Christ figure

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A Christ figure is a literary technique that authors use to draw allusions between their characters and the bibilical Jesus Christ. More loosely, the Christ Figure is a spiritual or prophetic character who parallels Jesus, or other spiritual or prophetic figures.

In general, a character should display more than one correspondence with the story of Jesus Christ as depicted in the Bible. For instance, the character might display one or more of the following traits: performance of miracles, manifestation of divine qualities, healing others, display loving kindness and forgiveness, fight for justice, die and rise again. Christ figures are often martyrs, sacrificing themselves for causes larger than themselves. In postmodern literature, the resurrection theme is often abandoned, leaving us with the image of a martyr sacrificing himself for a greater good. It is common to see Christ figures displayed in a manner suggestive of crucifixion as well; this technique is more noticeable in films than in literature.

1 Characters with the initials "J.C."
2 Other characters
3 External links
4 References

[edit] Characters with the initials "J.C."

Jim Casy in The Grapes of Wrath.^[1]
Jimmy Chitwood from "Hoosiers".^[2]
John Coffey from The Green Mile.^[3]
James Cole in Twelve Monkeys.^[4]
Joe Christmas from Light in August.^[5]

[edit] Other characters

In Hair, the character of Claude becomes a classic Christ figure at various points in the script. In Act I, Claude enters, saying, "I am the Son of God. I shall vanish and be forgotten," then gives benediction to the tribe and the audience. Claude suffers from indecision, and, in his Gethsemane at the end of Act I, he asks "Where Do I Go?". There are various textual allusions to Claude being on a cross, and, in the end, he is chosen to give his life for the others.^[6]
Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. Aslan the lion sacrifices himself to save Edmund but rises again from the dead to defeat the White Witch.^[7] In fact, Lewis had commented that he intended Aslan to actually be Christ, "re-Incarnated" as a Lion to serve a world where animals were the main form of sentient life.
Simon in William Golding's Lord of the Flies is spiritually sensitive. He likes to go off on his own (as Jesus did, going into the desert); he "wrestles with the devil" in the form of his conversation with the Lord of the Flies (the pig's head on a stick); he goes to the mountaintop to find out the revelation that the "beast" is only a dead pilot, and he is martyred for trying to bring the truth to the other boys. Finally, as Simon's dead body is taken by the sea, glowing creatures seem to form a halo around his head.^[8]
Klaatu from The Day the Earth Stood Still comes down from the "heavens" in a flying saucer, takes the name "Carpenter" to walk incognito among the people, and is persecuted and killed. However, he resurrects back to life, gives a stern benediction to the people of the earth, and then ascends back to the heavens.^[9]^[4]* Phineas (Finny) in A Separate Peace.
Neo in The Matrix Trilogy. Although the film series makes many visual and textual references to various religions,^[10] many Christ figure parallels exist. He is repeatedly called "the One" in a messianic sense; Neo saves various people (and all humanity at the trilogy’s conclusion); he suffers and dies; he rises from the dead; and, at the end of the first film, ascends into the sky.^[11]
Superman in Superman Returns. The film chronicles the beginning of Superman's story, and the preview included a quote from Jor-El, "They are great people, Kal-El. They wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. It is for this reason, above all, their capacity for good, I send them you, my only son." "You wrote that the world doesn't need a savior," Superman later tells Lois Lane regarding her article "Why The World Doesn't Need Superman." "But every day I hear people crying for one." Late in the film, Superman is stabbed in the side as Jesus was believed to have been during the Crucifixion; after casting the Crystal Continent into space, the fatigued Superman falls to earth in a pose almost identical to that of a man being crucified. Superman wakes from coma in what seems the third day by biblical timekeeping, mirroring Jesus' awakening on the third day after crucifixion. ^[12] ^[13] In comic book and other movie forms, Superman saves the people from dangers they cannot overcome on their own. The House of El (Jor-El, Kal-El, etc.) echoes the Hebrew expression for God, El.^[14]
Sergeant Elias K. Grodin in Platoon. As he dies from being shot by enemy troops, he falls to his knees, looks towards the heavens with his arms outstretched, mimicking Jesus during the Crucifixion. He also become a martyr to the other soldiers.^{[citation needed]}
Santiago of The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway.^{[citation needed]}
Simba from The Lion King leaves the pride, then later comes back to become the king and save the lions from destruction.^[15]
Spock in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan exposes himself to a lethal amount of radiation in order to save the crew of the Enterprise, and is later "resurrected".^[16]^[17]
Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings fulfills the Messianic role of Prophet. After understanding and proclaiming the danger of the One Ring (leading a "sinless" life by refusing its temptation) he helps form and lead the "disciples" of the Fellowship of the Ring. After battling the balrog he defeats it, yet is dragged down with it into a deep chasm, falling in an outstreched pose similar to a crucifixion. After defeating the balrog, Gandalf passes away on a mountaintop, but is "sent back," rises again after three days, in a more powerful incarnation. He "exorcises" Saruman from Théoden, as if he were a New Testament demon. At his "resurrection appearance" in Peter Jackson's film The Two Towers, Gandalf visually bears a resemblance with popular images of the risen Christ.^[18]
Ellen Ripley in the Alien film series has been seen as a Christ figure. Both in the way that she serves as a personal savior to Newt in Aliens and in the matter that sacrifices her own life in Alien³ (spreading her arms as she falls into a giant furnace) so the Alien cannot exist anymore. ^[19] Others have noted that she dies in an act of self-sacrifice, yet similarly to Jesus, she returns in "another form" in the aptly titled Alien: Resurrection. ^[20]
Spider-Man (Peter Parker) in the second of the Spider-Man film series^[21] is symbolically crucified (against a runaway train), is buried (under rubble), and resurrects (returns with renewed powers).
In the live-action Fist of the North Star film (as well as in the the anime and the original comic books), Kenshiro is symbolically crucified by Lord Shin, who creates seven scars on Kenshiro's chest in the pattern of the Big Dipper, not unlike Jesus' wounds from the nails of the cross. Interestingly, Kenshiro is the master of the martial art Hokuto Shinken, which translates "North Star God Fist", and can essentially be shortened to "Fist of God", whereas Lord Shin is the master of Nanto Seiken, which translates "Southern Cross Holy Fist", which can be taken as "Fist of the Cross". Kenshiro also restores sight to a blind girl (Lynn). Additionally, Kenshiro is being urged by the spirit of his father to become the savior of the world, similar to Jesus being under the guidance of his father.
Jeremy Reed in Powder. ^[22]
Cool Hand Luke in Cool Hand Luke.^[23]
Chaos in the Xenosaga video game and anime series
Kaworu Nagisa in the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion. He is both a human and an Angel, and as such possesses supernatural powers. He displays extensive - and seemingly irrational - loving kindness toward the troubled protagonist, Shinji Ikari, but ultimately chooses to die by his hand in order to save mankind from annihilation. A number of other characters in the series also possess characteristics of Christ figures, including Shinji, Yui Ikari, Rei Ayanami, and even the the man-made biomechanical organism Evangelion Unit 01. The series also abounds with imagery of or relating to the Crucifixion, including many appearances of crucifixes - some with entities crucified upon them - and an item called the "Lance of Longinus" which plays a significant role in the events of the story.
The character of Nameless, played by Jet Li in the Chinese martial arts epic Hero, has been seen as a Chinese Christ figure, in that he sacrifices his desire to slay the Qin Emperor for the sake of the kingdom. Afterwards, the Emperor's advisors pressure him into executing Nameless, similar to Pontius Pilate being pressured to execute Jesus, and after the consistent pressure, Nameless, like Jesus, is executed.
The Giant from The Iron Giant chooses to sacrifice himself to save the townspeople of Rockwell from an atomic bomb.

[edit] External links

HollywoodJesus.com - Pop culture from a spiritual point of view.
The Journal of Religion and Popular Culture - An exploration, analysis, and interpretation (from a range of disciplinary perspectives) of the interrelations and interactions between religion and religious expression and popular culture.
The Journal of Religion and Film - An examination of the description, critique, and embodiment of religion in film.