Jacob's Ladder

Jacob's Ladder

Jacob's Ladder is a film which draws specific conclusions on exactly what takes

place in a person right before death, and the afterlife which await them. Hell

is seen as a temporary stop where people's memories and attachments are taken

away so that they can enter heaven cleansed of their past life in order that a

new beginning can be had. Death is seen as something that should not be feared,

it only makes your inevitable transition into the next world more difficult,

while being at peace with yourself at death allows the transition to your

afterlife to run smoothly without remorse. Heaven is seen as a good place, a

place of inner tranquillity where there is no pain. The cultural attitudes of

this film in respect to death and afterlife have undertones of the Christian

attitudes toward death and afterlife, although large differences do exist. The

central cultural attitudes toward death and afterlife in this film can be summed

up by a quotation from Jake's chiropractor (who can also be seen as his guardian

angel), who said, "The only thing that burns in hell is the part of you that

won't let go of your life, your memories, your attachments, they burn it all

away. But they aren't punishing you, they're freeing your soul." The

chiropractor also says that the way he sees it, "If you're frightened of dieing

and you keep trying to hold on you'll see devils tearing your life away. If

you've made your peace then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the

earth." The film Jacob's Ladder uses the character of Jacob Singer to

demonstrate how the film's creators view death and afterlife. The central

character in the film is a man by the name of Jacob Singer (Jake), who is in

Vietnam in 1971 fighting for the U.S. against the Vietcong. The film begins with

a surprise attack by the Vietcong on the American camp which started a furious

gun fight with heavy casualties. Jake is himself severely wounded in the stomach,

which as you find out later is a mortal wound of which he is dieing. The rest

of the film appears to take place over a period of days to weeks or at least

that is how Jake perceives it to be, however as far as time goes this is all

taking place between the time that he was wounded and the time that he dies

(probably a few hours). All of what Jake sees he believes to be real, but it is

really hell that his ...

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...er to protect and help them out. Christianity

sees devils as incredibly evil spirits who tempt you into falling toward hell.

The film sees devils as spirits who perform the unfortunate but necessary task

of forcibly freeing a person's soul from the earth, not near as bad as the

Christian outlook. No reference to a god is made in the film or even the

existence of one, although one would assume a god must exist, a god who dictates

the roles of hell and the devils, as well as heaven and the angels.

The film Jacob's Ladder portrays a much different attitude toward death and the

afterlife then what most religions profess. At death a person must go to hell

where their soul is freed of the earth by the devils who erase their old

memories and attachments, the more at peace the person is with their death the

easier the process is. Once the person is at peace with themselves, they can

enter heaven. Guardian angels are assigned to each person to help them make as

smooth a transition from hell to heaven as possible. In certain ways the death

and afterlife portrayed in Jacob's Ladder appear similar to those depicted in

Christianity, although substantial differences do exist.