Symbolism in book of eli is he blind

But thats where the significant symbolism of the book of eli which was written by gary whitta begins and ends. The final symbolism of the book being in braille goes back to the bible itself, which talks about how many people will not be able to understand the words of the bible. As eli dictates, lombardi writes it all down, word for word. So were led to believe at the end that eli is blind. He s just going from point a to point b, and plowing through obstacles.

In the bible, jesus encounters a blind woman and gives her sight. He obviously struggles with his own personal failings, but, for the most part, acts according to the book he defends so vehemently. Eli has several conversations with people while looking right at them. Book of eli caps wasteland saga with a twist the book of eli starts out with 10 minutes of dialoguefree imagery depicting the type of postapocalyptic wasteland made familiar in recent. Spoilers every clue in the book of eli that explains the. My chosen movie for that saturday afternoon was the book of eli. At the end, we see eli telling the librarian that he has the book, intercut with a scene of carnegie attempting to break into the one he s been given.

Eli is partially blind and been memorizing a braille bible for the last 30 years, his word is safe. He shares his name with a biblical prophet eli from the book of samuel. After carnegies blind mistress claudia brings eli food and water, carnegie orders her daughter solara to seduce eli, but he rebuffs her. Most importantly, eli realizes along the way that he s been focusing too much on keeping the book safe, to the point that he has failed to live by it. The bible in the movie is symbolic to the book of life, which many are disciplined to put the entire thing to mind. Being a loner, eli prefers to go his own way, but he may not have a choice.

As far as biblical symbolism, theres some standard connections between eli in the movie and eli in the bible. In the postapocalyptic biblical thriller the book of eli, denzel washington plays a blind man who feels he s been called by god to carry the last remaining copy of the bible across the country. Was eli from the book of eli fully blind or partially blind. Although eli is not a literal preacher, he is the closest thing to a religious figure in the postapocalyptic world and he is so totally badass that only god can help you if you mess with him. As far as biblical symbolism, theres some standard connections between eli in the. Whether you liked it or not, its hard to deny that the film starring denzel washington didnt send your brain on its own journey, especially after the movies grand twist was revealed. In the movie the book of eli, was the character played by denzel. Realizing eli is a literate man like himself, carnegie forces him to stay the night under guard.

Eli was a blind black man in a post apocalyptic world. And when eli heard the noise of the crying, he asked the meaning of this tumult. Book of eli eli is not blind at least not in this scene. Eli does not notice the car with the skeleton until he hears the sound of rattling metal. Book of eli eli is not blind at least not in this scene youtube. I laughed out loud when carnegies goons dumped a sack of. Jennifer beals, best known for her main role in the 1983 film flashdance, has been last seen acting in the 2010 film the book of eli where she plays the role of the claudia, the blind mistress of the nomad eli. So lara s ees eli ha s a b oo k, and he offers to share his food, saying grace before they eat. There are several examples throughout the film of him looking at things and people at the very beginning of the film he looks out and around to observe his environment, he aims with his gun, he is able to. Eli has to feel the feet to see if there are boots on the skeleton. Remember, he asked solaris mother when she lost her sight she. The book of eli s storyline is strong, with only a few mishaps.

In the movie the book of eli was eli blind the entire. The gospel according to the book of eli popmatters. Eli, who was nearly blind, was sitting at the front gate to hear the returning soldiers return was unaware of the event until he asked about all the commotion in the city. He became high priest kohen godol after the death of pinehas, the son of elazar, ithamars older brother. The 10th day of iyar is the anniversary of the death of eli the high priest. If eli was blind through out the movie then the movie is of the same genre as godzilla just plain camp, because ive known quite a few blind people with. The book of eli and the road to redemption catholic stand. The book of eli 2010 frequently asked questions imdb. We are not told why eli succeeded to the high priesthood, instead of pinehass son.

The power wasnt in the book it was in the ideas within the book. Im not sure that would happen over the brief duration of the film, but maybe he wasnt fully blind in the film, but had learnt brail in the world before so as to better be able to read. Carnegie presses his blind lover claudia to send her daughter, solara, to at least convince eli to spend the night by sleeping with him. The twist that the book was braille was brilliant, and the symbolism of carnegie being himself blind to the word is just great writing. Eli wears dark sunglasses, as blind people often do. A few observations about the book of eli welcome to. Eli may not have had the power to make claudia gain her sight but he had the power to make her smile. Was he blind and the message was that god was guiding him through or did he have some kind of bat. By every thing that is shown in the movie i simply cannot accept that eli was blind. In the movie the book of eli we discover at the end that the bible eli has been carrying the entire movie is written in braille. Christianity and the book of eli believe it or not. Eli is blind and if so, he either trained himself to be able to travel, hunt, shoot, etc. As the film ends, eli who we now realize is blind has memorized the entire king james bible.

Eli was blind before the war and after finding the bible and hearing gods voice he regained his sight until his task was completed finding a safe place for the bible this is why he did things a blind man would do and could read braille and also why is eyes were normal at the start of the film and clouded and the end. He is able to find the pawn shop in the first place, even though he s never been there. Subverted when we find out that carnegie has the real book, but cant read it, whereas eli knows the whole thing by heart. Eli has a book which is discovered as the bible and he is trying to deliver it to a location he doesnt specify. In the bible, eli grew gradually more blind, from partial sight up to the stage of his eyes were set so he could not see. Book of eli caps wasteland saga with a twist wired. Since the bible he carries around is in brairil and at the end his eyes looked cloudy. Now, eli might become blind at some point in the movie but not in this scene. However, eli proves to be the better man when he gently declines her advances.

In the final analysis, eli is us and we are all elis. At this point eli turned around and a shootout with carnegies men ensued. At one point, eli is injured, yet he continues to walk down the path he. According to imdb faq, yes he was possibly partially blind. There is an aura of calm and assurance about this outsider that intrigues carnegie. The bible he had with him was in braille and is of no use to carnegie, who finds his city falling apart now that he no longer has his soldiers to maintain order. Sure he has a good sense of smell and hearing ability but at no point in the movie does it imply that he is blind. The book of eli, sometime in the future a lone warrior eli denzel washington is on a mission surrounding the presumed last remaining bible. Thats how he could read braille, and had a braille bible. The second shot, he took his time, gripped his pistol properly, aimed, fired and if you notice he hit eli in his backpack. He sees that the handguns slide of back, meaning the gun is out of bullets.

Meaning that hes either fully sighted, or perhaps he can see things farther away but not up close, hence his need to read in braille. Book of eli is a wake up call for originality in both secular and christian movies. His dangerous and often selfsacrificial mission, inspired by god and rooted in a deepseated personal faith, is certainly inspiring. The word signifies any confused noise, as the splashing of rain 1 kings 18. Eli closes his eyes every time he reads the bible in order to more focus his sense of touch and cut off the visual stimuli. The girl sees elis book, and when carnegie finds out. Furthermore, just before the first act is finished eli meets solara. Hes a biblical character, but his story is tucked in 1 samuel. Does this imply that he is blind and has been living completely by faith his entire life or is the punchline of the movie that he is the simply the last living man on earth who can read braille. Dystopian analysis the book of eli is about a postapocalyptic dystopian reality that the protagonist eli is attempting to survive in. The book of eli continues hollywoods obsession with postapocalyptic tales, and in many ways feels like it belongs in the same world as the road. He puts eli up for the night and sends his blind, commonlaw wife, claudia jennifer beal, in to see that he is comfortable. This movie carries many, many, many hidden symbolism within the characters themselves, and their actions. In the movie the book of eli, was the character played by.

In a book full of nameless characters, ely stands out. A soldier had returned through the back gate and given the news of the battle to the people. A wound from eli s gun has infected his leg and he has little time to live. Eli is a wanderer, but the film does not center on his life. Eli was a descendant of ithamar, the fourth and youngest son of aaron the high priest. Now, if you go looking your bible for the book of eli, you wont find one. It exactly expresses here the babel of voices, all asking news at once, which at the coming of the messenger surged around the high priests throne. He obviously struggles with his own personal failings, but, for the most part, acts according to the book he. As eli is speaking, the camera zooms in on his eyes, and we see that eli is blind. Redridge fired one shot at eli with his pistol and by the sounds of it, completely missed. He got his thugs to find the book and found out eli had it so he chased down eli and took the book and killed.

The book of eli examing the religious undertones in the film book of eli. If so how was he such a badass fighter and more specifically a really good shot. The book of eli is an interesting but exhausting film with few humorous moments. In this latest episode of he said he said, jeff bayer and i try to wrap our hea. Read it and weep denzel washington thumps his bible and slices through bad guys in this apocalyptic hughes brothers fable. The director is acutely aware that gary oldmans character is much more interesting than eli, and the focus of the film substantially shifts for the better to what he wants the. Religious symbolism in the book of eli by stephen spencer. Just because the bible is written in braille doesnt mean he is blind.

The book of eli is a stylish film that is reminiscent of i am legend and other postapocalyptic stories, though it carves out a niche for itself due to its strong characters and its central theme. The island yes, its alcatraz has its own printing pressa dinosaur that is handset and hand operated. He s got one of those knives that makes a snickersnack noise all by itself, and is a oneman army. Washington and the hughes brothers do a good job of establishing this man and his world, and at first, the book of eli seems destined to be solemn. Eli continues to quote the bible many times in the. Maybe some can willingly suspend their disbelief on this point, but my dad is blind and he used to have an entire braille bible.