(This is an early concept paper for my senior thesis on the military hero)
The military hero is one of the most enduring archetypes in fiction, stretching from the early
epics of Gilgamesh and Homer to modern films like Avatar and Iron Man. There are many kinds of heroes from the one-man army (e.g. Achilles, Wolverine) to the war leader (e.g. Aeneas, Maximus, Benjamin Martin from The Patriot). Another type of military hero that fights his or her personal “war” against crime or corruption is the masked vigilante, like Batman or Rorschach from Watchmen.
But not all military heroes do battle in the physical realm. Spiritual warriors are wracked by temptations and inner struggles. They may seem only like a pawn in the scheme of a greater narrative, but their journey to enlightenment and freedom transcend the whole conflict. Two examples of this kind of hero are Christian from John Bunyan’s religious allegory Pilgrim’s Progress and Neo from the Matrix trilogy, which was written, directed, and produced by the Wachowskis (one of them might be a woman now).
Pilgrim’s Progress records the journey of Christian from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City, and how he grows spiritually despite many dangers. The Matrix films tell the story of Neo, a computer hacker, who learns the true nature of reality from mysterious crew of the Nebuchadnezzar and travels through the Matrix and the real world, learning about himself and the reality he lives in as the series progresses.
The Matrix films and Pilgrim’s Progress share a common hero archetype, but their author and directors, respectively, have very different influences and life experiences.
John Bunyan was born to an Anglican tinker in 1628 but abandoned his faith while fighting for Oliver Cromwell in the English Civil War. His experiences during the war and the beauty of the Bedfordshire countryside were major influences on Pilgrim’s Progress, which Bunyan wrote in jail and published in 1678 (Jokinen 2). Bunyan’s conversion to Christianity (recorded in his autobiography Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners) inspired him to write Pilgrim’s Progress as a vivid allegory of the gospel, drawing from the Bible and his own personal experiences.
On the other hand, Larry (sometimes Lana) and Andy Wachowski are sibling directors who are famous for directing, writing, and producing the Matrix trilogy. In addition to these films, they wrote and produced the film adaptation of Alan Moore’s legendary graphic novel V for Vendetta and are currently writing, producing, and directing Cloud Atlas, an adaptation of the award winning sci fi novel (IMDB). The Wachowskis are big fans of kung fu movies and reality-bending anime like Ghost in the Shell and Akira (Wachowskis 1). This is where much of the action scenes in The Matrix come from.
According to a fan interview, the Wachowskis’ religion is “non-denominational”, and the Matrix movies contains hints of many faiths, both Eastern and Western. For example, the war between humans and machines is like Gnosticism’s dualist body/soul conflict. Also, Trinity and Zion are Biblical references, and Neo’s status as the One parallels Gautama Siddharta’s status as the “Enlightened Buddha” in Buddhism (Henry 1).
Therefore, in contrast with Bunyan’s fairly straightforward Protestant allegory, the Matrix saga is a smorgasbord of world religions, kung fu, and dystopia á la Blade Runner or the 1982 arcade game Robotron 2084. But the Christian allegory and the cyberpunk flick share the common archetype of the spiritual warrior
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Both Christian and Neo come from desolate places. After Neo is unplugged from the Matrix, he sees the reality of planet Earth, which is the barren Desert of the Real, governed by insatiable machines. Christian’s life is no different, and his home is the “wilderness of the world”, the aptly named city of Destruction (Bunyan 10). However, Christian is told the truth about his condition about his condition by Evangelist, who commands him to “run far from his own door” (18). Likewise, Neo is given commands on a computer and telephone by the unseen Morpheus to learn about the reality of his condition. Christian trusts Evangelist, even when his neighbors Obstinate and Pliable try to dissuade. Also, Neo trusts Morpheus and follows the “white rabbit” even though it leads him to a loud night club and causes him to be late the next day for work. Neo continues to be harried and tempted by Agent Smith, who offers him a normal life in the Matrix for information about Morpheus. Finally, Neo is told the truth of his condition as a slave to the machine and swallows the red pill “to see how far the rabbit trail leads” (The Matrix). This is similar to Pilgrim’s Progress when Evangelist tells Christian that Mr. Worldly Wise’s promise of easy burden removal and a normal life is a lie (Bunyan 57). Also, the Interpreter shows Christian a man in a cage, symbolizing a slave to Satan, which is like Morpheus revealing the human condition of slavery to the machines to Neo in the “real world.”
*SPOILER ALERT* (If you haven’t seen The Matrix, you might not want to read this)
But the clearest parallel between Neo and Christian is their respective salvations. When he is supposedly “killed” by Agent Smith, Neo is revived by Trinity’s kiss and realizes his true potential as the One by moving faster than Smith and going directly into Smith’s programming. He can also fly and move freely between the Matrix and “real world.” Christian also experiences salvation when he “dies” as Graceless and becomes Christian. He is given clean white clothes (like Neo’s clean black trench coat and sunglasses) and his burden is removed, freeing him. For example, Christian climbs the Hill of Difficulty without a problem. Neo and Christian endure similar struggles in their respective movies and book, and both have salvation experiences. Therefore, in this case, the archetype of a spiritual warrior has not changed much at base level in 300 years, despite divergent worldviews of authors and modern technology and fighting techniques.
“I know kung fu”- Neo (The Matrix)
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