Sathianathan 1 We are not animals. We are not a product of what has happened to us in our past.

We have the power of choice. Stephen Covey. As human, everyone has the ultimate power in their hand to make a choice. This choice can e either !ood or evil ased on what a person wants. "n this story, Captain #idal wants a perfect Spain in his control. "n order to achieve that, Captain #idal takes many evil choices even thou!h he has the power to make a !ood choice. Throu!hout the movie, Captain #idal sticks to his evil choices which made others suffer terri ly. The movie $an%s &a yrinth is most suita le to e studied usin! the lens of 'ar(ism as this movie e(plains every trait of the lens of 'ar(ism in a detailed manner. This is especially seen throu!h the characters in the movie. "n their ehavior, each trait of 'ar(ism is outshined. The lens of 'ar(ism reviews this movie on a point of view of class stru!!le and politics. The movie $an%s &a yrinth shows a !reat deal of 'ar(ism in various points of view, hence, the movie is est studied usin! the lens of 'ar(ism.

Class stru!!le is an essential view in 'ar(ism and it can e seen throu!hout the story throu!h the characters of )felia, Carmen and 'ercedes. "n the e!innin! of the story, the film showed a small !irl named )felia who was from city. She was !oin! to the country with her mother, Carmen to *oin Captain #idal. )felia does not want to !o to the country however she followed as per her mother wanted. $re+adolescent )felia is a wide+ eyed wanderer who immersed herself in a world of ooks. )felia%s mother wanted her to accept Captain #idal as her father. This is ecause )felia%s real father had passed away.

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'oreover, Captain #idal is the father of Carmen,s un orn child. -er mother e(plained that they are in the care of Captain #idal as they don%t have elsewhere to turn to. Those days, most men controlled their women and made them dependent to them. So did Captain #idal. -e made his wife travel lon! distance as he wanted. )felia%s mother told her that almost everythin! in the country is ased on what her stepfather prefers. As he is the captain who holds the hi!hest rank in the camp. Carmen, the mother of )felia never went a!ainst her hus and and indirectly portrays 'ar(ism. .ven until she dies, Carmen lived a life of a perfect and traditional wife whom will never !o a!ainst their hus and. -enceforth, it is clear to say that Carmen has accepted class stru!!le. "n this movie, )felia stru!!led very much to prove that ma!ic really e(isted, especially to her mother who didn%t elieve in those sorts of thin!s. Thus, her idea was thou!ht to e senseless. )felia discovered a stick insect that she elieves to e a fairy, which followed her to the mill where Captain #idal is stationed. &ater, )felia meets a faun who says that he elieves her to e the reincarnation of $rincess 'oanna. -e !ives her three tasks to complete efore the full moon to ensure that her /essence is intact/ so that she can return to her father,s realm. After her mother died, )felia had a difficult time to live under Captain #idal%s commands and orders. 0nlike Carmen who o eyed 'ar(ism, )felia was a!ainst the class stru!!le. "n con*unction to that, )felia decided to leave the villa!e and lead a normal life. 0nfortunately, that does not happen as she was killed in the end of the movie y Captain #idal. )felia%s fate shows 'ar(ism. Captain #idal has total control

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over her life and he took it away rutally. )felia ecame the victim of 'ar(ism. This clearly illustrates 'ar(ism in this story. -owever, there are those who are rave enou!h to re el, al eit 1uietly and ehind his ack, 'ercedes, a poor maid of Captain #idal whom suffered !reat deal of misery. She never respected Captain #idal%s side kick, made hot tea for him ut complained. She was on the enemy%s side. She did many sacrifices for her rother, $edro y ein! a slave to Captain #idal. She had to remain in a low profile to ensure the safety of her rother, $edro. 'ercedes even helped the enemies who stru!!led to !ather supplies for survival. .ven 'ercedes was a!ainst class stru!!le. -owever, she pro!ressed in silence as she was ein! the spy in the camp. Thus, 'ercedes also

portrayed the trait of 'ar(ism clearly. "n short, the movie $an%s &a yrinth had shown very detailed e(amples on class stru!!le that one could under!o.

Throu!h the lens of 'ar(ism, the tricks played y Captain #idal show politics, an important trait of 'ar(ism. 2irstly, patriarchal is o vious. Captain #idal takes full control over his wife -e only wants a son and re*ects the idea that the a y mi!ht e a !irl from the doctor. #idal is positive that the child will e a son. Captain #idal tells the doctor /"f you have to make a choice, save the a y. Captain #idal cares only a out producin! an heir for him. -e chooses the life of his a y over his wife, Carmen. -e treats his wife as a lower class human ein!. Carmen is not !iven e1ual freedom and she had to o ey him. Carmen was forced to use wheelchair instead of walkin!. Captain #idal

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only did this ecause she was pre!nant with his child. -e also kept stressin! that a son should e orn where his father is. This was the main reason that he ordered his wife to travel a lon! distance even thou!h he knew that the *ourney would e tirin! for Carmen. The safety of his wife was optional to him. -e even mentions that they are 34 minutes late to reach the camp. -e did not even feel sad when his wife died. She was only a irthin! tool to him and never appreciated her as a woman. Secondly, oppression is e(pressed in this movie. 2or instance, a family was only !iven a limited amount of food however his army was entitled to eat as much as they wish. This was ecause the army was preparin! for the post+Civil War Spain in 3566. This was in order to prepare his army to help him achieve an ideal Spain ruled y him. #illa!ers who didn%t o ey him were !iven little food. 7e(t, manifestation is also clearly illustrated in this movie. Those who support Captain #idal%s dominance and policies were !iven free read every day in order to secure their support. 2inally, dictatorship is shown in this movie. #illa!ers are forced to follow his commands or else starve to death. Their meals are very much controlled and minimal supply is !iven. Captain #idal did not even hesitate to torture 'ercedes, a woman. -e had ultimate power over her. "n one unfor!etta le scene, Captain #idal even assumed two farmers as the part of the re els and killed them with no mercy. -e rutally e(ecutes the two farmers after eatin! one nearly to death with a ottle for supposedly aidin! the re el cause. $urely relyin! on his aseless assumptions. After they are killed, he discovers they were innocent. -e lames his men, tellin! them /'ay e

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you,ll learn to search these assholes properly efore you come otherin! me./ -e is feared y all around him. Captain #idal also murdered two of them in order to spread propa!anda. Captain #idal%s army is trained to sacrifice themselves for war, for the fame and power that he could o tain over Spain. The soldiers are treated like worthless human ein!s. Their lives are 8ero input to Captain #idal. -e forces them to fi!ht until they die. 9esides that, Captain #idal also tortured $edro, 'ercedes% rother despite him tellin! everythin! that he knows. The doctor is ordered to tend the wounds of the $edro, so that he can e interro!ated further. -e killed the doctor when he found out that the doctor was ein! a helpin! hand to his enemy. -e did not even think of how much help the doctor did for him and his wife. Captain #idal does not think )felia as her dau!hter. Captain #idal also killed )felia for takin! his son to &a yrinth. -e shot her without thinkin! twice. -e thou!ht that she was !oin! to harm his son. "n short, politics are effectively con*ured in this movie. The movie $an%s &a yrinth is most suita le to e reviewed in the lens of 'ar(ism. This is ecause this movie e(plains every trait of 'ar(ism in very detailed aspect. Carmen, )felia%s mother had shown some !ood 1uality of a perfect wife as in for those days. She o eyed the traits of 'ar(ism throu!hout her whole life without o *ection. She never once said no to her hus and%s commands. She accepted class stru!!le very well. Contrary to that, the prota!onist in this film, )felia did not o ey to the traits of 'ar(ism. She was a!ainst class stru!!le and hoped to find her way out it. 'oreover, her

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eliefs that ma!ic actually e(ists were controversial to what 'ar(ism says. 'ercedes was also in terms with )felia. She denied class stru!!le and she was over with it when Captain #idal is killed at the end. The only character in this movie that portrayed the trait of 'ar(ism to the fullest is the anta!onist of this movie, Captain #idal. -e showed a variety of 'ar(ism%s traits and ideas in the story. As the villain of the movie, Captain #idal had several effects on this story. -e made this movie look rutal and violent. -e forced almost every people in this story to o ey his commands y usin! ideas and traits of 'ar(ism. "n this sense, he was a success. This is ecause he was a le to make others o ey his commands and people were afraid to !o a!ainst him. -e also showed differences in the class of people or status 1uo clearly in his leadership. -e treated different people differently. "f he had ecome the new leader of Spain, it would e a !reat deal of hardship for Spain people. -owever, his dream didn%t come true as he was killed at last due to this cruelty and rutality. "n short, it is clear to say that this movie has correlation to the 'ar(ism principles. "n a nutshell, a leader should not e a violent and rutal person. "n road terms, a leader must e the one who always !ives priority to peace and a le to influence his or her people to do so. &eadership is influence.+ :ohn C. 'a(well.

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Works Cited /Covey Stephen./ 9rainy;uote.com. <plore "nc, =>3>. =? April. =>3>. http@AAwww. rainy1uote.comA1uotesAkeywordsApower.html /'a(well :ohn C./ 9rainy;uote.com. <plore "nc, =>3>. =? April. =>3>. http@AAwww. rainy1uote.comA1uotesAkeywordsAleadership.html Spark7otes .ditors. Spark7ote on &ife of $i. Spark7otes.com. Spark7otes &&C. =>>B. We . C> Apr. =>3>.