Inception analysis free essay sample

In the midst of the hustle and bustle of everyday life, some people want to escape reality and live out their fantasy. In the movie Inception , people do this by falling into a dream state; a level of consciousness in which they are in complete control of who is involved and what happens. Though, when they wake up, nothing has changed. The main character, Cobb, had this particular experience. He was distracted by the love of his life in his subconscious and was faced with the conflict of staying in limbo for the rest of his life with her, or living out his life â€Å"up top†, in the real world, with his children. In the end I believe he finally figured out where he belonged, that being with his children. This brings me to the conclusion that the ending is in fact reality. â€Å"To wake up from that after years, after decades after wed become old souls thrown back into youth like that I knew something was wrong with her. We will write a custom essay sample on Inception analysis or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page She just wouldnt admit it. Eventually, she told me the truth. She was possessed by an idea, this one, very simple idea, that changed everything. That our world wasnt real. That she needed to wake up to come back to reality, that, in order to get back home, we had to kill ourselves. † As quoted by Cobb in the movie, Inception; he told us that when they woke up from the dream, Mal wanted to get back to that â€Å"reality†. In order to do that, they had to kill themselves. Little did Mal know, they Luers Page 2 actually woke up to their reality. When she gracefully fulfilled her mission by committing suicide when she jumped off the window sill, Cobb was heartbroken knowing they would never meet again unless he put her in his dream. She was no longer real and this is where we begin to realize that Cobb wants to be with the love of his life more than anything. However, because he could not stop her from taking her own life, he had a heavy heart and realized the only way he could be with Mal was if he escaped his reality to visit her in limbo. When you are in limbo, you have the ability to live out your fantasy. It is up to you to decide what happens. In the end, Cobb is with his children but Mal is not in the picture. If Cobb were living out his fantasy, he would not only be with his children but he would also have Mal by his side. When he was dreaming, Cobb would never see the faces of his children because he only wanted to see them when he was on top, meaning when he is in the real world. That poses the question of whether or not he is dreaming. A totem is a personal piece used by each person to determine whether they are dreaming or awake. Each person must create their own totem, unique to them, for this purpose. When you take a closer look, the totem Cobb spins is not his totem; it is in fact Mal’s. We know this because Cobb locked it away, and in doing so, he implanted the idea in her head that her world was not real. When she passed away, he pulled the totem out for himself, and in my opinion, I think he did this for his own sanity. When he spins Mal’s totem, he could be spinning it to see if she is there. Her dream could be his reality. The totem does not topple over at the end because it is Mal’s totem. Mal could be there in spirit because she cannot be there in the physical world.. However, Cobb’s totem is believed to be his wedding ring. This makes sense because when he was in limbo he was still with Mal, and he Luers Page 3 was wearing his ring. However, when he is in the real world, he does not wear his wedding ring because she had passed away. Before Mal committed suicide, she stated that she was seen by three psychiatrists, who declared she was not crazy. She further went on to plant the idea into the heads of Federal agents that Cobb tried to kill her; she leaves him no option but to flee the country. When he was faced with this decision to leave, he had no idea how long he would be gone, nor did he know if he would ever be able to come back. Cobb was in limbo during this time, creating Inception. It only takes five minutes in reality to create an hour in a dream. The further into the limbo state you go, the faster your mind is able to imagine and perceive things. This is why Cobb’s team was able to complete the Fischer job in a flight from Australia to Los Angeles. Therefore, when he came back to the United States, he may not have been gone for very long; which explains the reason that his children have not really changed. Cobb’s children were in fact wearing slightly different clothing. His daughter wore a pink dress with no sleeves in the beginning, and in the end, she added a white shirt on underneath her pink dress. His son had short hair in the beginning and was wearing brown sandals. In the end, his hair was longer and he was wearing white shoes. I think the director, Christopher Nolan, did this to further cause viewers to question whether the end of the movie was part of the dream or reality. Another point of contention regarding the ending of the movie rests in the fact that it is not clear how Cobb travelled from the airport to his home in Los Angeles. We have to remember that this is just a movie and if the director was to show every little detail it would become a never ending story. It is possible that Cobbs father-in-law picked him up from the airport and took him Luers Page 4 to his house to see his children. The producers may have chosen not to add this detail into the movie because it is minimal. Dreamers do not remain in the dream setting once they have woken up. When they are all in the airport at the baggage claim, Cobb walks by each individual. As he does so, the camera pans over the faces of Cobb’s team as if to show the audience that they were each there. Each of these individuals goes through their â€Å"kicks† to come out of their dreams and enter the real world. By showing the team as they wake up in the plane, the director is demonstrating they are really awake. In no other part of the movie does the director allow people the dreamer knows inside the dreams unless of course they are dreaming themselves. The only exception to this theory is Mal because she represents Cobb himself, or his subconscious trying to keep him down in limbo to make it his new reality. Considering all these factors, I believe the ending of the movie, Inception, is reality. Cobb knows Mal is not real; she is nothing but an illusion in his dreams. So, when he finally sees his children’s faces in the end, he is on top because he is not with Mal. He is living out his real world with his children. When Cobb took the offer to leave the country to go to Australia, he was in limbo almost his entire stay. The mind travels much faster while in limbo and can go through years in a matter of minutes in the real world. Therefore, he has not changed much nor have his children because he may have not been gone for very long. In reality you must live through the good and the bad, and in the end, Cobb has both. He will live a life full of vibrant memories with his children and he will be able to watch them grow. In the back of his mind, he will always wonder what it would be like to have his wife by his side experiencing these moments together.