Oil is Thicker than Blood In the film There Will Be Blood, the discovery of oil transforms Daniel Plainview’s life. By drilling holes into the earth and extracting fossil fuels, oil is no longer a part of nature, but a commodity that is intended to create profit. Karl Marx argues that commodities become more powerful than people themselves in a commodity based society and says that material relations take the place of social relations. Relationships between people begin to be treated like relationships between objects. Plainview treats people like objects; coming from a Social Darwinist perspective, this unjust behavior leads to his success and ability to thrive. The film critiques Social Darwinism because the fittest person, which is Daniel, …show more content…
The main focus of Plainview’s life shifts from his son to oil and it’s profit. Daniel Plainview is one of the few men who make thousands of dollars per week just from collecting and trading the oil they come upon. An oil fetishism, an extreme liking of oil, is evident in this time period and thus Daniel is attracted to the wealth it brings him. The competition to find oil pushes Daniel to become more ambitious and he develops a power-hungry mindset in which he feels he has to be victorious in every situation, even in his social relations. Oil takes over his life and his relationship with his son plummets due to his neglection to realize that his relationship with H.W. is not something that can be …show more content…
Although he makes an effort to reconnect with his son after the accident, there is no time for sentiment or worry. He drowns his sorrows and suppresses his feelings subconsciously through drilling and profiting off of oil. The oil business becomes his safe-haven where he can escape the reality of his son’s sickness and their broken relationship. In example, when he forces H.W. to sleep when he clearly wants to spend time with his father and then continues to work, he is suppressing his sadness by working. This leads to a gradual decline of attention and time he puts into rebuilding this relationship. He realizes that ignoring his son can only hurt the relationship and he chooses to do so anyway. Daniel continues to build his empire of material wealth which sabotages his social relationship with H.W. Daniel focuses on his career rather than the vital interaction that he needs with his son. He uses his line of work as a way to block out the effect of his severed relationship with his child because he knows that their is no time to spend with people when it could be spent with oil and its possible
These divisive effects of the pre-Revolutionary War time period first become evident when Daniel West witnesses certain events go by and starts to question his own loyalty to the British King. Daniel is a young, fourteen year-old, colonist with a father who happens to be a doctor, a sister and a brother, and best friend, Beckett Foote. He has to deal with many worrying events and the conflict between the Tories and the Whigs. They were two groups that caused Salem and its people to split under the escalating violence. The Whigs stood for the American side, however, the Tories were the patriots loyal to the King. Though Daniel and his family were loyal Tories, but he did not take part in any events that occurred where violence was involved. At that time, 1774, Salem was home to a sickness and it caused additional unrest with the current situation between the two groups. It was only a year before the great Revolutionary War would begin. Daniel watches as events that lead to the war take place and starts to question his place with the loyalists. The mischief of The Liberty Boys harassing Tories, adults avoiding their neighbors, the danger of fire in a town, the tricks that Sam Adams plays to work around the British governor and the redcoats, and more force Daniel to make his decisions. The Liberty Boys are a young, rowdy group of trouble makers. Throughout the story, a message is conveyed, simply a touch of danger can change one’s life. Salem was in a time of turmoil; the conflicting groups made it worse.
Daniels past best friend Chris had a tragic death. After this, daniel became hesitant towards making new friends as he thought he would lose them again. This death changed his life majorly, he slowly had fewer friends because he thought the closer he became to them and the more he relied on them he would lose them, He then met eddy who changed his life forever. Even when eddy is dead Daniel kept his emotions and lessons learnt from eddy to use in life, this he did. He used everything eddy said and it helped him through life. Eddy's death made daniel feel happy and sad. Happy because she had died the way she meant to “ Nothing except I felt like she'd died the way she was meant to. No sirens. N needles and tubes. No watching her fade away.” (pg 191) It also made him feel lonely, his best friend in the world had just died “I felt stranded and lost. Alone in the world, it was a feeling that scorched a path in my mind back to the time when Chris had died." Eddy's death made daniel more appreciative of the people around him. He also became very positive and trusting. He knew he could face life on his own, he knew he was independent but also knew when to ask for help, he knew he could find someone else like eddy. “I wasn't alone. I'd never be alone, eddy had taught me that. Alone is a state of mind." Due to the deaths of eddy and Chris daniels identity has changed for the good from lessons in
During the final conversation between Reb Saunders, Danny, and Reuven, Reb Saunders defends his method of raising Danny by noting that, “...I did not want my Daniel to become like my brother...Better I should have no son at all than have a brilliant son with no soul” (285). Reb Saunders assumes that if Danny were raised in silence, then he would obtain a soul unlike Reb Saunders’ brother who did not have one. Reb Saunders raises Danny in isolation due to his assumption that having intellect without a soul would make a person indifferent and uncaring. By only wanting what he presumes is most beneficial for Danny, Reb Saunders forms a barrier between him and a meaningful relationship with Danny. This approach of bringing up a child is the only one that Reb Saunders has previous knowledge and he realizes that, “..a wiser father... may have done differently. I am not... wise” (288). Once Reb Saunders understands the consequences of his irrational decision, it is too late to make amends. Silence strains their relationship and forces both Danny and Reb Saunders to become depressed and miserable. Despite raising Danny with good intentions, Reb Saunders feels remorse for not establishing an affectionate relationship with his son while he still had the chance. Furthermore, Reb Saunders yearns for Danny to become a tzaddik and tries fulfills his desire through restrained communication between his son. If Reb Saunders had created a lasting relationship with Danny then the same hope could have been achieved. For Danny to become a tzaddik without feeling compassion during his lifetime is difficult to demand. It may have been possible for Danny to develop the traits that his father requires of him if he was raised in a nurturing environment. Overall, Reb Saunders’ rationalization of his parenting technique is rendered useless as he comprehends what an ill-advised approach it
I believe that the purpose of this novel was to show the reader the unfairness and the reality of the big time oil corporations. Also, to show how the same oil companies are the center of the small town Colton grew up in. The author showed the reader of the unfairness of these companies as well as how much the people of those towns rely on the oil companies. They cannot work anywhere else partially because that’s all there is for the most part. This is shown here, “Colton was born with horses and oil in his blood like his father before him and his grandfather before that and maybe his grandfather’s father before t...
Her son was one of the first computer hackers and worked for the military until his tragic death abroad. His death took such a toll on his parents but they both had drastically different way to grieve with this pain. Her husband, Solomon, internalizes all of his pain, and becomes this shell of a person. He mistreats everyone around him, from his wife to those being persecuted from up on the bench. The way in which Solomon disrespects people is directly related to how he has been able to grieve. He is isolated in his job which also leads him to be narcissistic and arrogant, fully believing that he is not only always right, but also coming across as this person who thinks that his answer is the only right one. Solomon sought out comfort while grieving through his work, trying to return to the idea of normalcy, the life he was living before
However, the advancements that he listed as enriching the human experience are merely a product of progression, which can occur in any economic system, not just capitalism. Goldberg then went on to discuss capitalism’s creation of “intangible capital” and the value it brings (Goldberg, 12). However, the capitalist elite control the means of distributing this “intangible capital”, and often access to “natural capital” as well. The inequity of this system is what results in the powerlessness of those in poverty, who find themselves unable to challenge those in power. Marx perhaps best envisioned this in his concept of a class struggle between the proletariat (working class) and bourgeoisie (owners of the means of production), and proposed socialism as an alternative economic
1. In the book, the father tries to help the son in the beginning but then throughout the book he stops trying to help and listens to the mother. If I had been in this same situation, I would have helped get the child away from his mother because nobody should have to live like that. The father was tired of having to watch his son get abused so eventually he just left and didn’t do anything. David thought that his father would help him but he did not.
I chose to reflect about the Marxist lense again because I wanted to compare how different people view things in this lense. So in Kevin’s presentation, he tells us that Marxism was created by two German philosophers named Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Through his presentation, I've learned that Marxism is an economic and social system that is based upon the political and economic theories of its creators. The book revolves around Bernard Max, the protagonist. Even though Bernard is the main character, he is considered as an outcast. In the world that he lives in, no child is made naturally, which means that they are not conceived through a man and a woman because there was no marriage. Instead, children were “cloned” or what the book called it the “bokanovsky process” . Children who were created through the “bokanovsky process” were placed into different classifications, the Alphas, Betas and the list goes on. Those who were classified as Betas were seen and thought that they were better than everyone because they have the power of control everything. People who were in the lower class were considered to be poor and doesn't hold much power. This can be compared those who are rich and those who are poor. The rich will have the most power or authority in society while those who are poor or are commoners like us doesn't have any power or
David growing up as a child lived in a house where there was no love shown or caring relationships. He grew up not knowing what good relationships looked like or felt like. David did not think too highly of his dad or aunt and always had
He believes that by having more wealth over them, he also has the right to treat them however he wants because they don 't equal him. His murder of Paul Allen is carefully planned and done as cautiously as possible by having it done in his own home. Whereas those who are beneath him are murdered or threatened out in public places, which strengthens the idea that these people are nothing in a capitalistic society. There are three significant scenes that portray Marx’s idea of classes conflicting with another as well as the cruelty of
David, the main character in the book, realizes that his girlfriend Hilary has cheated on him. To make things even worse she is cheating with one of his friends from the football team, Sam. David tries to talk to Hilary but she thinks he hasn’t been the same since his mother died about a year ago. Later, David beats up Sam at a party.
Throughout the film a focus on family and the dynamics is prominent. A traumatic event, the loss of a son, brother, and friend, has influenced the Jarrett greatly. Due to the circumstances in which Conrad, a severely depressed teenager and the main character, was present during the death of his brother, feelings of guilt had built up in this young man. A great deal of stress and tension is built between the family members because of this tragic accident. Here is where the concept of, change in one part of the familial system reverberates through out other parts. (Duty, 2010) The relationship between the Conrad and his mother become even more absent because, in the film it is presented to show that the mother blames and has not forgiven Conrad for the death of his brother Buck. Six months after the death of his brother Conrad attempts suicide with razors in the bathroom of his home. His parents commit him to a psychiatric hospital and eight months later, he is trying to resume his “old” life.
[intro.] What will happen if America had no way to import oil? America uses one-third of the world’s energy most of which is powered by oil. However, America are only able to produce one-third of the oil needed to run what the country burns now. The other two-thirds of the oil needed come from unstable parts of the world such as the Middle East and Africa. Without oil, America may lose its world power to a country that does not only rely on oil to power their country.
This seems to represent Hones predicament because he maintains his distance from his father by staying at his friends house, then again they could remain in near contact with their family however simply abstain from looking at anything emotional .on the other hand things appear to be better therefore in passionate sort of the fact of the matter is that the issues are still there just beneath the surface.
Karl Marx was a polarizing figure of the mid-19th century whose writings remain relevant today. Some of his main ideas include the relationship between the workforce and the ‘ruling class’ which owns the means of production. Marx refers to the working class as the proletariat and the ruling class as the bourgeoisie. Themes of Marx can be found today in popular culture, namely in books and movies. One example of this is the series The Hunger Games, which correlates with many of Marx’s ideas and writings.