The Fountain Symbolism

If there is anything that can be learned from the stories and myths of Prometheus, Faust, and Frankenstein, it is that knowledge, in its various forms, can lead to suffering and pain. The Fountain, a film released in 2006, can join in this tradition of the archetypal theme of forbidden knowledge; there is a disclaimer, though: when it comes to death, the knowledge of acceptance should overcome the knowledge of how to reject it. Written and directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz, it is a film which incorporates three different storylines centered around the same couple portrayed by Jackman and Weisz during different points in history: Queen Isabella and Tomas the conquistador during the Spanish Inquisition; the modern day Scientist, Tommy Creo, and his wife Izzie; and Tommy of the future, …show more content…
The world tree functions on many levels and the different sequences of the world tree as it relates to the fall of man in Genesis, the Mayan creation story, and the circular symbolism in the film will be explored. The world tree motif is used to underscore the film’s message that it is necessary for man to accept the natural laws of life and death in order to achieve wholeness.
The world tree motif is first presented in the film through a quote from Genesis detailing the fall of man and the sin of immortality, laying the foundation to interpret a parallel between Adam and Eve and Tommy of the past, present, and future sequences. It is the opening shot to the film, and it is the epigraph to Izzie’s book. It reads, “Therefore the Lord God banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and placed a flaming sword to protect the tree of life” (The Fountain). Adam and Eve committed the original sin of the pursuit of knowledge of good and evil—an act of defiance of and competition with God—and were prevented from experiencing eternal life because they had become God-like in their knowledge. Tommy in all three storylines commits the sin