Growing up with my grandparents, I would often go to church on Sundays. In fact, every day for the last six years I’ve gone to church with my grandmother. Like every teenager, I was often bored. Sometimes I slept in the back or tried to engage with a churchgoer, so I would not have to go back inside. Out of the thousands of sermons I’ve sat through in those six years, there is one that triumphs them all. Johnson, my pastor, talked about how our society views Jesus. He mentioned that if Jesus were to come to earth, people would think he’d wear robes like he did in 200 B.C., as well as, completely disassociated with the people of today. Johnson shook his head and said if Jesus were to come to earth, he’d more than likely would wear a leather jacket, skinny jeans, and have tattoos. This same concept can be seen for many biblical characters in The Book of Eli. In the Book of Eli, Allen and Albert Hughes, place biblical characters in a post-apocalyptic society.
Eli’s actions when it comes to women parallels with Jesus. The woman Eli meets at the tunnel represents Mary Magdalene. Once the woman notices Eli is not going to immediately rape her, she sits up and exposes the top of her breast to Eli. She is obviously a prostitute much like Magdalene. Eli, like Jesus, does not take notice to her womanly figure and does not take advantage of her or any woman.
Eli is the modern “chosen one”. When spectators are first introduced to Eli, they are aware that he is a holy man. Much like Jesus, wherever Eli goes he instantly draws both attraction and admiration. There is something about him that makes people stop what they are doing to listen or talk to him. Eli’s encounter with Claudia demonstrates the attraction Eli has on the common, non-violent people. Claudia, a blind woman, walks into Eli’s room with a tray a food. It is obvious that she is afraid that he will take advantage of her but she is quickly assured. Eli expects nothing from Claudia and is kind. Claudia is immediately charmed. In the bible, Jesus encounters a blind woman and gives her sight. Eli may not have had the power to make Claudia gain her sight but he had the power to make her smile. Furthermore, just before the first act is finished Eli meets Solara. The second Solara sees Eli, her eyes widen. Solara too recognizes that there is a kindness to Eli and she quickly takes to him. By the second act, Solara leaves her town with Eli. She is Eli’s follower.
Solara is a post-apocalyptic disciple. Solara is immediately taken and fascinated by Eli. Sent to have sex with him, Solara is introduced to praying instead. She remains fiercely loyal and eager to learn all she can about the bible. Presuming Eli is sleeping, Solara gets up and takes a look at the bible. Though Eli gets mad at her, her passion demonstrates that she can be trusted with the bible. When Solara and Eli are captured by Carnegie and his men, Solara and Eli are the only two people not wearing glasses. This means that their sight is not weak and that God has faith in Solara; she can stand with Eli in the sun too.When Eli dies Solara is given the bible and it is her duty like Jesus’s disciples to carry the word.
The confrontation scene with Carnegie establishes that Eli is the chosen one. In one of the first scenes, Eli is seen cleaning his knife and gun. These two weapons both symbolize the “rod and staff” in Psalm 23. Throughout the film, Eli is never afraid of man. When he is cornered and then propositioned by Carnegie, Eli does not bat an eye and walks past Carnegie. In a metaphorical way, Eli is constantly walking through “the valley of death” (Psalm 23) and never fears any evil. Eli’s power is further proved when one of Carnegie’s men, Redridge, tries to shoot him and misses. The bullet does not touch Eli and it appears as though Eli has an invisible impenetrable force around him. After taking down Carnegie’s men, Eli turns back to Redridge. Redridge looks like he regrets shooting Eli because he realizes that Eli is the chosen one.
Carnegie is satan. When spectators are first introduced to Carnegie they undoubtedly notice that he is the cleanest man in town. Carnegie’s hair is shiny, his face is clear, his clothes are clean, and he spends his days reading. Like Satan in the bible, Carnegie is beautiful. But Carnegie only remains clean because his demons do his dirty work; they follow his word and order. Furthermore, the scene in which Carnegie propositions Eli for the bible is eerily similar to when Lucifer propositioned Jesus about denouncing God.
Comparable to Lucifer, Carnegie is the complete embodiment of the seven deadly sins. Carnegie lusts after Claudia and forces her and Solara to become prostitutes. Carnegie is gluttonous. He knows where the water supply is but does not tell anyone because he wants to keep all the resources to himself. Though Carnegie has an entire town underneath his control, he is greedy and wants to expand. Whenever there is a major confrontation, Carnegie makes his men fight for him. He sits lazily in his chair reading, while his men look for a book. When getting cleaned up by one of his servants he angrily yells, “have you washed your filthy fucking hands?”. After meeting Eli, Claudia tells Carnegie, “he’s different than the others. You’re not going to be able to make him do what you want him to do”. Carnegie gets jealous and yells at her. Carnegie’s pride is demonstrated by how he treats his disciples and the bold ways he sits in his chairs.
There are characters from the bible in The Book of Eli. Solara is a representation of Jesus’s loyal disciples. Eli is the “chosen one”,Carnegie is satan, and the prostitute is Mary Magdalene. Overall, I really enjoyed this film because it had an interesting concept. The more I watch the film the more questions I had. think about what Jesus would be like if he showed up in this decade. Sometimes I founder if Carnegie is sort of a remorseful satan? Other times I wondered where was I in this post-apocalyptic world? Would I be more like Carnegie or Eli? And is either worse than the other considering the state they’re in? Isn’t it ironic that Eli is the chosen one but physically kills far more people than Carnegie does? Who’s better Carnegie or Eli? When push comes to shove, are they really that different from the other?
