Shayne Rebello Ms.

Fiacco ENG2D Monday February 27 2012 Invictus Reflection The movie Invictus, is a movie based on the poem by William Ernerst Henley, depicting the racial injustices that plagued South Africa in the late twentieth century. The poem bears quite a significant role within the movie, tying characters together while sharing similar themes of forgiveness, racial integration and unity. The film follows the South African Rugby team, as they fight their way into the world cup. Throughout the movie, the team becomes somewhat of a symbolic entity, bridging the gap between the blacks and whites of South Africa. As the rugby team progresses, and eventually wins the world cup, South Africans of all racial backgrounds are able to drop their fears and prejudices. The movie aims to convey messages about unity, discrimination, racial integration, forgiveness, and leadership. After watching the movie Invictus, there were three main scenes that displayed those themes. The first scene that struck me, was when Nelson Mandela hired new, white body guards, who served the former president. These body guards could very well have been the exact same people who threw him in prison for twenty three years. Despite this, Nelson Mandela not only hired these body guards, but astonishingly, trusted them with his life. Mandela truly had to forgive the white people and rise above the circumstances that were before him. Surely no one would have judged Mandela for not wanting white body guards, but Nelson, was able to rise above his resentment and forgive the terrible grievances they had placed upon him in the past. Another scene that really exhibited a theme of racial integration was the part where the black and white body guards were playing rugby together. Rugby was brought to South Africa by the British, and was typically considered a white mans sport. However, the whites and blacks playing rugby together symbolized the integration and acceptance of other races in South African culture. Finally, the last scene that revealed a major theme of the movie occurred before the final championship rugby match. As the cameras panned

over Ellis Park Stadium, one could not help but notice the sheer number of the new South African flags. The significance of this scene is in its stark contrast to the first rugby match of the movie where of flags in the stadium were of the old, aparthide South Africa. These two contrasting scenes display the theme of unity, as the people of South Africa were able to band together and rally around their rugby team. For the first time, every person of South Africa has something to cheer about together, and through this, a sense of nationalism and unity was created. The poem Invictus is about a persona who endures terrible hardships and tribulations during the course of his or her life. However, despite all the ill- fated luck and destitution encountered, the persona still struggles forward. The poem is extremely motivational, and bears great importance to the movie itself. The poem empowered Nelson Mandela during his twenty three years in prison, when all he wanted to do was just Lay down and die. For Franois, the captain of the Springboks, them poem inspired him to greatness and helped him lead his team to victory. No one ever dreamed that the South African team could ever beat the All Blacks, and they were by all accounts ruled out. However, this poem motivated Francois to become better than he ever dreamed possible. The poem was more than just words on paper for both Mandela and Franois, as it was a source of inspiration and encouragement. In times of adversity, both took aid from the poem, and were able to overcome their own difficulties. The Victorian poem is also important to the movie as both share common themes of perseverance and determination . The lines Under the bludgeoning of chance, my head is bloody, but unbowed, reveal this theme, which is reciprocated in the movie by both Mandela and Franois. While in rather different circumstances, the persona in the poem, Mandela and Franois overcame their own personal circumstances.