Thursday, November 14, 2013

Initiation Experience in Empire of the Sun

The "Initiation" is an archetypical situation in which an individual comes into maturity.  He or she gains a new awareness into the nature of circumstances and problems and understands his or her responsibility for trying to resolve the dilemma.  Typically, a hero receives a calling, a message or signal that he or she must make sacrifices and become responsible for getting involved in the problem. Often a hero will deny and question the calling but ultimately, he/she will accept the responsibility.

In Empire of the Sun, what is the event in which Jim is "initiated?"  What is he like before the "initiation" and how does his life change after the "initiation?"  What are the advantages and disadvantages of his initiation?


Anonymous said...

In Empire of the Sun, the initiation occurred when Jim and his parents were trying to escape the country but they all became separated. Before the initiation, Jim was living in a sort of bubble in which everything was perfect and the war was simply a fun game to take sides on. Jim lived a perfect life full of everything he wanted and had little respect or knowledge about the outside world. However, after Jim's initiation he is thrown into the world as it was. Without any parents he quickly ran out of food and water and a place to live. Once he is put into the internment camp it becomes even more apparent how lucky he was before. Jim realizes the harshness of the world and quickly has to learn to adapt and survive. In Empire of the Sun Jim went from living in his own little bubble to the reality of the outside world in an instant.

-Eva A. :)

Anonymous said...

In the movie Empire of the Sun , the boy, who's name changes to Jim later on, is living in a private community in Japan. He has lived there his entire life. His community is like the capitol in The Hunger Games . World War II is raging on outside yet he does not realize this until he is thrown into it when he drops his plane while trying to escape the country with his parents. Jim comes into maturity when he goes to an internment camp. At this point, he is aware that the Japanese are not going to help him and that he needs to fend for himself by trading throughout the camp. After he has been initiated, Jim becomes tough in every way possible. He is mentally strong because he knows that thinking about his parents being ripped away from him will cause him to fall. He is physically stong becuase he has been doing favors for everyone on the camp for a very long time. When Jim finally meets his parents again, he doesn't recongnise them and they don't recongnise him. In this movie, Jim struggles with hardships and pain in many ways. Yet, he still gets through it.

Anonymous said...

Awesome comments, girls. I am so impressed you took the time to watch such a fab movie. You both, Lana and Eva, understand what begins to change Jim. He is thrown into a world of chaos and survival is the most pressing daily activity. However, the initiation experience typically is the point at which the boy no longer has boyish tendencies or has left the world of boyhood. He may still look like a boy, but his heart and soul have changed. Often an initiation experience in literature or movies - stories - is represented in crossing water. The initiation experience in this movie is when Jim must crawl through the swamp to retrieve a valued item. He must face the possibility of death but succeeds and emerges muddy - like a new skin. He is immediately moved into the men's bunk house and given a man's flak jacket and a prominent room near the head leader of the men's bunk. This is the beginning of his manhood. Great job looking for this theme - we will be exploring it further in our literature studies. Extra credit to you both!! Mrs. Craig