. Today climate change is a growing problem and as a society, we have yet to open our eyes to the damage we our doing to the environment. Both Daughters of the North and The Road show possible outcomes of what can happen if we avoid the truth and proceed to live our lives in such a self destructive manner. Food shortages are prevalent in many parts of the world, but have yet to heavily impact the United States, by lacking an understanding of the malnutrition others go through, we are unable to contemplate what a large issue world hunger is. The Road shows a extremely drastic example of world hunger, one where cannibalism and killing are common tactics to receive food. Though they seem impossible, distopias such as those in Daughters of the North and The Road are very possible, it is just up to humanity to prevent them from becoming reality.
This presents a pessimistic view of human nature as being necessarily cannibalistic; that is, in order to survive, people must hurt others. While Lu Xun could not have foreseen the disastrous effects of the Cultural Revolution, this piece embodies impressively relevant themes. A Madman’s Diary, using cannibalism as a metaphor for the human condition under feudalistic rule, manages to extend its reach far beyond the initial symbolic meaning. As Jameson notes, “Lu Xun 's proposition is that [...] his fellow citizens are "literally" cannibals: in their desperation, disguised and indeed intensified by the most traditional forms and procedures of Chinese culture, they must devour one another ruthlessly to stay alive” (Jameson 71). Because in this metaphor, each cannibal must, by necessity, be eating other cannibals, they perpetrate the same violence that is done against them, managing to be both victims and complicit in their victimization. By repeatedly participating in such a system, they perpetuate it, thus ensuring their continued victimization. This remains true for the Communist era after the May Fourth Movement; Lu Xun’s writing is prescient of more literal involvement in the persecution. The fact that the Chinese people are participants in their own subjugation is undeniable; the key is that they act out of desperation to survive. They believe that submitting to feudal forces will make them safer, just as they believe that yielding to and joining the Party will diminish their suffering and garner favor with those who hold the most power. The perpetual struggle to keep out of harm’s way does not disappear during Mao’s rule, and therefore, neither does the cannibalistic nature of society. While peasants took a
Once revolution takes place, the caged tail members abruptly release themselves into the rest of Snowpiercer. As the revolution makes its way through successive compartments of the train, the train itself begins to reflect a live-action flowchart of the class system in a hierarchal society. Snowpiercer spends extensive time covering the the middle cars of the train, reflecting the actual density of the middle class in the social hierarchy. Bong Joon-ho’s concentration on the middle to upper class allows him to convey his message to what he sees as the bulk of a stratified class system. Again, Joon-ho plays with similar areas of film technique: setting, props, and color, to reveal the truth behind the middle and higher class through the lower
Schlosser devotes chapters to various aspects of the industry. They do not all fit together however the picture he created is frightening. In particular, the conditions described in the meatpacking industry are terrible and the description of the federal and state power regarding inspection and consumer safety is disturbing .