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The gift narrative essay
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The Gladiator is a tragedy, drama, action, adventure, and love story. It develops on many themes including; vengeance, honor, loyalty, deceit, power, and perseverance. The film maker’s main thematic purpose however is a constant throughout the entire movie holding the plot line together to revolve around this one objective. The author uses various techniques of characterization such as; indirect character development, caricatures to advance the progression of dynamic characters, and including tragic occurrences that immediately alter the character’s state of mind to develop on the main thematic purpose of the necessity of achieving one’s goal at all costs.
The opening scene of a movie is always important in that it establishes the main character and setting. Ridley Scott uses much imagery and symbolism in his opening sequence to manipulate the viewer’s emotions. The film opens with a scene of the main character and protagonist, Maximus, running his hand along the tops of a corn field in a peaceful setting of which we assume is his home. The audience’s perception of this man is instantly the stereo typical family man, one who is kind, caring, and gentle. Almost immediately the scene moves to a battlefield where Maximus is seen as an eminent leader and a dignified general. The scene is dark, overcast, and snowy, and Maximus the family man is instantly transformed into a rugged, tough warrior. The director symbolizes these two personas of Maximus by showing the rows of wheat at his home where he is a serene family man and rows of tents at the battle ground where he is a powerful soldier. It is obvious in the introduction of Maximus’ character that his main objective or goal is to return home to his family. Scott’s use ...
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...the crowd and through his actions overthrew a powerful ambitious dictator and provided a “democracy” for Rome. The audience may be confused as to what Maximus’ goal is, vengeance or returning to his family, but maximus’ main goal is to return to his family having avenged their honor and so he achieves both.
The Gladiator includes many themes such as revenge, power, duty, and honor but the main theme entailed all those parts in the struggle to gain the main objective. The director takes liberties in characterization by utilizing indirect characterization through imagery, symbolism, and actions, including caricatures to influence the perception of the other characters, and the occurrence of a crucial tragic event that greatly changed the main character to achieve the main thematic purpose of the necessity of self sacrifice to achieve one’s main goal at all costs.
...d how fickle the crowd was, he made sure that they were really listening to him and really going to be his followers. Two times Antony called the people back from running away in anger and said another thing to deepen the seed he had planted in them.
...for success, he robs his audience of the right to make certain determinations about characters such as Tarquin Superbus and Romulus because of his bias toward the motivation behind their actions. Livy’s The Rise of Rome was a grand effort and an amazing undertaking. Cataloguing the years of Roman history consolidated rumor and legend into fact, creating a model for Rome to follow. Livy’s only error in this vast undertaking was in imprinting his own conception of morality and justice onto his work, an error that pulls the reader away from active thought and engaging debate. In doing so, Livy may have helped solidify a better Rome, but it would have been a Rome with less of a conception of why certain things are just, and more of a flat, basely concluded concept of justice.
On that first fateful day, when Romulus struck down his own brother Remus, the cauldron of Rome was forged in blood and betrayal. The seeds on the Palatine hill cultured one of the most potent and stretching empires of human history. Though this civilization seemingly wielded the bolts of Zeus, they were infested with violence, vanity, and deception. Yet, one man—or seemingly “un”-man—outshone and out-graced his surroundings and everyone within it. He brought Rome several victories and rescued his beloved country from an early exodus, thus providing her a second beginning. This man was Marcus Furius Camillus, and against a logical and emotional mind, he was oft less than loved and celebrated. At times he was disregarded, insulted and even exiled—irrevocably an unwarranted method to reward Rome’s “Second Founder.” This contrast of character between hero and people was perhaps too drastic and too grand. The people were not yet ready to see Marcus Furius Camillus as a model of behavior to be emulated—to be reproduced. Hence, much of Livy’s Book 5 provides a foundation for the Roman people to imitate and assimilate a contrasting, honest, and strong behavior and temperament
A gladiators life was far from easy. Most were slaves, prisoners of war, or hardened criminals, therefore they were not free men. Often times they were trained and forced to take part in the events, hoping for their freedom if they were to conquer their grim fate and survived for a few years (wik). This was depicted in the most recent movie GLADIATOR. In this film Russel Crowe Maximus' starts out as an army general under Marcus Aurelius, until Commudus murders his own father out of spite for his fathers loyalty to Maximus and not him. He then inherits the title of king, and condemns Maximus to a gruesome fate as a slave/gladiator. Though this doesn't sound like the ideal life, to some at the time is was an appealing, so much so that some free men degraded themselves so they could battle in the games. Was it for basic living? Possibly but more than likely it was for the Fame and Prestige of a Gladiator. These free men were known as Professional gladiators.
After its debut in America on May 5th of 2000, the movie Gladiator has been a nationwide symbol of heroism(Imdb). The film was directed by Ridley Scott and the lead roles of the film were carried out by Russell Crowe as Maximus and Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus(Imdb). The movie takes place during the reign of the Holy Roman Empire in the year 180 A.D. The Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, is dying and wishes to leave the Roman Empire under the control of Roman General Maximus Meridius. The Emperor’s son Commodus betrays Maximus, kills his father, and takes control of Rome. In betraying Maximus, Commodus has his family killed. Maximus knowing this returns to Rome as a gladiator under the alias “Spaniard” in search of revenge(Imdb). According to Aristotle, “Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude”(Kwheeler). In order for someone to be considered a tragic hero, the person must meet the criteria of high social status, suffer from a hamartia, face a catastrophe, invoke catharsis, and experience anagnorisis and peripeteia(Kwheeler).
Maximus’ continuing acts of selfless heroism and putting his life at stake for those who betrayed him make him great. His first act of selflessness occurred when he agreed to help out Commodus’ sister, who knowingly let his child, wife, and almost himself be slain. He forgives her and agrees to meet with her senator to help give Rome back. His second act of selflessness occurred when he battled in the arena taking on 5 enemies while the other slaves stayed in the back of the entryway.
...istory through the use of a popular topic amongst modern readers. Strauss does often times go far too deep describing the landscape, using names of Italian cities and natural landmarks rather in depth, which loses a reader not wholly familiar with Italy’s landscape. Strauss also quite openly marvels at the figure of Spartacus himself, which could be a bias on the part of the researcher that some readers might call into question. Also, Strauss makes some definitive statements regarding why events happened, yet due to the nature of small samples of evidence, Strauss is mainly just making inductive guesswork, although usually logical guesswork. Overall though, Strauss effectively tells a lively story that enriches the reader’s knowledge on Roman history in an entertaining way.
I realized after watching this film that it had so many of the tropes found in later historical epics such as Braveheart and Gladiator. It actually left me somewhat disillusioned with Gladiator. Both films share a similar plot and many similar scenes. In spite of the advanced technology, slick editing, and computer wizardry of Ridley Scott's Best Picture-winning hit, this ended up being the superior film. During the final battle there are panoramic shots with thousands of extras.
He wants to be a husband to his wife, and a father to his son. He is a decorated warrior who has risen through the ranks to become Rome’s greatest general. His fellow officers regard him as triumphant in battle and courageous. He symbolizes the values of valor and honor that were key to developing a great Roman officer. His compelling sense of motivation in the beginning of the film is his yearning to go home to his wife and son. He has been a decorated soldier, all he wants now is to retire from the army, depart from the Germanic territories, and go home to live in peace. This Christian theme states that there is a time and a place for everyone, and everything. There is a time for war, a time for peace. There is a time for love, and a time for sorrow. Ecclesiastes 3:8 states, “7A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak. 8A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.” Maximus understands that the time for war has come and gone, now he must no longer be an officer of the military. He must be an officer for his
A set of practices concerning the narrative structure compose the classical Hollywood Paradigm. These conventions create a plot centering around a character who undergoes a journey in an attempt to achieve some type of goal (). By giving the central character more time on screen, the film helps the audience to not only understand the character’s motivation but also empathize with his/her emotional state. Additionally, some antagonistic force creates conflict with the main character, preventing immediate success(). Finally, after confronting the antagonist, the main character achieves his or her goal along with growing emotionally(). This proven structure creates a linear and relatively easily followed series of events encompassing the leading character and a goal.
Throughout this play, readers see what the motives of Cassius, Brutus, and Antony drive each of them to do, and how this affects their outcomes. Though these motives did not lead to a tragic downfall for each of these characters, motives are often taken too far. They prove to be so strong that they blind characters from making educated decisions and having a sense of rationality. The many deaths in this play all started out with one person being motivated to do something, and one things leads to another. Motivation fueled by loyalty can be just as dangerous as motivation fueled by hatred. The strength of that motivation is what can really make it dangerous, and cause lives to be lost.
Barker, Jennifer. "'A hero will rise': the myth of the fascist man in fight club and Gladiator." Literature-Film Quarterly 36.3 (2008): 171+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.
It was the citizens’ positive reaction to Caesar during his triumphant return after his victory over the sons of Pompey that fueled the fear of Caesar’s becoming king. The citizens’ opposition to Pompey’s allies caused great disturbances in the streets because a short while ago, Pompey was their hero. Now Caesar, victorious, is the hero of the hour. Their response also influenced the idea that Caesar was becoming too ambitious. Thus, the citizens of Rome had a role in the fate of Julius Caesar.
Gladiator (2000) is an action drama about a Roman general that is betrayed by his country and is forced to fight in the Colosseum. This particular scene, which runs for approximately 5 minutes, is the aftermath of the fight scene between Maximus, the betrayed general, and Commodus, the jealous emperor who betrayed him. This scene is not only significant because it is the concluding scene of the film, but also because it represents the end of Maximus’s enslavement and his coming to peace with dying.
The expectancy theory proposes an individual will behave or act in a certain way because they are motivated to select a specific behavior over other behaviors due to what they expect the result of that selected behavior will be. In essence, the motivation of the behavior selection is determined by how much one desires the outcome to be. This is shown when Maximus is initially recognized as a supreme gladiator by his owner Proximo, the man who taught him how to fight as a gladiator. Proximo took great interest in Maximus’ abilities and encourages him to go to the Roman Coliseum to fight for his freedom. Proximo advises him that if he is able to “win the crowd”, he will earn their respect and eventually his freedom. Performance to Outcome poses the question on whether success will lead to reward. The reward in this case would be after successfully winning battles, and the crowds’ favor, Maximus would gain his freedom and seize his opportunity to kill Commodus. Maximus’ strong desire of vengeance for the murder of his family drives him to win every battle he comes up against. Infuriated by Maximus’ success, Commodus sets up a fixed fight between Maximus and Tigris of Gaul, the undefeated gladiator. Maximus prevails in the battle and against Commodus’ orders, spares Tigris’ life. Maximus’ defiance of the emperor and mercy to Tigris made him more popular to the crowd than even Commodus