Book of Eli

Book of Eli

In “Book of Eli”, Carnegie, the post apocalypse version of Ahab, has a similar respect for the bible and the power it seems to possess.....
Both Elijahs refuse to compromise with the ruler. The biblical Elijah is told by God to pronounce the onset of a lengthy drought – 1 Kings 17:1 – compare that with the parched, post-apocalyptic scenery of the film. ....
God breaks the drought after a contest with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel by sending down fire from heaven to ignite the carcase of a sacrificial bull, then a rain storm - 1 Kings 18:16. (Was that lightening in the sky when Eli is mortally wounded in the film?).....

Elijah is prophesized to return “before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord,” thus Eli appears after a global war has annihilated much of humanity

At the same time, Eli doesn't always assist people when he can—and admits as much later in the film. In one scene, instead of helping fellow travelers attacked by a gang, he repeatedly tells himself, "Stay on the path. This is not your concern." So is he really a holy man

is to carry his Bible west, because a voice told him to. Manifest destiny. But he goes through a small town (like one in a western, except with the headquarters in an old movie theater) where Gary Oldman happens to be a leader desperately seeking a Bible so he can use its words to rope in “the weak and the vulnerable.” He’s a pretty one-dimensional bad guy, more of a symbol than a character, but Oldman plays him kind of real instead of playing him PROFESSIONALly.

on his journey from man of action to man of faith

When Eli commits violence, he does so from a defensive position. He’s defending himself, the book he carries, or helpless people

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