Cool_Hand_Luke

Joe Ferriero Mr. Noyes Composition Workshop March 5, 2010 The Man with Nothing too Lose Cool Hand Luke is a classic movie filled with imagery, allusions, and symbolism and of course, Paul Newman. This film is about a man who refuses to give into society’s norms and rules and lives his life to the fullest until the day he dies. In this movie, there are many biblical allusions as well as Christ-like imagery that Luke portrays to the prisoners. An example of this is at the end of the movie when Dragline is spreading Luke’s story it is like Jesus’ disciples spreading the word of God. Even the name Luke is a biblical allusion because Luke was one of the disciples of Jesus. Also this movie portrays society and authority figures in society as the guards of the jail. The film documents how society and authority can break a person down, but it also shows the reverse about how a man with nothing to lose can affect and change people’s lives. Finally this movie is able to incorporate the ancient Myth of Sisyphus into two key scenes; one showing Luke’s rise and one showing Luke’s fall. Overall, Luke’s ability to act as a Christ-like figure showed how the guards truly act and the Myth of Sisyphus showed the audience Luke’s rise and fall as a tragic hero. Not one person on this planet is a perfect person, however, in the movie Cool Hand Luke, Luke emerges as the Christ-like figure that is willing to help them. In this movie there are three key scenes that display this kind of behavior. Those scenes are “Not Staying Down”, “The Big Event”, and “Drag’s special delivery”. When Luke fights Dragline, in scene eight, there is a lot of pride on the line for both men, but one is more determined for a victory than the other. Luke is beaten to a pulp; however, he continues to get back up and never quits. Luke sends many messages throughout the movie, but this message to all the prisoners and guards about not staying down and never quitting gives him more respect among the prisoners and instills fear in the guards. In “The Big Event,” Luke must eat fifty eggs in one hour and if he does he will win all of the money in the jail. This scene has many important biblical allusions one being that the eggs are a symbol of life and when Luke eats these eggs it is like he is giving each prisoner a new life and a new attitude about life. Also at the end of this scene Luke is laying on the table in a crucifix position, which is a clear reference to Jesus on the cross. “Drag’s special delivery” is important because Luke finally realizes how much he means to all the prisoners and accepts his role as their “savior”. Luke sends a picture of him with two girls around him and a message for the prisoners that hopefully when they are out of jail they can enjoy success. The picture gives a lot of hope and lifts the spirit of every prisoner, which is what Luke consistently did throughout this movie. The guards represent the authorities of society and Luke cannot stand them. The guards get upset about losing control and order of the prisoners after Luke enters the prison. Three keys scenes that display this are “Making Short Work of a Long Road”, “Into the Box”, and “Boss Kean’s Ditch”. In “Making Short Work of a Long Road” the guards demanded the prisoners give them speed while working, but they never expected the results they got. The prisoners finished early and the guards quickly realized that Luke was becoming a leader and inspiring the prisoners to become more diligent so that they could have more free time. To end this key scene, the director faded the picture to a stop sign, which foreshadowed that the guards must stop Luke or else they will have no power. “Into the Box” is a scene where the guards force Luke to sleep in the box because they are fearful he may try and escape after his mother died. They are trying to establish power over Luke and they are also trying to “correct his mind” and change his behavior so that he follows their orders. “Boss Kean’s Ditch” is the only scene where the guards successfully break Luke down and are able to get him to follow orders. The guards once again re-establish their dominance and authority over the prisoners. The Myth of Sisyphus is about a man who angered the gods and as punishment he must roll a boulder up a hill, and once the boulder reaches the pinnacle, it falls down to the ground and he must do it over again. This is pointless and intense labor, and the original tale says that Sisyphus broke down because he could not do this anymore. In the 20th Century, Albert Camus re-interpreted this story and came to the conclusion that Sisyphus turned this into a moral victory and continued to defy the gods. In Cool Hand Luke, there were two key scenes that incorporated both interpretations of this myth and they were “Making Short Work of a Long Road” and “Boss Kean’s Ditch”. “Making Short Work of a Long Road,” was about Luke encouraging the men to work quickly to appease the guards and because of their hard work they finished what should have been a long and hard day of work two hours ahead of time. This scene correlates with the 20th Century re-interpreted story because they took a daunting task and turned it into a moral victory and defied the guards. The prisoners also grew more respect for Luke because of this idea and because he worked the hardest. “Boss Kean’s Ditch” was the opposite case and it lead to Luke’s demise. After a hard day of work, Luke was forced to dig a ditch and then re-fill it and dig the dirt out again. This was pointless labor and it eventually broke Luke down and all the prisoners lost all respect for Luke. Cool Hand Luke is a unique movie because it was able to incorporate a lot of different things into the movie well. This movie accurately portrayed many allusions to the Bible and Christ-like imagery as well as show what can happen when we live under bad authorities. Luke is a tragic hero and a martyr in many ways much like Jesus Christ. For example, they both knew that they were going to die and both left this world on their own terms. Overall, this is an excellent film about a man with nothing to lose, making the best of his situation and living his life to the fullest until the day he died.