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The themes in the green mile
Racism in Film essay
The themes in the green mile
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From the surface point of view, The Green Mile might seems like a film that involves just white supremacy and race violence (Owen and Ehrenhuas 134), but there are more to it than just that. The film cleverly crafted in a hidden story that only Christians might noticed. In the movie, John Coffey is the symbolic definition of Jesus Christ. This was illustrated throughout the film with the five big elements of the Christ story. Before indicating the five big elements of the Christ story within John Coffey, it is important to note some important traits that Coffey shared with Jesus Christ throughout the film. First off, they both have the same initial. Secondly, they both wept before execution. Thirdly, at the moment of the execution, and after, a supernatural event occurred when they both died. Lastly, they both were executed by people that did not wanted to kill them. …show more content…
Coffey was innocent in the film and he has a gift that allows him to cure illnesses by in taking the illness within himself and releasing it in a form of a swarm of brown flakes. In a way, this is similar to Jesus since Jesus could also healed people too. Paul also indicates that he considered Coffey as a miracle from god since Coffey used his power for good most of the movie. The last indication that John Coffey was touched by god was when Paul realized he gained a long lasting life since Coffey gave a bit of himself to Paul. The second element that is similar to the Christ story is betrayal. In the Jesus Christ story, Judas betrayed Jesus. In The Green Mile, John Coffey was betrayed by the people around him when he tried to save the two girls. In a way, Coffey was also betrayed by the guard too since they ended up killing him, even though they did not wanted to kill
It is clearly evident that the five principal beliefs in Christianity, the divinity and humanity of Jesus, the death and resurrection of Jesus, the nature of God and the trinity, the revelation and salvation all deeply impact on and influence the lives of its adherents.
Another similarity in the book and movie is that the characters have to go against their morals in order to decide what to do in certain situations. An example of this in the book is when Skip realises he would have to trespass and steal in order for him to keep himself and his friends alive. Or in...
Steinbeck manages to give Jim Casey the exact initials as the historical savior (J.C.), which allows the reader to latch onto this connection from the beginning. Yet, Casey's relation to Christ goes beyond such mere coincidences, and plays out rather in their similar plans of action. One of the many similarities between Casey and Christ is that Casey had also drifted out to the forests in order to "soul-search" and discover the answers to sometimes hidden questions. In this particular situation, Casey himself states the comparison of Christ's and his actions while giving a grace at the Joad's breakfast table, "...I been in the hills, thinkin', almost you might say like Jesus went into the wilderness to think His way out of a mess of troubles" (Steinbeck ch.8). Casey further goes on during his rather rambling grace, "I got tired like Him...I got mixed up like Him...I went into the wilderness like Him, without no campin' stuff" (Steinbeck ch.8). With Casey's character openly admitting, without seeming conceited, that he and Jesus Christ are in some way similar, it continues to bluntly let the reader come to realize that Casey was indeed meant to be the Christ figure of this book.
Owen Meany, on the other hand, is almost the complete opposite of John. He knows that everything that occurs happens for a reason, and that there is no such thing as coincidences. John Irving follows the journey from childhood friendship into adulthood between the two, showing the true meaning of friendship and the impact that Owen has on John. John doesn’t feel a connection with God while growing up, quite possibly because he had changed churches several times as a child, due to his mother and her relations with Reverend Merill. John is characterized as a person lacking to know the very self of him, and he seems to learn from the events that occur around him, rather than to himself.
Before we get into the movie specifically, we should first talk about representation and how race is represented in the media in general. Representation is defined as the assigning of meaning through language and in culture. (CITE) Representation isn't reality, but rather a mere construction of reality and the meaning behind it. (CITE) Through representation we are able to shape how people are seen by others. Race is an aspect of people which is often represented in the media in different ways. Race itself is not a category of nature, but rather...
All these “wrongs” to John, were making him upset. John tried to give the hospital workers freedom. He threw away their soma, and made them more upset. The workers rioted against John, and he realized he could not change society. John argued with the Mustapha Mond about the way society was, but it seemed Mond had a response to everything. John decided to indulge himself in the Brave New World’s lifestyle. John tried sex, and soma, and enjoyed it. John knew he had sinned to his own religion, and he felt so wrong, that he murdered himself.
The novel The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck has many themes, but one theme the story is centralized around is the role of Christianity. The role of Christianity in The Grapes of Wrath is what allows the people to keep going during the times of the Great Depression. Without religion, the families in the novel would have simply given up all faith and hope.
This movie is a wonderful production starting from 1960 and ending in 1969 covering all the different things that occurred during this unbelievable decade. The movie takes place in many different areas starring two main families; a very suburban, white family who were excepting of blacks, and a very positive black family trying to push black rights in Mississippi. The movie portrayed many historical events while also including the families and how the two were intertwined. These families were very different, yet so much alike, they both portrayed what to me the whole ‘message’ of the movie was. Although everyone was so different they all faced such drastic decisions and issues that affected everyone in so many different ways. It wasn’t like one person’s pain was easier to handle than another is that’s like saying Vietnam was harder on those men than on the men that stood for black rights or vice versa, everyone faced these equally hard issues. So it seemed everyone was very emotionally involved. In fact our whole country was very involved in president elections and campaigns against the war, it seemed everyone really cared.
The main characters in the film and the book also have in common other things. For instance, both the pawnbroker and Rosa are racist. The pawnbroker in the film tells Jesus that those creatures should stay out of his store. Jesus asks a question to the pawnbroker about who those creatures are. He asks “Who the colored?” “’It was a store. I didn’t like who came in it.’ ‘Spanish? Colored?’ ‘What do I care who came?’” (Ozick, 27). Rosa and the pawnbroker both claimed that their lives were stolen. “’You ain’t got a life?’ ‘Thieves took it.’” (Ozick, 28). They both experience a similar death in a concentration camp. The pawnbroker sees a man run away from dogs and Germans and get stuck in barbed wire. Rosa experiences almost the same thing when her daughter Magda is thrown into the barbed wire. The last thing that they both have in common is that they both have someone who supports them financially.
But, before he did so, Judge Danforth asked him if he was taking back his confession, and John said that he’d rather die than have his name turned to dirt. Then, John was taken to be hung. I really liked how much pride he showed in the time leading to his death, I also liked how he recited the Lord’s Prayer, it showed that he truly did believe in God, and they were making a terrible mistake hanging him along with the two women who were hung alongside him.
Mark’s gospel and John’s gospel contain many differences from the beginning, but both end with Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. The gospels of John and Mark represent Jesus as two different people. The disparity is that Mark represents Jesus as a servant while John portrays Jesus as a divine being. However, one must realize the two texts are meant to read by different audiences during different time periods. Each description presents a particular aspect of the life of Historical Jesus.
One of the biggest issues depicted in the film is the struggle of minority groups and their experience concerning racial prejudice and stereotyping in America. Examples of racism and prejudice are present from the very beginning of the movie when Officer Ryan pulls over black couple, Cameron and Christine for no apparent reason other than the color of their skin. Officer Ryan forces the couple to get out of the car
The tone and allusions are important for John to portray how death is insignificant and irrelevant and that after death one moves on to a better place: heaven.
Faithful and Jesus Chris are comparable in the actions and events in their life. They both had to deal with many obstacles, and eventually paid the ultimate price, death, before entering into heaven. Their faith is an example for all Christians in the world to follow. Do not be afraid to share religion no matter what consequences will come. The small prices that one must pay before reaching their end is small compared to the benefits one receive when he reaches his destination. Both Jesus and Faithful ascend into heaven and receive eternal life after their deaths; the final destination for all Christians.
However, each character pursues the Divine in a different way. Even though the whiskey priest perceives himself as a sinner, his way of life resembles the good of the Holy Spirit. The priest resembles Jesus in many places in the novel. The prison scene is very much like the Last Supper, when Jesus said to his apostles that one of them would betray him. The priest thinks, “Surely one of these people will betray me first.”(p.128) He also cleans the pails of the cells in the prison just as Jesus washes the apostles’ feet. The night before he is executed the priest prays alone as Jesus did in the garden. The priest embarks on a mission to keep his religion alive in Mexico while helping the individuals he meets, and he finally dies because of his faith and sense of duty.