Religious symbolism in the book of eli

The book of eli 2010 directed by albert hughes, allen. Google image 474 growing up with my grandparents, i would often go to church on sundays. The book of eli is a 2010 american postapocalyptic neowestern action film directed by the hughes brothers, written by gary whitta, and starring denzel washington, gary oldman, mila kunis, ray stevenson, and jennifer beals. We enter into in a gritty world devoid of either protection from the elements of nature or a government. Eliezers hair is shaved, hes dressed like all of the other prisoners, and in facing the atrocities of the camp, he loses his innocence hes no longer a child and his. Cross i am legend with the ten commandments and youve got the book of eli, a genuinely religious parable that inherently rebukes pointless endofthe. Redridge entreats eli to surrender the book and eli tells redridge where he hid it.

Christian themes abound in book of eli the tufts daily. Plenty of kids, having read this classic book for the first time, will be happy to tell you the titular garden is supposed to be the garden of edenbut while there is a link, thats not the main religious theme hidden in the book. List of books and articles about religious symbolism. The book of eli is screenwriter, gary whittas, take on a western samurai film. Studies in religious symbolism explains the rites of purification among the basotho of southern africa, their use of the cosmic tree with roots deep in the ancestral village called underworld by the western symbolism, up to molimo, the supreme being in heaven, communicating one basic truth. The ugly get uglier and humanity splits into the hunters and the hunted. As with all good bible stories, eli wins, even if his life is martyred for the sake of the greater religious good. This story of hannah, with which the books of samuel begin, involves eli. In the beginning of night, eliezers identity is that of an innocent child, a student of talmud, and a devout jew. As recounted by carnegie and eli, bibles are scarce due to a largescale book burning after the falloutmany irrationally blamed christianity as a cause of the war. The office remained in his family till the time of abiathar 1 kings 2. Eli is best remembered for his blessing on samuels mother and for his part in samuels first prophecy. But thats where the significant symbolism of the book of eli which was written by gary whitta begins and. The story revolves around eli, a nomad in a postapocalyptic world, who is told by a voice to deliver his copy of a mysterious book to a safe location on the west coast of.

Understanding symbolism in night brings greater appreciation for wiesels memoirs. The book of eli is a stylish film that is reminiscent of i am legend and other postapocalyptic stories, though it carves out a niche for itself due to its strong characters and its central theme. The gospel according to the book of eli popmatters. The secular faith of book of eli film school rejects. The title, book of eli, immediately gave me the impression that the bible has something to do with it. He restores my soul he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his names sake, though i walk through the valle. But the concentration camps experience strips him and his fellow jewish prisoners of his identity. The book of eli dvd 2009 this is probably one of the most highly underrated movies of 2010 due to the overwhelming surge of 3d films brought on by avatar which was out around the same time of this film.

Religious symbolism and iconography, respectively, the basic and often complex artistic forms and gestures used as a kind of key to convey religious concepts and the visual, auditory, and kinetic representations of religious ideas and events. Carnegie threatens to kill solara, to the dismay of redridge. In american culture, those who named their sons elijah are usually those who come from the bible belt the southern part of the us and those familiar with the prophet. The book of eli is a strong story about a godfearing man determined to obey the will of the lord. Eli came out in 2010, just a year after the road starring vigo mortensen. Tk waters has a bachelors degree in literature and religious studies and a masters degree in religious studies and teaches hebrew bible at western. Eli was the high priest kohen gadol of shiloh, the secondtolast israelite judge succeeded only by samuel before the rule of the kings of israel and judah. Its one of the most brilliant and visually arresting allegories ever. Elkanah also had another wife who bore him children. What the book of eli tells us about religion youtube. Now, if you go looking your bible for the book of eli, you wont find one. Loss of faith due to the atrocities the jewish experienced during the holocaust, many lost their faith in humanity and god.

Symbolism and iconography have been utilized by all the religions of the world. The nazis attempted to eradicate the jews connection to their faith by tattooing their arms, shaving their heads, and destroying their temples. Eli bumps the car door with his bag to gauge exactly where it is. Ely is the third character that provides to mccarthys religious implications. Ely seems to be playing the part of elijah, a prophet and faithful christian who foresaw the second coming of christ. And denzel washington isnt exactly kirk cameron, either. He was the first of the line of ithamar, aarons fourth son 1 chronicles 24. Eli was, according to the books of samuel, a high priest of shiloh. The prisoners struggle with whether or not to remain faithful to their religion or to survive in the camp. Eli and solara stumble upon these two in their travels, and both actors play their characters with energy and humor. Many have taken explicity prochristian themes from the film, but is it that. If the studio decided to release an edited version of this film, then it might find a bigger christian audience flocking to the theaters. The book of eli can obviously be a very meaningful piece of cinema for christians, and there is no reason to rob that group of that meaning, but that does not preclude people of all faiths or no. The 10th day of iyar is the anniversary of the death of eli the high priest.

However, the violence and language is too much for families. The seeing blind man that was eli is a clever borrowing from the bible, and really rounds up all of the religious ideas that are interwoven with inbetween bloody battles. The film presents some religious subthemes, which might find differing interpretations by different viewers. The narrative contains many last nights, the last night in sighet, the last night in buna, the last night with his father, the last night of innocence, etc. Mixed in with the violence and sepiatones is one giant religious symbol that we just had to quiz the. Spoilers every clue in the book of eli that explains the. Many were filled with disgust, as the god they were so loyal to had abandoned them when they were subject to such cruelty. The book of eli examing the religious undertones in the film book of eli.

There is lots of ash, similar to the road, but theres also some actual story to be had with bad guys and knife fights and pretty girls and shoot outs. When hannah came to shiloh to pray for a son, eli initially accused her of drunkenness, but when she protested her innocence, eli wished her well. Religion is the main symbol through this entire movie. He became high priest kohen godol after the death of pinehas, the son of elazar, ithamars older brother. The rated r hollywood movie, the book of eli was release in january 2010 as a american postapocalyptic action film directed by the hughes brothers not christians, written by gary whitta, and starring denzel washington, gary oldman, mila kunis, ray stevenson and jennifer beals. Although the book of eli, seemingly has a litany of christian themes and motifs there are tons of subtle motifs that can be traced to any of the monotheistic religions. Most could not accept the silence and rebelled against their religious upbringing. Eli in the bible was a jewish priest living in the days of the judges and serving god at the tabernacle in shiloh, a city near the hill country of ephraim 1 samuel 1. It was one of a spat of post apocalyptic dramas with washed out color and characters who care more about surviving to the end of the day than dental hygiene. When eli finally gets the book where it is going they just file it away with other similar books. Night the title of the novel symbolizes death, the death of innocence, childhood, faith, and millions of people. The twist that the book was braille was brilliant, and the symbolism of carnegie being himself blind to the word is just great writing.

Eli continues to quote the bible many times in the movie. The organization in the end would have treated it similar if it was there only copy of the lord of the rings. The book of eli takes us to a painful place a place where humanity loses its humanness. Eli is a hebrew name and at the end of the movie eli is shown fully shaven and in a white robe this process actually completely mirrored an islamic. Few are aware that burnett became a christian scientist in the early 1880s, and that these beliefs permeate the. Redridge recovers the book, with a locked flap, and gives it to carnegie, who releases solara. Eli wears dark sunglasses, as blind people often do. Like elijah the prophet from the bible, ely tells the man he knew the apocalypse was coming. The book of eli provokes thoughtful debate about the religious themes in the film, but the oldminus.

The book of eli2010 was an original script written by gary whitta. I knew it had something to do with the bible and religion, but i was unprepared for the complex theological statements, intense action scenes, and surprise ending which may not have surprised you at all but ill tell you why it. Thank you lord for a warm bed to sleep on, thank you for the food we are about to eat, thank you for a roof over our heads on cold nights such as this, thank you for companionship in. Religious symbolism is best known in its more ancient form from the discoveries of archaeologists. Book of eli movie quotes meet your next favorite book. For that matter, eli is something of a modernday elijah.

Hannahs eventual child, samuel, was raised by eli in the tabernacle. Christianity and the book of eli believe it or not. Jesus and the book of eli part 1 worldviews, worship. When eli failed to rein in the abusive behavior of his sons, yahweh promised to punish his family, resulting. The book of eli continues hollywoods obsession with postapocalyptic tales, and in many ways feels like it belongs in the same world as the road. As far as biblical symbolism, theres some standard connections between eli in the movie and eli in the bible. Eli was a descendant of ithamar, the fourth and youngest son of aaron the high priest. Eli does not notice the car with the skeleton until he hears the sound of rattling metal. Even better, through several memorable scenes, eli begins to show solara the power of the bible not as a tool for conquest, but as a handbook for living.

The hughes brothers book of eli isnt all postapocalyptic samurai sword action and ipods. The great jewish cities of central and eastern europe. Denzel washingtons the book of eli movie was an unexpected treat. Denzels charisma plus action plus a nice dollop of religious symbolism to ponder over i was hooked from beginning to end. Which bible verses are used in the movie book of eli as. Eli and solara are surrounded and dragged out of the house. A travel guide and resource book to prague, warsaw, cracow, and budapest is the most comprehensive guidebook covering all aspects of jewish history and contemporary life in prague, warsaw, cracow, and budapest. Religious symbolism in the book of eli religion is the main symbol through this entire movie. The religious symbolism was very strong and lacked delicacy, but even tho, i am not really sure about what was the message of this movie. Psalms and bible verses are quoted throughout the movie, and christian imagery and symbolism are present in many scenes. Jesus and the book of eli part 1 remember the book of eli. The film falls in the post apocalyptic dystopian genre, and as such has similarities with many other similar films, novels, and.