An
example of evil that the author chooses to divulge in the plot is
cannibalism. In the most distant
future storyline, the antagonists are cannibals whose faces are actually stained
with the blood of their victims.
They are not hidden but actually eat the flesh of their victims on
screen. In the storyline
chronologically before it, the controlling system “recycles” what they call
“fabricants.” The fabricants are
human clones, bred in captivity, and living under a false pretense that at some
point in their life they will be exalted to something greater. Yet the great thing that they are
exalted to is being killed in order to be ground down into “soap” that the
people in charge eat. Though a more
hidden and lie driven form, this too was cannibalism.
The
Biblical picture of the Harlot of Babylon is quite similar. John, who tells the story in the book
of Revelation, says “And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints,
the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” (Rev. 17:6). She is depicted as a monster literally engorging herself in
the blood of the saints. Again,
the author states, “In your streets flowed the blood of the prophets and of
God’s holy people
and the blood of people slaughtered all over the world”
(Rev. 18:24 New Living Translation).
The future the author envisions in the Cloud Atlas is not a far cry from
the Biblical picture of the future.
Very
telling of the author’s intent is that the shots of cannibalism are
interspersed with shots of a slave being whipped and of a dirty governmental
scheme that will annihilate humans being covered up in two alternate
storylines. I propose that this
actually points a mirror to our faces and forces us to realize what corruption
in all forms truly is. Jesus did
this numerous times in the Bible.
In his famous Sermon on the Mount he said, “…everyone who looks at a
woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart”
(Matthew 5:28).
Why
did the author choose to focus on cannibalism? The choice is actually well thought through. Cannibalism is a picture of ultimate
degeneration. When one physically
feasts on another it combines the deadliest of sins (greed, lust, and gluttony)
in the final destruction of the human form. It is common knowledge that the ultimate good is to
save other humans. This is seen
over and over in politics as we defend one another’s “God given rights.” Thus, cannibalism is the antithesis of
everything that is good.
The
author of Cloud Atlas depicts the earth as degenerating. Though evil is equally present in all
of the storylines, the latter two are the ones with cannibalism being part of
the dominating system’s form of controlling. In the last story even the language and clothes are primal
as they live like tribes in huts.
There is a constant threat of the earth’s decay. The water at one point buries an entire
population. In the last storyline,
the earth finally collapses into itself and the last survivors escape to another
planet.
Similarly,
the picture of in Revelation is of the destruction of the earth is ultimate. John notes, “Then I saw a new heaven
and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and
the sea was no more” (Revelation 21:10).
Leading up to this the prophets prophesy judgment on the earth because
of her corruption. Jeremiah cries
out, “For thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Cut down her trees; cast up a siege
mount against Jerusalem. This is
the city that must be punished; there is nothing but oppression within her”
(Jer 6:6). There is a direct
connection between oppression and destruction. Cloud Atlas is not far off in her picture from that the
Biblical picture of the final destruction of the earth.
A
huge theme that persists throughout each storyline is that of captivity. The
fabricants and African slaves are obviously in captivity. Timothy Cavendish is taken against his
will to live in a nursing home.
Robert is trapped psychologically in a blackmail scheme against
him. Less obvious yet more
powerful (I think) are the subtle situations that characters find themselves
physically trapped in. Hally
Barry’s character is trapped in an elevator and underwater. Adam is trapped on a ship. Zachary is trapped in a world that is going
to be destroyed.
Their
ability to escape their bonds is not seen as coincidence yet is given to them
through a connection to the Divine.
For who can transcend time but something completely outside of humanity
itself? Dreams and prophecies from
the future allow them to transcend time and play with their destinies. Key in Zachary’s story of escape is the
correct use of prophecy from the future.
When he disobeys, he is physically marred and almost killed.
Through
a dream, also, a character hears a song.
Where did the song come from?
I believe it was the song the fabricants were singing in the distant
future before they were about to be “exalted.” This song deeply impacts a character when she listens to it
on a record in the future. Music
has the ability to transcend time and space and shape destinies.
Probably
the most powerful and yet most mysterious example of Divine influence is the
mark of the star that each main character bears. They are chosen and why they are chosen is never explained.
However,
the Bible has much to say on the subject of marks on the body as signs of being
chosen. Paul reminds believes
constantly that they are chosen.
He states, “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the
world” (Ephesians 1:4). They are
chosen for a great purpose before the world even existed. In Ezekiel, a man with a writing case was
instructed by God, “put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan
over all the abominations that are committed in it[the city]” (9:4). Similarly, at the end of all time
believers are promised, “They will see his face, and his name will be on their
foreheads” (Revelation 22:4).
Physical marks were representations in the Bible of righteous men
devoted to God. Similarly, Cloud
Atlas displays marks as being signs of having a purpose placed on them (whether
or not they are aware of it).
These
chosen ones, particularly two women Louisa and Somni-451, are the powerful ones
who overcome evil. They do it by
sacrificing everything and telling the entire story. Louisa is a journalist who finds out about a plot to use a
nuclear power plant to destroy mankind.
Her bold search after the truth after she and her contacts are hunted
down, ultimately pays off when she stops the scheme from taking place.
Somni-451is
an escaped fabricant who becomes the poster girl of the revolution against her
captors, knowing that she will be re-captured and killed again. Yet she willingly goes, like a lamb to
the slaughter. Her sacrifice as
she boldly stares death in the face is what changes the course of history.
A
key component in their efforts is not only the courage to sacrifice but that
they boldly testify to the truth.
Luisa’s job as a journalist is to tell the truth but even she has to
psyche herself up to do it when faced with someone who wants to kill her for
it. The power of her storytelling
is self-evident though. Somni-451
tells her story the entire time, including the forced captivity of the
fabricants and cannibalism to the archivist. It ends with a poignant dialogue with the archivist who
listened the whole time asking her questions before her execution:
Archivist: If I may
ask one last question, You had to know, the whole scheme engineered by Union,
would fail.
Somni-451: Of course…This
was my destiny
Archivist: What? To be…executed?
Somni-451: Yes.
Archivist: Why?
Somni-451: If I had
remained invisible, the truth would stay hidden. I couldn’t allow that.
Archivist: And what
if no one believes this “truth”?
Somni-451: That can’t
happen.
Archivist: Why not?
Somni-451: Because
someone already does.
The
main characters fought for truth and justice to the end. Similarly, the Bible depicts
dying for another as the ultimate sacrifice, revealing the heart. “Greater love has no one than this,
that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Also, the Bible says that future and
past martyrs overcome through their blood and through their testimony. Revelation states, “And they have
conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony,
for they loved not their lives even unto death” (12:11).
It
is interesting that the author so closely parallels two perspectives: the
cynical, world devolving view alongside the glorification of chosen heroes
through a higher power. These
themes are similarly and equally paradoxically divulged in the Biblical
narrative. Cannibalism is used as
the author’s mirror to humanity and the prophetic vision he casts of ultimate
evil taking over and degenerating the earth. Out of captivity though men and women come out, literally
marked by the Divine with prophecy and dreams as further proof of a connection
to a greater power. The author
depicts well the rise and fall of humanity over millions and billions of years
into great evil and great good placing a fine-tuned microscope to both their
failures and their hopeful future accomplishments.
