Analysis Of Pan's Labyrinth

Guillermo del Toro’s 2006 film Pan’s Labyrinth is about a little girl, Ofelia, who moves with her mother to live with her new stepfather, Captain Vidal. Ofelia comes to learn that she is princess of the Underworld and, with the help from faeries, must complete magical tasks in order to escape Earth and her cruel stepfather and return to her throne in the mystical world (Pan’s Labyrinth). Del Toro’s main purpose of this film is to parallel the monsters and tasks Ofelia must overcome to fascist 1940s Spain (Kermode). However, with deeper analysis, the monsters may also represent universal societal issues such as mistreatment of the poor by the wealthy, the premature death of childhood innocence and wonder, and abuse. Del Toro’s monsters in Pan’s
Del Toro suggests that we have a choice to take a stand against these monsters and conquer them, leaving the world a better place when we die. The first task that Ofelia must complete to prove that she is the princess is to kill a giant toad that lives in the roots of an old fig tree. The toad is killing the tree by disturbing the roots, taking all the nutrients the tree needs, and leaving nothing but waste in the tree’s roots. The night Ofelia goes to kill the toad, her stepfather is throwing a dinner party for his wealthy friends to discuss the food rations given to the poor. The film cuts between the two scenes, showing Ofelia in the tree with the toad and then the dinner party, with a luscious feast and wine to drink (Pan’s Labyrinth). The two scenes are shown together to emphasize that the toad taking advantage of the tree parallels the
He emotionally abuses his wife by belittling her in front of their dinner guests, he berates and hits Ofelia, and he regards everyone as expendable, killing and torturing countless people, including Ofelia, throughout the film (Pan’s Labyrinth). Though on a deeper level he represents the horrors of fascism and how the oppressive government handled those who did not fit the established standards of the time, on the surface he is simply a vicious, abusive person—a monster that society faces too often. According to the United States CDC’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, “about 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have experienced severe physical violence by an intimate partner at some point in their life” (NISVS). Unfortunately, physical violence and domestic abuse appears to be fairly common, as outlined in the survey, which is why Vidal is such a scary monster. His evilness is real and can be relatable. Throughout the film we see firsthand the cruelness of Captain Vidal and how difficult it is for the abused to escape the power of the abuser as he harms numerous people. Del Toro pits Vidal against his maid Mercedes, who acts as the force to stifle the violence. In the end, she prevails and Vidal is killed, ending his reign of terror (Pan’s Labyrinth). Del Toro suggests that it is necessary for someone to stand up against the violence in order for it to be