Truman is more like a rat in a cage than a “true man”.

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Recommended: Analysis of the Truman show

Truman Burbank, as the unwitting main star in “The Truman Show”, is trapped in a world that appears on the surface to be normal, almost perfect. He has a loving wife, a good job, friendly neighbours and people who stop him on the streets of Seahaven to talk to him. However, Seahaven is not the ideal place that it seems. Truman is more like a rat in a cage, controlled by his “Creator” Christof. Despite the false nature of everything and everyone that surrounds him, Truman ultimately proves himself to be a “true man”.

Seahaven is a deceptively perfect, reminiscent of a picturesque 1950s middle-class town. Advertisements herald the virtues of Seahaven, television shows remind Truman of the value of living in a small town and his best friend questions why he would ever want to leave such a wonderful place. However there are 5000 hidden cameras ready to catch Truman’s every movement. Only Sylvia sees through this slick television packaging and realises that Seahaven is no more than a cage designed to keep Truman trapped. On a talk-back television show she accuses Christof of crushing Truman’s humanity, crying “look what you’ve done to him”. Posters on her wall highlight the comparisons between Truman and a caged animal, showing Truman as a youngster looking through the bars of a playpen as well as a photo of Truman as an adult with superimposed iron bars. She and the “Save Truman” group seem to be the only people who recognise Truman’s tragic situation.

Christof never views Truman as a rat trapped in a cage. To him, Seahaven is the perfect town filled with everything Truman could ever need or want. The guards in his ‘Moon’ studio wear t-shirts that say “Love him, Protect him”. To him Truman isn’t an animal to be exp...

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...akes the decision to leave the safe confines of Seahaven. No longer a rat in a cage, he defies his jailor and leaves the only world he has ever known. Truman refutes the true reality of the television he stars in because they “never had a camera in [his] head”. Despite Christof’s pleas to remain, Truman must be true to himself and discover the real world beyond the boundaries of Seahaven.

Though trapped in Seahaven like a rat in a cage, Truman is able to make the transition to becoming a “true man”. He flees an enclosure that offers him no real choice to find his true love Sylvia and live a life that is authentic. His naive and genuine nature emphasises the falseness of those around him. Bidding his final farewell to both Christof and his audience, Truman leaves his cage and proves he is more a man than a rat.

Works Cited

Weir,P. "The Truman Show", film.

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