Redemption of the Whole World, Except Himself God used seven days to create the world; Tim, the main character in Seven Pounds, extends seven lives by donating his seven organs or properties to them. The name of the film refers to The Merchant of Venice, which was written by Shakespeare. One of the central characters in that play, Antonio, asks for a pound of flesh as payment for a loan that is owed him. Tim Thomas has taken seven lives in a single car accident, so he needs to repay the debt with his "flesh". Since Aristotle says that, a tragedy needs to be in a dramatic form with incidents arousing pity and fear, the movie is a brilliant tragedy, according to Tim’s morality, his impossible love and his death at the end. Tim’s personality is …show more content…
featured in the beginning of this sad story. He has a typical tragic hero’s background: he suffered from a catastrophic car accident, which made him lose his girlfriend. Throughout the film, the fragments of that incident accompany his joyful past, and keep flashing by to remind him how cruel that crash was. Every single detail within that part of his memory pushes him to do something to eliminate his offence. What if he does not look at his phone while driving? Will he get a perfect marriage and live happily ever after? Is he never going to think about the nightmare of that calamity? Those lingering questions surround him omnipresently, forming a conflict between Tim’s morality and his desires. On one hand, he feels guilty for the lives that were taken by him; on the other hand, he wants to start a new life. Since his noble character gains the upper hand after his thoughtful considerations, the doleful ending is unavoidable. Moreover, Tim cannot fall in love with Emily, one of his secret donees, like any other lover.
Because he owes seven lives to others, he has to give up all of his personal desideratum to make sure his plan can be finished. He wavers over whether to give Emily his heart or not--several times. After they express their affections to each other, they lie on the bed and play a“what if” game. It is an example of his eagerness at being alive. Tim asks “What if we have children?”(Seven Pounds) “What if we got married?”(Seven Pounds). Those simple longings refer to the things that he failed to achieve with his girlfriend in the past. This is when he gets more emotional and unstable, so he goes to ask Emily’s doctor if there is any optimism about Emily’s condition. The underlying meaning is that he desperately wants to keep his life. People can live without a lung, a kidney, or eyes. But they need their hearts, to live. If he donates his to her, they will never get a chance to meet again. However, if Emily cannot replace hers, she will die, because the survival rate for her is only three to five percent. The bad news is like a thunderbolt for Tim. But he clears away his emotions and decides to continue his plan to sacrifice himself. His star-crossed love makes his scheme even more dramatic and …show more content…
sorrowful. Finally, the most sad and soul-stirring part of his self-atonement is his suicide.
He walks into a bathtub in a motel—which he rents for two weeks till his life’s end—and pours a bag of ice and a jellyfish in. The jellyfish excretes its toxins into his body and makes him die. There are many instances of foreshadowing in the film of how he will end his life, such as when he thinks about jellyfish. They are the most beautiful creatures in the world, but the truth is that they are one of the most deadly animals for humans. He has done everything that needs to be done before he dies: he calls 911 to make sure he will be sent to the hospital in time for his organs to remain fresh enough to be transferred to others; he phones his best friend to convince the doctor not to save him but to follow his wishes; he leaves a note for the ambulance workers so that they notice the jellyfish and don’t touch it. The only thing he does not do is to say goodbye to his lover, Emily. This episode leads the audience to feel heartbreak for him. Among the people who receive transplants, Ezra, a blind man, gets his eyes, and Emily receives his heart. Tim makes these two meet at the end, probably wanting Emily to fall in love and get married to a good person, and Ezra is the one he chooses for her. The little joke he has prepared here creates a huge contrast with his tearful death, to help the sadness point directly into audience’s hearts. Tim’s redemption seems have been completed, but it is not. He
is never going to complete it, because he cannot gain happiness: not in the past, not ever. Although his life gets extensions, in a way, from his organs living in other people’s bodies, and although he helps them and saves their lives, he is actually miserable, and can’t save himself from the previous grief. But in any case, his death puts an end to this tragedy. In conclusion, what make this movie unintentionally, but successfully, tragic are the characteristics of Tim Thomas, his unattainable affection, and the sacrifices that he submits to by choice. As Aristotle regards plot and character as the most important aspects of a tragedy, this movie must certainly be considered a tragedy, because both of these aspects are demonstrated in it.
In the book, Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, it follows a Olympian named Louie Zamperini, and his journey. Louie Zamperini was born in Olean, New York, his family later then moved to Torrance, California. Louie is: rebellious, resourceful, among many other things. Louie is who he is because of how he grew up, and the obstacles he overcame. Louie Zamperini shows rebellious and resourceful characteristic traits through his actions.
Abuse is a subject that should be considered important. There are about 960,000 abuse incidents reported annually. 85% of them are reported by women. The resting 15% are reported by men. In Fried Green Tomatoes, abuse is a recurring part of the book, Fannie Flagg does an admirable job in describing in detail the abuse incidents that happen throughout the book. Ruth is a character that receives abuse from her husband, she believes she deserves everything he does to her, even push her down the stairs. She finally takes the decision to escape from the abusive relationship she is in when her near death mother advices her to. Along the way characters develop some effects caused by abuse. People who suffer from abuse may develop fear, low self-esteem, or strength.
“Don’t judge a book by it’s cover, it’s what’s inside counts” This quote reminds people about how they should not judge other people from the outside but look deep into their true personalities. Looking from the appearance and how Chris lives, everyone would assume that Chris is a crazy, foolish person and does everything without thinking. If people try to know more about Chris, they would have different perspective. Chris is intelligent, determined, independent and follows what he believes. He went into the wilderness to escape from the society that tries to suppress him and look for the meaning of life.
A Ticket out of the Past By (Teresa) Yung-Ching Chuang. Life is like an ascent, the more you climb, the higher you will get. J. C. Burke skilfully undertakes this philosophy as a source of inspiration for ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’. It is not another crazy adventurous tale with a heroic storyline that seems unrealistic; the novel is about individual representation as Burke insightfully illustrates the long and slow journey of Tom Brennan, navigating through his road of self-discovery that eventually leads to his destination and achieves his “ticket out of the past” (Burke, pg 182). The catalyst of the novel is a traumatic car accident causing two instant deaths and one paralysis.
The novel ‘Jasper Jones’ and the film ‘Jindabyne’ both use the representation of characters and their relationships to challenge the treatment of individuals with regards to race, class and gender. The historical contexts surrounding these two texts sets the basis for the stratification and racial discrimination present. The lack of dignity that is depicted between the relationships formed between characters displays the regard in which communities treat each other. ‘Jasper Jones’ and ‘Jindabyne’ are comparable texts as it is clear that the gap between these communities has reduced since the time period of ‘Jasper Jones’ when compared to ‘Jindabyne’, however, it is identified that this gap still exists.
In the short story The Devil and Tom Walker, written by Washington Irving, the protagonist Tom Walker, is characterized as being a negative man. This is demonstrated through Tom Walker being characterized as being meager, outspoken, fearless, greedy, stubborn, and unloving.
In The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, Lady Brett Ashley is a representative of the New Woman, changing the American landscape. This is shown when she changes from a female to male role, as she pleases. For example, when she takes the place of a male role she demands that people please her such as, when she ordered Jake to “kiss” (Hemingway, 15) her “once more before [they] get there.” (Hemingway, 15) Although changed back to her female role when “she gave [Jake] her hand as she stepped down” (Hemingway, 15) For a man to help a woman out of a car is known as a chivalrous and an expected action, especially in the past, in addition, the man is suppose to initiate the kiss. Brett is a woman who wants to display a secure, stable, satisfied and independent life to the point where readers are not able to
One of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird is Bob Ewell. Bob Ewell is a selfish drunk who doesn't know how to control himself. He beats his children and he can’t hold a steady job for long. He is obsessed with revenge for Atticus for making him look like a fool at the trial of Tom Robinson, whom Ewell’s daughter is accusing of rape. Because of his false testimony, he can never be trusted again in front of the whole courtroom. He will do anything to get back at Atticus, and is willing to go as far as going after his children. He also has a grudge against the judge in the trial, and against the wife of the accused. Bob is crazy and delusional and is trying to gain back his reputation by taking down all the people that went against him in
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight edited and translated by James Winny is a poem about a knight, Sir Gawain, from King Arthur’s court. In the very beginning Sir Gawain volunteers to take King Arthur’s place upon the Green Knights arrival when he declares that one knight must agree to receive a blow by his axe after having the chance to give a blow to him. Sir Gawain ends up chopping off the Green Knights head and is then declared to meet the Green Knight in one year to accept a blow from the Green Knight and his axe. When the year comes Sir Gawain sets off to find the Green Knight at the green chapel, which where he will receive the blow. On Sir Gawain’s ventures
I am reading The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan, and I am on page 302. This portion of the novel is about three newfound half-bloods named Jason, Piper, and Leo. This novel starts off with Jason waking up on a bus, not knowing who he is. Apparently his best friend is a guy named Leo, and he has a girlfriend named Piper. They’re all apart of the same boarding school for troubled kids. They arrive at the grand canyon, when one of their thought to be classmates turns into a storm spirit and tries to kill them, because they are half-bloods. At the time they do not know that they are. Their coach, also known as their Teacher, is actually a Satyr that tries to defend the kids. Jason eliminates the storm spirits with his golden sword, even though he was
“I refused to fail. I was smart. I was arrogant. I was lucky.” As a kid Sherman Alexie grew up on a reservation for Indians. He was mostly expected to be stupid as every other Indian kid, but he wasn’t he was actually very smart. He taught himself how to read and write by using a comic book. This comic book was about Superman. He would use the pictures and the captions to put together what they were making out. So that’s how he learned to read and write.
In Pearl Tull’s old age, she starts to lose her sight until she is completely unable to see. Pearl may be the only one within Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant who has gone literally blind, but many of the characters are just as blind emotionally. Throughout Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, many characters are too absorbed in their own problems and self-pity to notice the problems of the people around them. Almost all of the characters don’t realize how much their actions may have affected someone else, or are oblivious to the fact they did anything at all. When taking a closer look at the story, it could be said that Pearl Tull is the reason behind all of her family’s problems. Pearl is blind not only literally—in her old age—but metaphorically
The first aspect of Willy's character that affected his failure was his pride. Willy's pride caused him to in many situations make very poor and unethical decisions, that affected both himself and his family. An example of this is through the conversation between Willy and Charley “CHARLEY: ‘You want a job?’ WILLY: ‘I got a job, I told you that. [After a slight pause] What the hell are you offering me a job for?’ CHARLEY: ‘Don’t get insulted.’ WILLY: Don’t insult me.”(DOAS: pg x) Willy does not take the offer which is an obvious example of a poor decision. He makes this decision because he sees this generous whole hearted gesture as a kind of pitiful handout that his pride restricts him from taking. By not taking this handout willy puts his self pride infront of
Leonard F. Peltier once said, “Innocence is the weakest defense. Innocence has a single voice that can only say over and over again, "I didn't do it." Guilt has a thousand voices, all of them lies.” This powerful quote featured in Peltier’s novel, “Prison Writings” that was written in his prison cell reflects on the issue of himself being incarcerated for over 30 years for an action he states he didn’t do. Some may question if it would be mean anything now if Peltier was released and given freedom again. No human being should ever have their life completely taken away from them because of a crime that they did not commit. With this action happening to Peltier, he has found a way through his writings
“I wanna tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that there's not enough troops in the army to force the Southern people to break down segregation and admit the nigra race into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes, and into our churches” (Strom Thurmond”). One of Strom Thurmond's many controversial quotes, shows one of the racial slurs he's made towards people of color. Strom Thurmond was known for being racially aggressive towards people of color. In the longest filibuster in U.S. history with a time of 24 hrs and 18 mins against the Civil Rights Act of 1957 Strom Thurmond showed his absolute hatred and utter dislike toward people of color, and yet unsuccessful, will be stamped into our U.S. history as a defined moment.