A Study of Human Nature in Film The Descent

摘要

The Descent is known as a horror movie. It is about six friends who make a descent into a deep cave. But a collapse traps them in it. With limited food supply, they struggled to survive each other and some unknown blood thirst creatures. Through this film, the director Neil Marshall reveals the dark side of human nature. The wild cave, the predators and the darkness are symbolic of the evil of human nature. Juno led the other five explorers to their doom, because the sin and fear is not from the outside but in their inner heart. Early in Romanticism, man is optimistic about human nature while modern irrationality, comparatively speaking, is more pessimistic towards human nature. According to Kant, man's first choice intends to be evil, because once man chooses evil, he gets self-knowledge through this fall. It is a paradox of human nature. Through revealing of human evil nature, this film made people realize that human beings are no longer the master of his fortune. Man should be aware of the evil side in human nature and in awe of nature and the unknown power. Although human nature is an evil tendency upon free will, it is an indispensable force for man to grow from innocence to maturity.