I think the vast majority of us are
familiar with the use of atmospheric symbolism in books, it just isn’t
something that we necessarily give much thought to. We do, however, easily
recognize the more popular settings. There's usually a reoccurring theme of
open, airy fields with birds chirping and flowers blossoming within every happy
ending. There's even some form of a dark, scary and storming castle at the top
of the hill for every villain our hero or heroine crosses paths with. Aside
from the clichés, I think it’s really interesting the depth of emotion or
change a surrounding can allude to. There are no rules, boundaries or guidelines
in which a writer has to abide by. Whatever it may be doesn’t necessarily have
to be subtle or even obvious, at that.
Any given form of weather can have
a multitude of meanings. We usually correlate a dark, stormy night as the
foreshadowing of something bad occurring in the near future. We see snow as
pure in its form, mostly because of its undiluted color. After all, white is by
definition, the absence of color. The
sun, or better yet, a sunny day can only mean that good fortune awaits. It’s
these associations that we don’t particularly phase us because we deal with
them daily. We’ve come to the conclusion that we must expect the expected
because that is our norm.
Ex: In the movie the Lion King we go through a series of
events that are all chronologically expected. The story opens up to young Simba
and his father having a fantastic relationship. It’s almost like the all
American dream of a young boy and his father having a great relationship and
then the boy growing up to take over the “family business”. Except in this
adaptation, Simba is to (as expected) take his father’s place as leader once he
matures. Unluckily for Simba, the one time that he disobeys one of his father’s
direct wishes – his father ends up dead. Then of course, more trial and error follows.
Specifically, the dark and heavy nature of the Elephant Graveyard is a prime
example of an atmosphere that effects Simba greatly. The Elephant Graveyard’s
allure, is all about the fact that it serves as a source of temptation for
Simba. The lurking evil in the Graveyard is meant to symbolize the consequences
that will await Simba if he chooses to proceed down the path that he’s come
upon. After the death of Mufasa, Simba begins to feel the heavy burden of guilt
of his father’s death weighing upon him. When he is “exiled” we see him come to
a flat, crackling wasteland of a desert. This signifies Simba’s feelings of
hopelessness and worthlessness. With Simba out of the way, Scar has full
opportunity to invade the pride lands. Once he is there, the growth and
prosperity that was, has now turned into a sort of death valley, where any and
all source of life has diminished almost completely. This symbolizes the
transition of the pride lands from wholesome and pure to evil and dark.
---- I think I enjoyed the breaking
down of the movie more than the actual movie itself.
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