The Idea of an Essay, Volume 3

Research Writing 145 (Kermode, “Girl”). He also said he “thought it would be great to counterpoint an institutional lack of choice, which is fascism, with the chance to choose which the girl takes in this movie” (Kermode, “Girl”). Ofelia’s choice to sacrifice herself rather than spill the blood of her brother certainly demonstrates her character and her ability to rise above the culture she has grown up in. Similarly, the doctor’s choice to euthanize the stutterer andMercedes’ choice to live as a spy in Vidal’s household demonstrate the importance of making your own choices. In the doctor’s words to Captain Vidal, “But captain, to obey, just like that, for obedience’s sake... without questioning... That’s something only people like you do.” This statement by the doctor implies that only the avaricious and cruel will mindlessly obey orders without considering the morality of their actions. The free choices of these three characters also foreshadow the coming of the democracy, when all the people in Spain will be given a chance to choose. In addition to lack of choice, Pan’s Labyrinth emphasizes the contrast between the rightist and leftist ideologies. During this period in Spain, the rightist group was known as the Nationalists and was comprised of the Roman Catholic Church, large landowners, and significant portions of the military. Their ideology was a mixture of traditional Spanish values and fascist principles and they greatly distrusted nontraditional systems such as communism. The leftist group, known as the Republicans, was largely made up of urban workers, agricultural laborers, and much of the middle class (“Civil War,” World). Most members of this group supported socialism or communism and received support from the Soviet Union. Pan’s Labyrinth symbolizes the dichotomy between the two groups on a number of occasions. When Ofelia first meets Vidal, she holds out her left hand to shake his. He responds by saying, “It’s the other hand, Ofelia,” before turning away from her. The occurrence demonstrates that Ofelia is symbolically a member of the leftist group, and shows Vidal’s (or Franco’s) complete disregard to anyone ideologically opposed to him. The film also alludes to leftist ideology when Ofelia is searching for the dagger in the pale man’s lair. She was instructed that the key would open the center compartment, but she ignores the instructions and instead discovers it on the left. The dagger’s location on the left suggests that the solution to Spain’s problems could not be found in rightist ideology, or even a centrist point of