English Significant Connections Essay
Gandhi
In the movie Gandhi directed by Richard Attenborough, Mahatma Gandhi shows us that to ensure the survival of a nation you have to be prepared to selflessly make a stand for change. Gandhi does this through using the power of his speech.
This aspect of survival is shown when Mahatma Gandhi says “I too am prepared to die but my friend, there is no cause in which I’m prepared to kill.” He says this because he doesn’t want to bring violence into his fight. He wants to ensure the freedom and equality of all people in the future. With violence comes death and people remember deaths and Gandhi knows this is something that will be held against him and his people in the future. I want to state that before Gandhi made this comment everyone in the audience was shouted and very riled up but the moment he starts talking the audience simmer down and through a panning shot we see the respect the people have towards him. This shows the great power and effect Gandhi’s words had. When Gandhi states this in front of a large audience including British Officers, it proves to us that his focus was on the long term survival of his nation.
A second aspect of survival would be how Gandhi managed to create equality inside the village he has built along with his followers. The purpose of the village was to create a living environment where everyone is equal. Gandhi manages to do this by having a roster of jobs for everyone, so all the jobs get swapped around. By sharing and changing all the jobs around no one person is on a higher level than the next, as one morning you may be washing the sheets and the next you could be emptying the toilets. But problems arise when Gandhi’s wife Kasturba Gandhi, refuses to cover the latrine. She says ‘It is work of the untouchables”. The camera angle used is at eye level with Kasturba and shows her talking whilst having her back to Mahatma. This allows to understand the seriousness of the statement as Kasturba is ashamed and nervous to tell Gandhi her complaint. Resulting in a strong argument in the pair as Gandhi questions whether or not he can get a whole nation to live like this when he can’t even persuade his wife. This proves to us that if Gandhi was able to create a small nation of people who could treat and be treated like equals, he could certainly do the same in a bigger situation.
Touching the void
In the non-fiction book Touching The Void by Joe Simpson, we follow Joe simpson and Simon Yates on a journey of physical and mental survival whilst climbing through dangerous mountain ranges. This is shown when Joe Simpson is left to survive all by himself in freezing temperatures with several injuries. Joe manages to find his way off the mountain through the power of his thoughts and self encouragement.
This aspect of survival is shown in the text while climbing along a dangerous mountain when Simon (being the only person on the mountain with Joe) cut the rope Joe supposedly leaving Joe plummeting the bottom of an icy crevasse, where with the aid of previous injuries he would of died from the fall. He was lucky enough to land on an ice shelf and survive the fall. Joe knows if he is going to get off the mountain, he has to do it by himself as Simon believes he would of died from the fall. However he did get off the mountain with the help of “the voice”, within his mind Joe set small goals to get himself one step closer to getting off the mountain. It helped keep his mind in a positive mindset. “The voice was clean and sharp and commanding. It was always right and I listened to it when it spoke and acted on its decisions.” If Joe didn’t have “the voice” helping him set small goals like “I had to get to the glacier” there is a massive chance he wouldn’t have got off the mountain. Without it he could’ve easily given up on himself, without he could’ve died on that mountain. When “the voice” speaks to Joe he proves to the reader that although it’s not always easy, your thoughts can be the deciding factor between life and death.
Joe Simpson is completely self absorbed the whole time as in that point in time he is focused on getting himself off of the mountain as it’ll determine whether he lives or dies. Whereas in comparison Mahatma Gandhi from the movie Gandhi is the polar opposite as his goal was to ensure the freedom of his nation, he approaches this goal by always thinking about the effects his actions would have on not only nation his nation, but the world. From this we learn that neither Gandhi nor Joe are better than another. Joe is alone on the mountain, he is not given a chance to think about helping anyone else, all he has to think about is making sure he gets off the mountain alive. Whereas Gandhi is confronted with people who need his help, with a nation who need a leader willing to selflessly fight for equality.
Rabbit Proof Fence
In the movie Rabbit Proof Fence directed by Philip Noyce, Molly Craig shows us that in order to survive you need to be able to make educated decisions without hesitation or doubt as hesitation and doubt will slow you down and in the end lead to failure. Molly does this by sticking to her decisions and being confident in what she already knows about her environment.
This aspect of survival is shown when Molly’s younger cousin Gracie continuously highlights the problems that may arise following Molly’s decisions. The girls are inside Jigalong camp, alongside many young Aboriginal girls who have been taken out of their own villages to grow up in a more “civilised” European environment. Molly wants nothing to do with the European ways so she quickly decides that they will need to escape. The first sign of survival we see is when Molly makes this decision that will ensure they get home to their mothers, but Gracie doesn’t have faith in Molly. Gracie speaks on behalf of Daisy and herself saying, “we like it here”
Titanic
In the movie Titanic directed by James Cameron,