There Will Be Blood Daniel Plainview

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In the film There Will Be Blood, Daniel Plainview transforms his lifestyle as a result of his ambitious personality. By drilling holes into the earth and extracting fossil fuels, oil was no longer a part of nature, but a commodity. The fact that oil is viewed as a commodity leads to the creation of a capitalistic environment in the early 1900s. Karl Marx argues that commodities become more powerful than people themselves in such an environment, he argues that material relations take the place of social relations. As a result of Daniel Plainview’s ambition in the oil industry, the material relations he creates unwantingly destroy the relationship he has with his son.
There is no doubt that Plainview 's partakes in the idealism of a capitalistic society. It may be difficult to see where his capitalistic mindset comes through. In order to see this capitalistic side of Daniel one must take into account how he got to where he is, at the throne of an oil trade market. When oil is used as a commodity, profit is made off of it. Daniel Plainview deceives those from whom he buys land from. Daniel schematically plans the deception he …show more content…

In the beginning of his son’s life, Plainview was eager to find means of survival for his two-person family. Mining is a physically exhausting job in which fatalities are not uncommon, but Daniel is willing to endanger his life his son if it means a better life. H.W. is all that Plainview has, the only person he cares for possibly more than he cares for himself. It is evident that Daniel loves his son and wants to be there for him, however oil, a material relation is more demanding than this social relation. When H.W. is unable to interact with Daniel due to his deafness a barrier is present between the two. The inability to talk with each other creates another obstacle in the already rough relationship the father and son

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