1. About the Presenter Freshman in Florida State University
Majoring in Psychology Sits in front desk first row of the class
(from left to right)
2. About the Primary SourceThe Book of Eli, by Allen and Albert
Hughes(2010) takes set in a post-apocalyptic era.The story takes
place 30 years after a nuclearwar (WWIII) Eli is a wanderer and
bears with thescars of nuclear fallout. He spends his daysbarely
eking out existence. And his mission is totake the last Bible in
existence to the west.After a few bumps in the road and dangers,
hefinally makes it to a dystopian San Francisco. Hewas able to have
the Bible Republished withsuccess, and he dies peacefully.
3. Post-Apocalyptic setting is also Pre-Apocalyptic? Series of
Apocalypses: The Book of Eli hints that there is not one singular
apocalypse, but theres a series of them, leading up to the very end
and destruction of the planet. The setting in the film shows a
(past and eventual) paradox where the situations of the characters
in the film have been and will go through pre/post
apocalypses.
4. Review of Literature The Bible: Biblical passages that are
relevant to any scenes and/or situations in the film will be
mentioned. The End of The World As We Know It: Speaks of Faith,
Fatalism and Apocalypse in America. Book was published in 1997 and
was written by Daniel Wojcik.
5. More LiteratureAfter The End: In this scholarly text,
JamesBerger explains his theory on traumaticrepetition. His
theories will be used to explainthe sequence of repeated pain and
what maybe considered apocalyptic events that wereto enfold in the
world of The Book of Eli.The Cold and The Dark: This book, by Paul
REhrilch, Carl Sagan, and Donald Kennedy,contains scientific
theories that are verymuch possible if the world were to be in
anuclear war and what kind of life thesurvivors will have to deal
with.
6. MORE Literature.Life After Doomsday: By Bruce D.Clayton,
this book claims to be a survivalistsguide to nuclear war and other
disasters.This book has the assumption that our worldwill be in
fact witnessing all kinds ofdisasters.Arguing The Apocalypse: By
Stephen D.OLeary. This book has a chapter where TheApocalypse of
Apocalypses is explained.This section mentions that there is not
justone apocalypse, but a series of them. Asbelieved that the
survivors in the film TheBook of Eli would encounter a series
ofevents that may end up leading to an ultimateapocalypse (the
final destruction of theplanet).
7. SOA In aReligiousAspect. There are biblical passages that
are relevant to scenes and/or situations in the film. In the Book
of Revelation, seven seals are mentioned. The opening of the first
four seals releases the four horsemen, each that have specific
tasks.
8. Seal #2The second seal is known to symbolizea war among
nations, also known asWorld War III (religious war).
9. Seal #3 The lack of food seen in the movie ties in with the
third seal, spreading famine and starvation during and following
World War III (constant hunger in Elis world).
10. Seal #4And the violence seen amongst thesurvivors in The
Book of Eli may be seenas the outcome of the fourth seal.
11. Hidden Seal As for the first seal, which has to do with the
Antichrist, I believe its opened. Although people dont necessarily
see an Antichrist in the movie, I have a hunch hes there in that
post-apocalyptic world because he had to be the one that led World
War III. The Book of Eli is barely the start of the end; According
to the Book of Revelation, there is still three seals left.
(upcoming apocalypses)
12. SOA In Scientific AspectAccording to The Cold and The Dark,
the large-scale nuclear war, would leave, at most,
scatteredsurvivors in the Northern Hemisphere and thosesurvivors
would be facing hunger, extreme cold,heavy smog, lack of water,
etc. (the setting whereThe Book of Eli takes place). It goes into
detail asto the different kind of apocalypses that may befaced as
an aftermath of nuclear war.
13. Agricultural ApocalypseSubfreezing temperatures will
beexperienced after the war; its alsoknown as nuclear winter.
Thesesubfreezing temperatures would killall crops in the Northern
Hemisphere.It explains how low light levels wouldinhibit
photosynthesis and theconsequences would cascadethrough all food
chains. Most farmanimals would be severely weakeneddue to radiation
or completelydestroyed.
14. Toxic ApocalypseNuclear explosions wouldcause chemical
spills nearcities. It would ignite oil andgas storage facilities
andrupture tanks containingvarious toxicchemicals, spilling them
intorivers and streams, and killingaquatic organisms.
15. OceanicApocalypse Due to darkness and cessation of
photosynthesis, the phytoplankton rapidly dies off, food chains are
disrupted, and sea life declines. Toxins and silt draining off the
land contaminate the coastal zone. The thermal differential between
intensely cold continental landmasses and the warmer oceans creates
violent coastal storms. Ocean food sources for humanity largely
disappear and access to the remainder is severely impaired.
16. Merge of Science & FaithThe End of The World As We Know
It, helps connect the biblicalprophecies mentioned in The Book of
Revelation and the outcomesof nuclear war explained by the
scientists in The Cold and The Dark.Wojcik explains that
apocalyptic predictions about ecologicaldevastation are largely
based on prophecies in the Book ofRevelation. He goes into detail
as to other scholars perspectives, andhow they view these
prophecies in terms of the effects of nucleardestruction, and
discussed how a nuclear world war would pollutethe ocean, kill sea
and land animals, and create a cloud that wouldcover the sun and
burn the vegetation and green life. The effects of anuclear winter
is also mentioned and he analyzes the propheticimplications of the
destruction of the ozone layer, mismanagementof natural resources,
depletion of oil reserves, deforestation, and thegreenhouse effect,
and says that the Bible predicts a totalbreakdown of the earths
ecosystem in the end times.
17. Conclusion The 2010 post-apocalyptic film, The Book of Eli,
is not just post-apocalyptic, but also pre-apocalyptic. The film
hints that it has been through a few events after the nuclear war
that may be considered apocalypses (such as destruction of crops,
violence among survivors, and so on) as well as it hints that there
are more misfortune to come (irregular weather disasters, complete
loss of food sources, etc.) After a nuclear apocalypse, according
to science and faith, a series of apocalypses is to follow before
the ultimate destruction of the planet.