Stranger Than Fiction movie Symbolism
This work highlights the importance of symbolism in writing and how it is used in the film Stranger Than Fiction.
In life, many people believe that they have complete and utter control over their own lives. However, there have been many films and novels that have expanded on the idea that fate and chance play a more important role in one’s life than most people believe. These stories show how symbols and random acts have a great effect on the way someone lives their life. This idea is developed throughout the film Stranger Than Fiction by Marc Forster. In the film, Harold Crick is a boring IRS agent whose life is being controlled by a narrator and author inside his head. Forster uses many reoccurring objects and people that have a much more important meaning than they originally seem. The little boy riding his bike is a commonly used figure throughout the film that foreshadows an upcoming accident or death. Also, another important symbol are the numbers that appear throughout the exposition of the film as Harold goes through his daily life. A film uses symbols to highlight ideas or themes throughout the story. Forster’s use of symbols and important objects adds meaning and value to the plot of the film.
Foreshadow is a clever device that many authors and directors use to connect with the audience to signal something that is about to happen. Symbols often work as foreshadows to events that are about to happen. In Stranger Than Fiction, Forster uses the little boy riding his bike as a symbol of upcoming death. As a tragic author, Karen Eiffel ends all of her stories with the death of her main character. In order to do this, she visualizes simulations of how someone could die. Whether by a car crash or suicide, a little boy on a bike is shown just before the character dies in all of her death scenarios. Then as Harold Crick is about to face his “imminent death,” the little boy on the bike crashes and stumbles out into the middle of the street as the bus is coming. Crick is forced to save the boy’s life by sacrificing his own, leading to another death caused by the boy on the bike. Even though Eiffel decides not to kill Crick out of his selflessness, the little boy on the bike was still a reoccuring figure throughout every death or accident. Symbols can be used to add meaning to a story or to foreshadow upcoming events, and Forster uses the little boy on the bike to foreshadow death. The youthfulness and life of a child opposes the idea of death. Forster used the innocence and youth of a young boy to symbolize and trigger upcoming death because he knows that many people would risk their lives to protect children, even if they are not their own children. The use of symbols are extremely important in the plot and story of Forster’s film.
Symbols can also add a much deeper and thematic meaning to a story. In the exposition of the film, the numbers that appear on the screen are a visual symbol of Harold’s need for control and order in his life. As Harold is going through a normal day in his life, numbers will appear on the screen to show how Harold counts and predicts everything in his life. From the number of brushstrokes while brushing his teeth to how fast he walks to the bus stop, Harold counts and plans everything in his life. As he counts or does each task, the numbers appear next to Harold, as if this is what goes on in his brain. However, once he hears the narrator’s voice in his head and after his conversations with Professor Hilbert, the numbers disappear. The numbers are rarely and almost never used throughout the rest of the film. Harold Crick is a very straightforward man, and he desperately tries to plan and control everything in his life by counting and timing everything that he does. He believes that he is in complete control of his own life, while “little did he know,” his life was being controlled by an author. After realizing that he is going to die soon, Professor Hilbert urges Harold to start to pursue his dreams and live his life to the fullest. Harold begins to live happily and begins to try new things, such as brushing his teeth randomly, casually walking to the bus, and falling in love. The numbers disappear during the rising action because Harold finally realizes that he does not have full control over his own life and that he must live the life that he has always wanted. These numbers symbolize how Harold believe that he was in control of everything; however, he realizes that the actions of everyone and everything around him, fate, and chance play a role in one’s life. His understanding and realization of not being in control and helping the greater good is what saves his life because Eiffel notices his selflessness and decides not to kill him. The symbolic meaning behind the numbers and constant counting almost caused Harold’s death, and their disappearance is what saved his life.
Symbols and objects are constantly used throughout the film to foreshadow upcoming actions or to add meaning into its plot. Forster’s movie uses many literary devices to demonstrate the thematic idea of how control and fate have a balance in one’s life. A person has free will and can choose his own decisions, however what happens because of those decisions or the actions of other people brings fate and chance into his life. People plan out events days or even years into the future thinking that they have the control of their actions. Then tragically, a fate chance such as a storm or car issue can ruin their plans completely. Forster uses the boring, mundane, and calculated character of Harold Crick because he is the epitome of someone who needs to have full control over everything in their life; however with a few keystrokes, Karen Eiffel is able to completely change his life and ideology involving his own control. The acceptance that control and chance both have a large role in their life, can lead many more people to obtain happiness and tranquility.
