Comments

• Chad LaBar

  i believe that the final scene has both a religous and a mythological interpertation. The part where Jesus and the Klans men are together celebrating can be interperteed as having a peacful ending. Grifith is trying to insert his propoganda by making everyone believe that the Klan is for peace and not violence, for good and not evil. But in all reality we know this as a lie because the KKK was the real terrorizers of the south.
  
  The second scene where they show the blacks i believe they show the god of War. This is supposed to be intereperted to the audience as the blacks are the real cause of the conflict and they are evil. Once again this is Grifith's propoganda speaking and not the actual truth. In birth of a nation, grifith distorted the truth so he could influence people into joing the klan so they could bring about a supposed happy ending just like the scene with Jesus.

  11/5/2009 5:05:03 PM
• Jacob Hebda

  Griffith's use of mythological and religious symbolism adds a completely new meaning to his work by associating such emotionally powerful figures with certain characters and events in the film. He first depicts the unsegregated society enveloped in chaos and administered to by the God of War. The message here is that without anything to separate Blacks and Whites, there will be nothing but conflict to come.
  
  However, a segregated society is represented much differently. This scene is very orderly and peaceful, watched over by Jesus. The use of an important religious figure was sure to draw out the feelings of what would have been a predominately Christian audience by showing that Christ endorsed the segregation of races. Also, Colonel Cameron, the man who was "inspired" to develop the Ku Klux Klan, is shown in the final scene with his sweetheart, Elsie. In the background, the Kingdom of Heaven appears, making a suggestion as to what their fate is after death. Apparently, Griffith saw racism as an essential part of what he believed would lead one to ultimately to heaven. Griffith's use of these powerful images was designed to impact his audience deeply and connect to them on a more spiritual level with his ideology. It also reflected the extent to which he valued segregation, which could be compared to his devout religious beliefs.

  11/5/2009 5:18:30 PM
• Billy H

  In the final scenes there were images of a warrior on a horse swinging his sword. The people around him looked like they were struggling and suffering and it looked like there were dead bodies piled on top of each other on the right. This is how they see war when they think of it.
  In the next scene there are people all around celebrating and happy. There is an image of Jesus and it is the vision they have when they think of a day with no war when they live in peace.
  They hope that the war will end and everyone live together forever in peace. The image of peace looks like a fairy tale or what they might think heaven looks like.
  

  11/5/2009 5:46:31 PM
• Mike Jayne

  In the final scene, Griffith uses religious imagery to give off certain messages. Jesus appears to appear at the end and beat back the war god. He seems to be showing that in the end peace will be restored. The final quote, "Liberty and union, one and inseparable, now and forever!" is how the movie ends. All in all, the ending of the movie seems happy.
  However, the happiness exists in Griffith's mind. Even though he shows Jesus beating the god of war at the end to restore peace, his "peace" is not the universally shared definition. He is celebrating the rise of the KKK and the reign of white supremecy. His form of peace involves as much discrimination and violence towards blacks and other non-whites as possible. In the end, he was trying to use religious imagery to sway his audience's opinion of the KK by making it look peaceful, yet in actuality it was anything but that.

  11/5/2009 6:02:45 PM
• D.J. Berley

  The final scenes of this film can be viewed in a number of ways. The way that I view it is that the purpose of Christ-like figure that appears is to symbolize peace and happiness. During this time all of the people are shown celebrating. Another way peace is shown is when the angels appear to come out of the dead bodies. This signals defeat and is another sign that peace is going to arrive.
  A second way it could be a symbol could be that it is meant to show that the people are free and have all of their rights regardless of race. An example of this is that they were free to marry whoever they wanted regardless of race. Also, the end of the war could be seen as the main reason the community became more open minded about their laws. I think the main reason for these symbols is to show that that everybody is free without the war occuring.

  11/5/2009 6:52:21 PM
• monica esopi

  There was some obvious imagery in the last couple scenes, all involving large gatherings of people. Two in particular had obvious religious meaning. In one, there was a crowd of people milling about in chaos. They were obviously distressed, yelling and screaming and crying, people falling all over the place. Meanwhile the God of War ruled over the crowd, swinging his sword and bucking his horse. In the second scene, the people were obviously at peace and happy. Jesus stood before them, making peaceful welcoming gestures.
  Griffiths was making a point with both of these scenes. He used the first to illustrate what the world would be like with blacks in charge. They would create chaos and rule through fear, and were illustrated here by the God of War ruling over the people. This was what the whites feared most. However, the Klan, the savior of the South, comes and brings peace, like Jesus did. The second scene with Jesus represents what the South is like with the whites in power, obviously the better choice. So the blacks are compared to the God of War, and the Klan to Jesus, and each respective ruling power is shown metaphorically in the last few scenes of the movie.

  11/5/2009 7:48:39 PM
• demetra szatkowski

  The final scene in Birth of a Nation at first shows Satan watching the whites and blacks interact with each other. The tone of the scene is more grim and unhappy. Griffith is trying to point out how this is what Satan wants and how it is the devil's wish for the blacks to rise in society. It seems that he is basically insinuating that black people are like Satan- evil. This is not how it should be.
  
  The scene then switches to Jesus looking on happily to bless the white people showing the black people their place. It obviously shows God approving of everything going back to how it was and the KKK prevailing. Griffith is showing God wants the white people to rule and that blacks are subhuman. The final scene happens right after the KKK saves all the white people and then showing the polls and we see that the blacks do not vote anymore. Griffith is portraying this as being the correct way to live, and he is appealing to people's religious sides by using Jesus and Satan.
  

  11/5/2009 7:57:13 PM