Mythology- Pan’s Labyrinth

by | Dec 3, 2018 | Film studies

This assignment consists of six discussion questions. You will write responses to four of these questions.

 

  1. What fundamental questions about human experience does Pan’s Labyrinth wrestle with? Pick ONE of the following topics, and discuss what the film says about the following subject: sacrifice; appearance vs. reality; how our choices define us; how hunger drives human behavior.
  2. What is the role of mythic or fantastic elements in Pan’s Labyrinth? What do you make of the truth value of these elements? Are the faun, Ofelia’s tasks, and her kingdom fantasy or reality in the world of the film? Ultimately, does it matter whether they are or not?
  3. Explore the symbolism of one of the following elements in Pan’s Labyrinth. What does the symbol represent? Why does the film reflect on that particular image? How does this symbol shape your interpretation of the film? Choose only ONE symbol to discuss, from the following list: clocks/timepieces; monsters; left imagery.
  4. Ofelia is, without a doubt, on a hero’s journey. What makes Ofelia heroic? List 5 heroic adjectives in relation to her, then discuss what these adjectives reveal about her character, Spanish culture, and about humanity in general. Why do we find her heroic? In other words, in what ways does she reflect your life experience? What does her behavior teach you about yourself?
  5. There are many trickster figures throughout Pan’s Labyrinth. Pick ONE trickster figure, and discuss the traits that makes he/she a trickster. Then answer the following questions: Why does this character need trickster qualities to succeed at their tasks? Is this trickster punished for his/her behavior? Why/why not? What does this character’s trickster behavior teach us about Spanish culture? About yourself?
  6. Pick ONE of the three main female characters (Ofelia, Mercedes, or Carmen) and discuss whether the character is a goddess of Life, Death, or Regeneration (although it is possible for the character to fit in multiple archetypes, write about ONLY ONE). Explain why she fits in that archetype (again, ONLY ONE), and how her archetype helps you understand her character better.

 

 

 

 

Sample Solution

Sample solution

Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell. 

In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.


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God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.

Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.

To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.

 

References

Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.

Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.

Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.

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