Cloud Atlas is a very complex movie that involves rotating and revolving characters and story lines which paint a past, present, and future of the Earth. All of these are interconnected and influenced by one another with a continuing constant theme. This is very interesting as it directly relates to some of the greatest philosophers in recent history. Not only in their beliefs, but in how they arrive at their beliefs. With Aristotle, we see that the main character analyses and arrives at the truth in a similar fashion to his most famous arguments. When it comes to the shaken beliefs of futuristic portrayals of civilization, it is clear that in the film they follow an attitude similar to a combination of Nietzsche and Pope. It is even possible to see a connection between Descartes and the main characters definitions of God. Cloud Atlas is very interesting in its cosmological portrayals and their comparisons to great philosophers.
Cloud Atlas is made up of six separate plots which all occur in different time periods. In one of the layers there is a futuristic world. In this instance, the world is split up in two different sections the consumer and the servers. The consumers represent the powerful majority of people and epitomize capitalism whereas the servers are clones and are forced to live to provide for the consumers. They have no reason to live, but their work. For all intents and purposes they are viewed as business equipment. One of the servers, Sonmi-451, manages to escape with the help of revolutionaries and realizes the truth of the world. In one huge event, her world and purpose has changed dramatically. She becomes a leader of the revolution and makes it her goal to spread the truth to Earth and off plan...
... middle of paper ...
...mological view.
Even in today’s Hollywood films, we see portrayals of characters who struggle with the very same issues that have plagued philosophers for centuries. Cloud Atlas is no exception with its cosmological approach to a connection of past, present, and future. Characters struggle to determine the best process for determining the truth of a situation, like Aristotle did in his time, by looking for the stem signs. Other characters have trials which question their existence of a God. The idea that God can be deceitful directly contradicts Descartes’ definition of God. When the idea that people may not fulfilling their role in the cosmos occurs, then they must determine a proper way of living like Pope and Nietzsche struggled with in their most famous works. The parallels between Cloud Atlas and these philosophers’ eternal debates is truly incredible.
The Fountainhead is more than a story about heroism. It is a story about a way of life. It will continue to be the most inspiring book of all times and will continue to hit readers with its immortal philosophy and tremendous courage. It will continue to offer answers. The choice is ours.
Two of the most iconic dystopian novels are 1984 by George Orwell and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. These novels expanded the genre significantly and while having different details about Dystopian life, share remarkable similarities. Throughout the novels, similar themes such as media control and war demonstrate that both authors share common ideas about what would be important in Dystopian life. On the other hand, the way in which the authors approach each issue highlights a difference in both time period and values.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a novel based on a dystopian society. The way society copes with the government is through conformity. Conformity is an act of matching attitudes and beliefs. Many of the characters like Mildred, Beatty, and the rest conform to the government because it is the way this culture lives. Individuality is not accepted in this society because it causes conflicts with one another. The government demolishes any kind of individuality one has, and does not tolerate with any kind of knowledge because they will find a way to punish an individual. Individuality expresses the differences of a person, it create a unique personality of one self like Clarisse McClellan showed Montag in the beginning of the story. Clarisse
“I swear – by my life and my love of it – that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine” (Rand 979). The last lines of John Galt’s speech in Atlas Shrugged declare the fundamental principle of Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism. Her ideology plays an integral role in her literary pieces, functioning as the motor driving the actions, goals, and beliefs of the protagonists. From the first strains of Objectivism established during her childhood in Russia, Ayn Rand would develop and cultivate her ideas further in each novel, culminating in her magnum opus, Atlas Shrugged. We the Living, The Fountainhead, and Anthem share the theme of Atlas Shrugged, and The Fountainhead and Anthem would join the masterpiece as staples of the Objectivist and Libertarian ideologies (Smith 384). Nothing could pose a greater contrast when presented in juxtaposition with Rand’s doctrine than the Communism of her childhood. Ayn Rand’s experiences living in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic led her to create Objectivism; through her fictional works, she showcases her philosophy which is centered on the struggle of the individual versus the collective by emphasizing different aspects in each of her novels.
Douglas Light said that our imagination is better than any answer to a question. Light distinguished between two genres: fantasy from fiction. He described how fantasy stimulates one’s imagination, which is more appealing, but fiction can just be a relatable story. In the same way, Books and movies are very different entities. In the short parable Doubt, the readers are lured in to the possibility of a scandalous relationship between a pastor and an alter boy. The readers’ curiosity is ignited because they are not given all the details. Therefore, their mind wanders further than the plot to create a story and characters that acted on one’s imagination; thus, the story became entertaining- flooded by the questions of what? Who? How? By which the reader can only answer. At this point, the readers create their own movie in a way. They will determine important aspects: how the character speaks, looks like, and reacts. Whereas, in the movie, the reader has no choice but to follow the plot laid out in front of them. No longer can they picture the characters in their own way or come up with their different portrayals. The fate of the story, while still unpredictable, was highly influenced by the way the characters looked, spoke, and presented themselves on screen. The movie leaves little to viewers' imaginations.In order to be entertained by literature or art, the viewer needs to feel that they can use their imagination and not be confined to a plot that reveals all.
From Descartes' perception, nature is a depiction of God; therefore, God must fundamentally exist, to the extent that as he, too, is an outcome of His own creation. Descartes was one of many thinkers who fully braced this argument in support of God's actuality, challenging that the external world is the dominant force behind the existence of all persons. Descartes' claims, as depicted inside the scholarly borders of Meditations on First Philosophy, were created not in astrophysical or ontological quarrels but rather in teleological debate, to the extent that the philosopher thought that there has to be an all-powerful entity accountable for all the drive and command that is found within physical life and, thereby, encouraging a sense of marvel about the world.
The future is viewed as a place of wonder, amazement, and prosperity. Ray Bradbury takes those aspects and forms a society of control, technology, and conformity in the novel Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury based those aspects off of World War II and the cold war which sparked a time of change and conflict for many citizens. Fahrenheit 451 bases its themes off of the conflicts going on in the 1950s by presenting a critical view point of the social and political systems. Fahrenheit 451 follows Guy Montag, a firefighter, and his struggle with society promoting his overall change of opinion. Through his contemplation of the good of his society, Montag metamorphosizes based on his interactions with his environment. Bradbury was able to create a conflicting
of Gods existence. The factors that go into their views on reason will be compared and accented within this essay. The order of the universe is knowable to Descartes. He proves these by
Being one of the world’s most popular art forms, it was inevitable that these archetypes would find their way into film as well. In this essay I will argue that the films Pulp Fiction, Taxi Driver, Watership Down, and Trainspotting are all versions of The Hero’s Journey, consequently demonstrating just how prevalent these archetypes have become in modern cinema. And that mythology and storytelling are important parts of each culture because they prevent the darkness in our hearts from spreading.
In today’s society people react to what is going on around them in many different ways. Some decide that they do not know enough and decide to learn more. Others either think that they know enough or they just do not care. In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 two of the main characters demonstrate these traits. Bradbury uses the people and symbols to convey his message: that if people do not start to cherish their freedom on knowledge, they will lose it. Bradbury also uses the overabundance of technology to show how people’s understanding of the way the world works deteriorates. Through the characters Guy Montag and his wife Mildred Montag, Bradbury demonstrates the will, and lack thereof, to learn, the effect society and technology has on them, and how the two of them respond to the knowledge and insight of books when given the opportunity.
Much of what the future holds are consequences of the events that have already taken place. Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451 is a story about a lifestyle in the future that has evolved from our present, but in a seemingly different world. There is no flow of ideas, and the main purpose in a person's life in those days was to relax, not think, and be happy. Despite the seemingly unreality of the world in the future, the author is using it as a cautionary tale of what may become of our society. Bradbury stresses his views on how best to keep our society's system of government checks and balances, technological advances, and its fluidity of ideas.
The common issue in philosophy over how man should act within the larger universe is a very interesting problem. When Pope and Nietzsche tackle it, they both come at the problem with very different approaches in how they argue their points and in the actual solution. Such drastic differences in their opinions of God seem fundamental in their solutions to this classic dilemma. Whether we are too prideful or believing in something that does not exist, one thing is true. Humanity in its current course is failing.
Taking everything into account, a future society, depicted by Bradbury, is alarming and differs much from our one. Such things like feelings, socialising, appreciation and communication are vanishing from their lives. These creatures are changing into dull, hollow zombies. The relationships inside the couples are a burden. Along with, nothing seems worth while. Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is a genius work to make people ponder over the future.
of whether or not mankind is good or evil, illustrating the characters’ understandings of human
... Greek Titan as “the giant who holds the world on his shoulder” (http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/432.Ayn_Rand). That being the case, she captures the how the country’s most powerful industrialists disappear and without them, the key industries disappear as well (http://www.aynrand.org/novels/atlas-shrugged). She also tells others that the mystery novel is “not about the murder of man’s body, but about the murder—and rebirth—of man’s spirit (http://www.aynrand.org/novels/atlas-shrugged). Fountainhead provides an eagerness for individual ideas (http://www.aynrand.org/novels/the-fountainhead). It teaches the importance of new experiences and how to pursue typical dreams and occupations (http://www.aynrand.org/novels/the-fountainhead). In each novel, Rand demonstrates the power of individualists’ ideas in America and all over the world and how they can shape us.