Book Of Eli Documentary

Book Of Eli Documentary 

In class we both watched the Book Of Eli and then the documentary, this helped gain insight on the genre and the themes that run through the film.

It posed the questions; How would we strive to maintain our humanity? Who would guide us? Who would lead us into the future? How would we rebuild the new world? These all link to the genre as the world is often in a hopeless chaos in post-apocalyptic films, 

In the documentary the producer describes the majority of people as the "Walking Dead" as they are numb and dazed. These people have lost their senses and live in a cloudy haze. Its almost as if they are like the zombies we see in many other post-apocalyptic films but instead of losing themselves physically, it is infact their own mental state. It could be inferred that Zombies are a metaphor for people losing their humanity. 

The Book Of Eli suggests that the key to survival in a dystopian world is to develop skill sets such as hunting but also losing a sense of guilt and have the ability to sacrifice something or someone important to keep going. People of course need food, water and shelter but they also need to have a strong mental will and perseverance like Eli.

Eli will go extremely far to survive, he will kill, maim and slaughter if it fulfills his purpose. He will eat things what we consider to be pets (but not humans still showing that he maintains his morals.) His entire existence is to survive long enough for the Bible to return to safety and will not hesitate to act if that purpose is threatened. 

Religion is very prominent within The Book Of Eli, it would be used by the antagonist as a weapon to control the weak and the desperate. Where as Eli wants to spread faith and hope, instead of using it to control Eli wants be a martyr. It could be said that Eli himself represents hope in a world that seems to have none.