Commentary and Analysis of the Novel and Film The Manchurian Candidate

The Manchurian candidate is focus around the cold war period and it was originally a novel that concentrated on the idea of brainwashing. The cold war brought fear among the American community and this fear is seen through the film when numerous members of congress are falsely accused of being part of the communist party. The main character of the movie, Raman, is program to be an assassin. He is brainwashed to kill on command and then to forget about it so he is unable to feel guilt, and even if someone were to find him suspicious he would have no idea what he or she were talking about. The whole process happens when he is in Korea and he is captured by Korea’s army along with his unit whom are all brainwashed.

The beginning of the movie is focused on the different members of the unit and how all of them are having a reoccurring nightmare. In the nightmare, Renan kills two of the members of the unit cold heartly when he is commanded to do so. When the members of the unit start writing to Renan, he is surprised they call him their good friend since he knows he is the least lovable person and he has no idea why they feel that way towards him. More than one solder has the nightmare and the scene of the nightmares are usually fit to a racial preference (i.e. the African-American man is a room surrounded with only people of his skin color.) Later on, Renan gets a phone call where he is asked to play a game of solitaire and as soon as he sees the queen of diamonds, his subconscious takes over his body, mind and soul.

Then, after two years Renan is handed over to his American operator who surprisingly is his mother. Renan’s mother is trying to take over the government and rule America through her husband, whom is Renan’s stepfathe...

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...on might react to a crisis and to pressure. Also, throughout the movie I saw how fear may control a population and even the brain. Therefore, bringing me back to what we discussed in class that different people react different to certain situations.

In conclusion the film the Manchurian candidate is focus on the idea of brainwashing a group of men and making one of them an assassin, Renan, whom then surprisingly ends up being the hero of the United States instead of the villain. Many things were shocking to me such as the mother using her child to take over the United States and how the Korean were able to control Renan’s brain. Some of the connections that the film had to the class included: not only the psychological part of how the brain works but also how people react to certain circumstances and how fear may not only control a person but even the government.