Balance Between Structure And Freedom In The Film 'Stranger Than Fiction'
In the film "Stranger Than Fiction" directed by Marc Forster and written by Zach Helm, the theme of living life to its fullest is shown through the journey of Harold Crick's tedious life, as he thrives to find a balance between structure and freedom, and change his own fate. This is shown by Harold's bland and predictable lifestyle, his ignorance to his surroundings, and the steps Harold took to break out of his generic life. Overall, the film educates viewers that having a balance between structure and freedom is the key to happily living your life to its fullest.
Harold Crick lives a boring and predictable life with unchanging patterns, this is the exact opposite of living life to its fullest. Every day he would time his life and make sure everything is perfect and consistent. As Kay narrates Harold’s life she said, "Every weekday for twelve years, Harold would brush each of his thirty-two teeth 76 times. Thirty-eight times back and forth, thirty-eight times up and down" (Stranger). This shows that Harold calculates every second of his life and he revolves around numbers and math, this makes his life very plain. The film hints that Harold’s past is bland and passionless. When Ana Pascal asks Harold if his mother ever bakes him cookies, he simply answers, “No, my mother didn’t bake. The only cookies I’ve had they were store bought” (Stranger). This quotation reveals that Harold didn’t receive nurturance or a great amount of happiness in his childhood. He might’ve never received the proper love and …show more content…
support that he needs, which may have an affect on Harold’s current lifestyle. Also, Harold puts so much focus on his career, that he barely has any goals for himself. When at a meeting with Professor Jules Hilbert, he asks Harold, “Do you aspire to anything?”, Harold simply answers, “Uh… no” (Stranger). A life with no hopes, dreams, and ambitions is a life with no motive or purpose. With Harold not having any ambitions shows that he has nothing to strive for. With no ambitions, there is nothing in his life to push him to do spontaneous things. Harold’s perpetual life is a perfect example of how not to live your life. One of the major aspects that causes his life to be bland is his ignorance towards his surroundings
Harold's monotonous life is a result of him being ignorant towards his surroundings. Harold never realizes that he is missing one of the main aspects in his life; friends. During Harold’s confrontation with Professor Jules Hilbert, he asks if Harold has any friends, Harold answers “No, well Dave from work” (Stranger). This shows us that Harold is too career driven and doesn’t socialize with anyone outside of his work. He is too busy focusing on his own life, and doesn’t have the time to fully love and trust someone. Harold’s wristwatch is more aware of his surroundings than Harold himself. For example, when Harold is waiting at the bus stop, he heard Kay’s voice say, “He doesn’t notice Ana walking up the sidewalk across the street. Harold’s watch notices, as we reveal its (excited) face, but Harold just stands there, staring reticently at the asphalt. Suddenly there is a beeping sound” (Stranger). The malfunction of Harold’s watch is a way to catch his attention to show him where Ana stood. Instead of Harold scouting Ana himself, his watch has to alert him. This shows Harold is oblivious to everything around him because he focuses too much on living his life perfectly. As a result of the malfunction he set the time three minutes early and continues to live his repetitive life. However, those three minutes results in Harold’s ignorance towards his surroundings to disappear and he begins to turn his life around.
Harold soon realizes that he has been living completely wrong, and tries his best to break out of his generic life. The main cause of Harold trying new things, is hearing Kay’s voice narrate his life. The first time Harold heard Kay’s voice is when he is brushing his teeth, he heard Kay say, “If one had asked Harold he would’ve said that this particular Wednesday was exactly like all the Wednesdays prior, and he began it the same way he—” (Stranger). Harold immediately stops brushing his teeth and gets very suspicious and curious. But things got more intense when Harold hears Kay say, "Little did he know that this simple, seemingly innocuous act... would result in his imminent death" (Stranger). This turns Harold’s world upside down. Knowing that Harold is going to die soon, he changes his lifestyle; he revolves less on numbers and his job. Kay’s voice motivates him to change his fate and break out of his old life. Harold begins to have some fun and take up other hobbies in order to distract himself. In the meeting with Professor Jules Hilbert, Harold says to him, “I’ve always wanted my life to be more musical. [...] I’ve always wanted to play the guitar” (Stranger). After figuring out his death is approaching, Harold decides to go to the town’s guitar shop and purchase a guitar for himself. Instead of his normal routine, Harold teaches himself some notes and songs during his spare time. This shows that after many years, Harold finally attempts to have fun in his life and do other things than auditing. He attempts to make himself happy by doing something he enjoys and accomplishes his desire to make his life more musical. In the beginning of the movie Harold always slept alone, ate alone, and so forth. However, as the movie progresses Harold makes a huge effort to get to know Ana Pascal. His determination to befriend Ana is successful as he finally finds love and happiness. He no longer slept, and ate alone anymore, he no longer lives his predictable life. Although Harold is changing his lifestyle he still kept order in his life. After the bus accident, the doctor says to Harold, “Amazingly a shard of metal from your watch became lodged in the artery, [...] keeping your loss of blood down enough to keep you alive” (Stranger). Harold’s watch basically saves his life and shows us that living life is not always just about doing what you want. To live a proper healthy life you should have both fun and order in your life.
The journey of Harold Crick’s tedious life shows us that living live to its fullest is to find a balance between structure and freedom.
Harold’s boring and predictable life is the exact opposite, he is more social and spontaneous, and his steps to break out of his generic life are a success. He no longer follows his brain, instead he begins to follow his heart. The true meaning of living life to its fullest is to have fun, do the things you love, but also have
order.
Harold Crick lives a boring and predictable life with unchanging patterns, this is the exact opposite of living life to its fullest. Every day he would time his life and make sure everything is perfect and consistent. As Kay narrates Harold’s life she said, "Every weekday for twelve years, Harold would brush each of his thirty-two teeth 76 times. Thirty-eight times back and forth, thirty-eight times up and down" (Stranger). This shows that Harold calculates every second of his life and he revolves around numbers and math, this makes his life very plain. The film hints that Harold’s past is bland and passionless. When Ana Pascal asks Harold if his mother ever bakes him cookies, he simply answers, “No, my mother didn’t bake. The only cookies I’ve had they were store bought” (Stranger). This quotation reveals that Harold didn’t receive nurturance or a great amount of happiness in his childhood. He might’ve never received the proper love and …show more content…
support that he needs, which may have an affect on Harold’s current lifestyle. Also, Harold puts so much focus on his career, that he barely has any goals for himself. When at a meeting with Professor Jules Hilbert, he asks Harold, “Do you aspire to anything?”, Harold simply answers, “Uh… no” (Stranger). A life with no hopes, dreams, and ambitions is a life with no motive or purpose. With Harold not having any ambitions shows that he has nothing to strive for. With no ambitions, there is nothing in his life to push him to do spontaneous things. Harold’s perpetual life is a perfect example of how not to live your life. One of the major aspects that causes his life to be bland is his ignorance towards his surroundings
Harold's monotonous life is a result of him being ignorant towards his surroundings. Harold never realizes that he is missing one of the main aspects in his life; friends. During Harold’s confrontation with Professor Jules Hilbert, he asks if Harold has any friends, Harold answers “No, well Dave from work” (Stranger). This shows us that Harold is too career driven and doesn’t socialize with anyone outside of his work. He is too busy focusing on his own life, and doesn’t have the time to fully love and trust someone. Harold’s wristwatch is more aware of his surroundings than Harold himself. For example, when Harold is waiting at the bus stop, he heard Kay’s voice say, “He doesn’t notice Ana walking up the sidewalk across the street. Harold’s watch notices, as we reveal its (excited) face, but Harold just stands there, staring reticently at the asphalt. Suddenly there is a beeping sound” (Stranger). The malfunction of Harold’s watch is a way to catch his attention to show him where Ana stood. Instead of Harold scouting Ana himself, his watch has to alert him. This shows Harold is oblivious to everything around him because he focuses too much on living his life perfectly. As a result of the malfunction he set the time three minutes early and continues to live his repetitive life. However, those three minutes results in Harold’s ignorance towards his surroundings to disappear and he begins to turn his life around.
Harold soon realizes that he has been living completely wrong, and tries his best to break out of his generic life. The main cause of Harold trying new things, is hearing Kay’s voice narrate his life. The first time Harold heard Kay’s voice is when he is brushing his teeth, he heard Kay say, “If one had asked Harold he would’ve said that this particular Wednesday was exactly like all the Wednesdays prior, and he began it the same way he—” (Stranger). Harold immediately stops brushing his teeth and gets very suspicious and curious. But things got more intense when Harold hears Kay say, "Little did he know that this simple, seemingly innocuous act... would result in his imminent death" (Stranger). This turns Harold’s world upside down. Knowing that Harold is going to die soon, he changes his lifestyle; he revolves less on numbers and his job. Kay’s voice motivates him to change his fate and break out of his old life. Harold begins to have some fun and take up other hobbies in order to distract himself. In the meeting with Professor Jules Hilbert, Harold says to him, “I’ve always wanted my life to be more musical. [...] I’ve always wanted to play the guitar” (Stranger). After figuring out his death is approaching, Harold decides to go to the town’s guitar shop and purchase a guitar for himself. Instead of his normal routine, Harold teaches himself some notes and songs during his spare time. This shows that after many years, Harold finally attempts to have fun in his life and do other things than auditing. He attempts to make himself happy by doing something he enjoys and accomplishes his desire to make his life more musical. In the beginning of the movie Harold always slept alone, ate alone, and so forth. However, as the movie progresses Harold makes a huge effort to get to know Ana Pascal. His determination to befriend Ana is successful as he finally finds love and happiness. He no longer slept, and ate alone anymore, he no longer lives his predictable life. Although Harold is changing his lifestyle he still kept order in his life. After the bus accident, the doctor says to Harold, “Amazingly a shard of metal from your watch became lodged in the artery, [...] keeping your loss of blood down enough to keep you alive” (Stranger). Harold’s watch basically saves his life and shows us that living life is not always just about doing what you want. To live a proper healthy life you should have both fun and order in your life.
The journey of Harold Crick’s tedious life shows us that living live to its fullest is to find a balance between structure and freedom.
Harold’s boring and predictable life is the exact opposite, he is more social and spontaneous, and his steps to break out of his generic life are a success. He no longer follows his brain, instead he begins to follow his heart. The true meaning of living life to its fullest is to have fun, do the things you love, but also have
order.