Paper:
A
simple analysis of the main character in “In Time” movie
by
using
Deconstructive criticism
Ramlan
Pakaya
(321410016)
English Department
Letter and Culture
State University of Gorontalo
2013
Deconstruction
theory
In this analysis,
I would like to explore about the characterization of Will and Sylvia by using
deconstructivism theory which will try to find more explanation beyond or
inside of the surface scene, it should be more deeply explored by using
deconstructive criticism.
According to
Enotes.com (2003) “Deconstruction is a literary criticism movement originated
by French critic Jacques Derrida in the 1960s, developed in three works—De
la grammatologie (1967; Of Grammatology) Drawing on the philosophy
of Martin Heidegger, Edmund Husserl, Søren Kierkegaard, and Friedrich
Nietzsche, on the language theories of Ferdinand de Saussure, and on the
psychoanalytic ideas of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan, Derrida presented his
notion of deconstruction in 1966 at an international symposium at Johns Hopkins
University in Baltimore, Maryland. There he met Lacan and American critic Paul
de Man for the first time, and they formed the core group that would go on to
popularize deconstruction in the United States. Initially considered elitist,
nihilistic, and subversive of humanistic ideals, deconstruction has been much
debated in academe and has gained more widespread acceptance, although it still
remains, to an extent, a radical way of analyzing texts.
Deconstruction
theory embraces the precept that meaning is always uncertain and that it is not
the task of the literary critic to illuminate meaning in a given text. Derrida
began with Saussure's ideas of the signified and the signifier: an idea
(signified) is represented by a sign (signifier), but the sign can never be the
same as the idea. The French term “différer” used in deconstruction discourse
refers both to the difference between signified and signifier, and to the way
the signified defers meaning to the signifier. The signified contains a trace
of the signifier, but also of its opposite.
According to
practitioners of deconstruction, the job of the literary critic is to look for
“slippage” in the text—to note duplicity, or to expose how a text has violated
the very linguistic and thematic rules it has set up internally. Calling
attention to breaks in the internal logic of a literary text achieves its
deconstruction. Deconstruction itself can be deconstructed, however, and the
process goes on indefinitely.
Because it
challenges logocentrism—that is, it questions order and certainty in
language—deconstruction has been viewed by its opponents as an intellectually
obscure, negativistic form of cultural critique. M. H. Abrams wrote a
particularly devastating essay on deconstruction, and Steven E. Cole and
Archibald A. Hill have criticized the methods of de Man and Geoffrey Hartman,
respectively. Other scholars have found deconstruction a stimulating and
innovative new approach to literary criticism. While such critics as Lance St.
John Butler and Shawn St. Jean have written on major literary figures and works
using deconstruction theory, other scholars, including Edward Said, David B.
Allison, and Christina M. Howells have found an application for deconstruction
in the fields of history and philosophy.”
Synopsis of “In
Time” movie
In time is a film
which was producted in october 2011 byAndrew Niccol. This film talks about the
importance of using time in human life. All of the time is used as the age, so
that when the time is out, then the person will die. The time can be used for
buying all the things, can be used for paying service and so on. Many things
cannot be imagined in this film such as a human can have a long life until one
a hundred years if having the time such as a hundred hours in hand. Another
thing that very attractive is everyone can only be aging until 25 years old,
after that they will not be looked old anymore. Father looks like his son,
grandfather also looks like his grandson. Of course they should work very hard
to sacrifice for the sake of getting some time even if just fo having a lunch
of coffee. The time can also be trasfered by attaching the hand to another
person’s hand. In order to manage the use of time, there are some people who
works as time keeper. Their job is only keeping the time used wisely. Their
time is in their hand like a digital watch which has thirteen digits. if out of
time, then the light of the watch will be turned off and so for the person.
Will salas who was
acted by Justin Timberlake and sylvia who was acted Amanda Seyfried. They are
the main characters in this film. Will has a mother and has no father. His
family is not a rich family. He only has several days of time in his watch and
so for his mother. Who works for a factory. His destiny had been changed after
the insident in the bar. He met a rich man named Henry Hamilton who finally
gave him a century of time.
he finally become
a fugitive man because of accused as the killer of the rich man by time
keepers. One thing that he regrets in his life is failed to save her mother’s
life because of running out of time while he has a century of time. His mother
died in his lap. After this event, he went to a place which has many rich
people there, New Grenich.
New Grenich is a
place where he met a girl named sylvia. Sylvia is a daughter of a very rich man
who has a billion time, and also has many time banks. Will become closer with
Sylvia’s family after winning from her father in a casino. In another time
while Will was invited to a party, suddenly the time keepers come to arrest him
and seize most of his time until 2 hours remaining. This insident made Will
become bewildered and hold as ahostage to Sylvia. He took away the most rich
person’s daughter.
Many experiences
had been passed by sylvia. She never go through such unexpected event like
that. She never beeing in a condition that she has only several minutes in her
watch. She never felt the importance of
second in life. However, beside Will, she passed it. The climax of ther
experience is while the time keeper hunted them. They tried to seek some more
time to continue their life by selling Sylvia’s necklace. They finally escaped
from the time keeper after Will killed him. That’s the end of the film.
The analysis
Will salas is a
good boy to his mother. He loves his mother. His mother loves him too. His
mother wants him to get married soon. However, Will did not pay attention to
his mother. He said that there is no time for girlfriend. It such a kind of
ignoring his mother’s wish to have a grandchild from him. As a good child, In order to make his motehr happy, he should
paid attention to his mother wish, even if just having a girlfriend.
In Will’s everyday
life, he is a very kind person in his city. It can be proven by seeing his
attitude to a child who beg some time from him and he gave 5 minutes freely to
the child. Another proof is he did not take the police’s time after shooted by
Sylviea. Another one is he always be a bank robber for only sharing the time
that stolen to poor society. This should be a good thing to do. But, by
considering the condition of that poor society in the city, it is a kind of
giving poison. By giving them time freely, it such a kind of pampering them.
Just like in an indonesian saying, it is better to give a fishing rod/fishing
hook than giving fish. So that they will be dependent to his kindsness.
Sharing the time
to those who need is very good. Person who do it is a very noble. However, a
good desire which is conducted by a wrong way, should be a big mistake and will
be a bad impact.
A grudge is not
really good for us specifically and for other people generally. After his
mother’s death, he wanted to avenge to the rich people in New Grenich. “I will
take their time all”, this is very crucial decision when he moved to New
Grenich for only avenge his grudge without knowing to whom he will implement
it.
Will is a good
gembler. He can win thirteen digits time from Sylvia’s father. Actualy,
gambling is a fast way to have much time in this film, but it has no proof in
the real world that gambling can make a man to be rich, moreover, vice versa.
We can also judge
that Will is a crafty man. It can be seen when the time keeper took all of his
time and remained only two hours for him, he did not ran out of idea. He
finally took Sylvia as his hostage to save his life because Sylvia. Even though
he almost die because of running out of time, he always found the way to
survive just like selling Sylvia’s diamond, fighting with bandits, plundering a
car and the big thing that he did is plundering a big bank, Sylvia’s bank.
Will is a person
who cannot keep the message from Henry Hamilton who gave a century of time to
him. The message is “don’t waste my time”, in fact he waste it. The first one
he did is going to New Grenich which needed to pay one year for the cab. The
next one is he ordered a suit room which is very expensive for his
accomodation. The next one is he bought a very luxury car for only going to
Sylvia’s house. The price of the car is fifty years. The last proof is always
giving a tip to costumer services.
One thing that
should be a pattern is his attitude that easey to give up or surrender. It can
be seen from his way to willingly let the time keepers for arresting him and
took all of his time even though he never kill Henry Hamilton like accused. He
should deffend himself over the time keeper if he was not wrong. The second
proof of his attitude that easy to give up is when he has no idea anymore to
escape from the time keepers, he finally asked Sylvia to go back to her father.
If he is a good boy, he will never let police to take his time, and also try to
look for another way which is possible without asking Sylvia to surrender and
come back to his father.
Kindness is not
always be best result for another
people. This such a kindness of Will to his close friend, Borel. After
getting a century of time, we directly come to his friend and gave a ten years
to him. It is a good things to see, but in fact it did not give a good impact,
moreover, it become his friend’s way to die. His friend buy alcohol by using
his nine years, and finally found his death because of drunk.
The next character
who will ba explored by using deconstructive is Sylvia. Sylvia grown in a rich
family, differently from Will. Because of beeing caged by her father, she
become an arrogant girl, she never care about other people. All she knows is my
father has much time to be alive.
Sylvia is a
stubborn girl, she never paid attention to his father’s warning that she must
not getting closer with any strange people but she disobeyed it. She also
darely plunder his father’s bank. She consensually choose a strange boy who
have just introduced to her instead of her father who has taken care for her as
long as her life. She also beeing hard to believe in someone even to help her
life. She grown beside of guards. She never be independent because of her
father’s wealth.
At the first time
she met with Will, she showed a good sign to Will, so that Will could approach
her easily, got dance, and swim with Will. It is a kind of reckless action that
should not be imitated by young generation now. If she did not ignore her
father’s advice, she will never be Will’s hostage. However, itu was good for
her because she can have many new experiences beside Will.
Another fact of
Sylvia is, having unconcerned attitude to other, this can be proven when she
shot the time keepers, the second one is shot the driver, and the last ones are
menacing and plundering her father for the sake of her wishes with Will.
References
