Invictus and Ransom: Comparative Essay on Film Versus Book

David Malouf’s text Ransom and Clint Eastwood’s film Invictus, portray the idea of Fate and Freewill in which life is predetermined with the idea of controlling events through self-determination. Invictus concerns itself with the aftermath of an inhumane Apartheid and the role of an influential personal Mandela who demurs surrendering to fate while uniting a furcated nation. In comparison, Malouf’s Homeric adaption of the Iliad as a reimagination through his novel Ransom explores the extent to which life is determined and pre-established by the gods. The novel and film are both set in a significantly different time period wherein Troy faces obliteration by the Greeks, while South Africa faces a major division of the nation through the racial discrimination that has risen from the horrendous injustices of the apartheid era. Both the novel and film preach the significance of going above and beyond general “human expectations’ discretionary while acting independently as efficacious in challenging set customs and traditions.

In most Greek mythology and literature, fate appears to be an ultimate and inescapable force. Malouf’s Ransom goes beyond the narrative of Homer’s Iliad to discuss the concept of fate through the character of Achilles. At the outset of the novel, Malouf’s carefully constructed character, Achilles displays an irredeemable and unforgiving attitude. Achilles is faced with a predetermined duality within himself as the “fighter” and the “farmer.” His divine “warrior spirit” competes with a farmer whose “the earth is his element.” Malouf depicts Achilles under the “obligation of being always the hero” until he encounters grief upon the death of his half-brother, “soulmate” and “companion” Patroclus. In his greed for revenge, Achilles not only murders Hector but mercilessly drags his body around the walls of Troy. Achilles’ men, the Myrmidons observe the unusual treatment of Hector’s body as Achilles desecrates his body which opposes the ritual burial rites and traditions. The Greek norm of attributing misfortunes to fate is evident when the Myrmidons explain the vigorous actions of Achilles by claiming he is “mad” and “some rough-haired god has darkened his mind”. The idea of fate as an inescapable, predeterminate force is explored through the character of Achilles as his grief is attributed to a ‘darker agency’ that is beyond worldly or human control. Despite being a son of a goddess, Achilles is engulfed by a “self-consuming rage” and hopes for “something to appear that will break the spell” on him. Therefore, Achilles also relies on an external force to save him from the barbaric menace that “enfolds” him. Ransom discusses the concept of fate as an unexplainable force responsible for events beyond perceived human control.

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Predicated upon the crisis of the past, Eastwood’s Invictus explores the concept of fate as one’s destiny is only fixed in the presence of inaction. In the early 90s, South Africa was on the brink of a civil war due to the immoral apartheid between the Afrikaners and the blacks. Eastwood portrays this clearly at the outset of the film where a single road separates two playgrounds, one in which Afrikaners are playing rugby and the blacks play soccer in the other. Adopting a wide shot, Eastwood illustrates Afrikaners being provided with proper uniforms, sports gear, and a grassy field to play on. A stark contrast is presented on the other side of the road where African children play soccer in a shanty polluted area while wearing shabby clothes. This idea of segregation highlights the inhumane effects of apartheid between the blacks and whites in Invictus. Eastwood elucidates that it is the true nature of humans to adhere to their respective social groups that consist of similar ideas and values while denigrating the opposing groups. Such nature of humans is, therefore, the by-product of these predetermined conditions of South Africa which were a challenge to Nelson Mandela who had the duty to balance “black aspirations” with “white fears.”

In Ransom, Malouf illustrates the power words can have in fostering empathy in others to challenge the pre-arranged fate. More specifically, the narrative offers Ransom’s characters what Priam calls a “crack in the door” through which they can access other people’s worlds. To be specific, the idea of utilizing words to challenge fate is explored by the Characters of Priam and Achilles. For Instance, Priam tearfully pleads with Achilles to take pity on a father bereft of his son and return Hector’s body. Through adopting words Priam Invokes the memory of Achilles’ own father, Peleus. He begs Achilles to pity him, by saying 'I have endured what no one on earth has ever done before – I put my lips to the hands of the man who killed my son.' When Priam presents his “story” to Achilles, he imagines himself as an old man, and thus experiences a version of himself that will never exist in reality. Therefore Achilles can only know himself as an old man through the empathy and imaginative connection created by words. In this way, words intersect with the theme of free will as it forces an individual to witness a “new” and “unexpected” outlook of the world while helping them experience a newfound perspective. Malouf elucidates the role of words as influential in Achilles' personal development towards achieving self-determination. Additionally, Malouf delineates to his readers by stating words are “powerful” as they can be the “agents of what is new” which suggests he is drawing parallels between the idea of words, free will, and change.

In the early 90s, South Africa was on the verge of a civil war. Utilizing words, Nelson Mandela inspired the nation to ‘exceed’ their own ‘expectations’ by refusing to surrender to their predetermined fate. South Africa’s dreadful economic conditions, as well as the segregation of its people, burdened the herculean role of Nelson Mandela as a President. However, for Mandela, an anti-apartheid revolutionary, the primary concern was to unite its people by adopting sports as a symbol of reconciliation. To do this, Mandela invites Pienaar on his social engineering journey as a father figurehead who inspires Pienaar to “stop” the “cycle of fear” between the Afrikaners and Africans before it destroys them. Francois Pienaar the captain plays a significant role in leading the Springboks’ team as he encourages a positive change in the attitudes and performance of the team. The two men discuss their “philosophy” on leadership. Mandela’s philosophy of leadership is to inspire others not only to be their best but to become even “better than they think they could be”. He believed this could be done by gaining “inspiration” from the “work of others”.The South African national anthem “Nkosi Sikelel’l Afruka” has an immense role in overcoming racial segregation between the blacks and the whites as it appeals to their individual sense of patriotism. To be specific this is demonstrated when Pienaar asks his team to “learn the song” as they cannot “just mouth the words”. Eastwood cleverly portrays one of the team members claiming ‘it’s their song, not ours’ with the new South African Flag in the background. This is intended to maneuver the audience to ponder over how the “rainbow nation’’ was not internalized by the South African nation, especially since the Afrikaners expected a fearful inversion of apartheid. Thus Invictus almost demeans the idea of fate as the characters predominantly change the course of events themselves, implying humans have full capacity to make choices especially if they have the right guidance and inspiration. Additionally, through the course of events Eastwood demonstrates that Francois realizes a significant change in his outlook on life as he now shares Mandela’s vision about the importance of adopting words to motivate and inspire others.