2001 Space Odyssey Essay Research Paper 2001 — страница 3

high art are just a few elements that spring to mind. Once Bowman accepts the mental transition, he begins to indulge himself. On one level we can see Dave begin to eat, on another he begins to consider his place in evolution, thinking, examining, progressing, evolving, and spiritually maturing. When Dave^s wine glass smashes we see that it is time to move on. This action has been likened to the Jewish tradition of breaking glass at a wedding ceremony: a symbol of great change occurring. Stanley Kubrik himself is Jewish, which makes this parallel plausible. Aware of the Jewish tradition or not, the sight and sound of broken glass alone in the controlled environment holds enough contrast to shock us into thinking that change is about to occur. Dave is thereby about to enter the

new level of conscious existence. As we see Dave age once more, he appears to be near the end of his ^life^. We see mankind reach out to the monolith for the final time in the film (the first time being when apes learned to use tools, the second time to make mankind aware of the happenings at Jupiter, some believe this was a call to announce Earth^s human race to the rest of the universe). With a new camera shot, we are introduced to the star child: Dave has reached complete divinity, the sublime. Far more significant than visually aging, Dave has been reborn. He has outlived his physical body and has evolved to the beginning new level, hence we see the fetus-like object. This, followed by the realignment of the Earth, moon and sun; the discipline of space; a mystical frontier,

represents a cosmic acceptance, a coming together of entities. This was Kubrik^s vision for the future ^ a euphoric, revolutionary concept: that mankind would eventually rise above the physical realm to a level of existence incomprehensible to us at the present point in time. 32b