In Stress Conditions

Questions:

1. How do the characters react to their world's crisis?

2. What impact did the events have on the family as a unit?

3. How is this text a reflection of our society?

Texts:

* Children of Men - Directed by Alfonso Cuarón

* The Road - Written by Cormac McCarthy

* Wall.E - Directed by Andrew Stanton

* The Handmaid's Tale - written by Margaret Atwood

Introduction

Under normal day-by-day stress conditions humans generally react in line with their beliefs, standards and ethics which are developed over many years as they experience life or learn from the environment that they are brought up in. This comes out in an emotional reaction for that person, however, how do they react under extreme adverse conditions? Such as a crisis or an event that is affecting the whole world or a major part of society, their family or their life.

So how would I react? How would people around me react? These are questions which I won't know until the time comes. But, by studying events that are portrayed in visual and written texts, I can gain an understanding of how some people believe the world and people individually would react.

Question 1. How do the characters react to their world's crisis?

The characters in a text influence the way we experience the events of that text; if we are drawn towards the character, either because we can relate to them or because they behave in a way that appeals to us, then we are more likely to bear witness to the event with the same reactions they have. How they react is a reflection of the world that they have experienced.

For instance, in Alfonso Cuarón's "Children of Men", the main character, Theo, is an alcoholic who doesn't care about the world or himself. His negative reactions are a result of his world being infertile for 18 years, along with the death of his young son and, subsequently, his wife leaving him. His resentment towards the world causes him to not care about it. This is shown in the café-bomb scene when a bomb goes off in a café Theo has just left and in amongst the carnage a woman stumbles out, holding her detached arm. Theo sees this and, instead of helping, turns and walks away without looking back. This reveals to us that he has given up on humanity. As the viewer we want to help the people in distress, but he chooses not to. His excessive drinking and smoking tells us that all he is now doing with his life is waiting to die. It makes us question, if we were in his shoes, would we react the same? Or would we try to make the best of our situation like the Humans in "Wall.E", directed by Andrew Stanton, did - with some horrifying consequences.

In their world, the humans are still masters of their domain - it just so happens that it is no longer Earth. After polluting the earth to the point of being uninhabitable, the Humans simply created a "utopia" in space for them all to live in. The human's simply reacted by running away from their problems and passing their mess onto someone else (i.e. the robots) because it was easier than dealing with the problem themselves. This shows us that the humans are lazy and cannot see the real consequences of their own actions. It is these kinds of attitudes that created the world in "The Road", written by Cormac McCarthy.

The father is the prominent character in "The Road" and the sole purpose he has bestowed upon himself is to protect his son, the last surviving member of his much beloved family, from the terrors of a post-apocalyptic world due to nuclear fallout. Despite many other people's response of ending their own lives, the Father takes on full survival mode, firstly for his son and then for himself. Despite his best efforts and pleas, his wife committed suicide because she couldn't handle this new and terrible world. This fuelled his commitment towards getting his son to safety. This shows us the love he has for his family and the hope he has that one day his son can grow up to lead a somewhat normal life - even if he isn't there. This kind of desperation for a life of his own that the father wants for his son, is also very prominent in "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood.

In a world where the majority of women are infertile, due to pollution and exposure to nuclear materials, freedom is a rare luxury for those who are fertile. Fertile women are forced into institutions called "Red Centres" where they are made to be Handmaids, or, surrogates, against their will, for high ranking, infertile couples. Offred is one of these Handmaids. Her reaction is based on a choice; Stay and be subservient to the laws of The Republic of Gilead, losing her freedom, or, leave and almost certainly die from radiation exposure. She stayed out of fear of what might happen if she left, however her choices inside the centre and her assigned home are influenced by her Mother; a single Mother and feminist activist. This influenced Offred to find a way to have her freedoms, at the possible cost of her life - we never find out if she got them. Whilst physically she had no choice, mentally she never gave up. This shows us that we will always fight for the freedoms that we believe we deserve.

Question 2. What impact did the events have on the family as a unit?

Any crisis can make or break a family. Stress levels are very high and there's no certainty when it involves crisis. The person you love most dearly in the entire world under normal circumstances could turn