An Analysis of "23"
for those of you who have not seen "the number 23," read NO FURTHER...this entry will contain many spoilers!!! i will say though, that the movie is 10x better the second time around, as you pick up a lot that you missed...
hokay, so...the movie starts off with a string of "coincidences" that lead walter to that fateful meeting with Ned...Ned, as you all know, is described (toward the end) as being the "Guardian of the dead"...the first time i saw the movie, this didn't strike me as being significant, however, the second time around, i took note of the priest's emphasis on his words...he called Ned the GUARDIAN OF the DEAD...emphasising all the words, besides "the"...automatically that made me think of what the acronym would be...sure enough, "guardian of the dead" translates to GOD...by understanding this key piece of information that is so subtle, the movie takes a step into a much deeper level...agree to disagree, as perhaps this is all coincidence, but ask yourself if the writers of the movie believe in coincidence...
when Ned first makes his grand appearance, he is seen in the back alley behind the chinese place...as he does throughout the movie, Ned stands still, passive, as though he is observing and even listening to Walter's story as Walter attempts to capture him...ironically enough, Ned only attacks Walter after Walter tries to capture and control Ned...previously to that, Ned, as i mentioned, remained tranquil...
after being bit, Walter is made late for his meeting with Agatha...this delay allows Agatha time enough to wander into the bookstore next door to her store, which had the address 599, where she finds the book...Walter later brings that to our attention, upon seeing Ned again...he states that "this would have never happened if it weren't for you"...through this line, Walter is attributing his fate and what has happened to one little dog...paranoia or symbolism, you decide...
Ned is seen throughout the movie a number of times...INCLUDING IN THE PAST...when Walter is burying the body of Laura, Ned is seen, looking on with that same observant and somewhat sad expression...this fact cements the fact that Ned is no ordinary dog, as no adult dog would be capable of living over such a gap of time...there were at least 16 years between Ned's first and second appearance, an unlikely number of years for a stray dog to survive...
Ned's character takes on a very unique role, as he seems present at several very key moments of Walter's life, always observing quietly...just by the fact that he seems to be omnipresent is one reason to believe that the writers intend him to serve more purpose than simply being a dog there by chance...when Walter spends a night out to "clear his head" he spots Ned from his hotel room, watching him as always...Walter thereafter grabs his gun and pursues Ned...Ned leads Walter back to Laura Tollins' grave, for the second time in the movie...it's funny, because before Walter even had a clue about who Laura Tollins was, Ned lead him there, to that grave stone....this is a clear and powerful demonstration that Ned seems to know more about Walter than Walter knows about himself...Ned knows all about what Walter has done, where he's been and who he was, even though Walter has blocked it all out...ironic that the Bible mentions that God "knows the heart of men"...that is to say that they cannot hide who they are inside, what they've done, and what they believe, even if they hide those things from themselves and the rest of the world...
a later appearance of Ned is in the middle of the street, as Walter is driving the family home after his trip to Cassanova's Park...a bump in the road halts Walter's driving, as he looks up and sees Ned sitting in the road, staring him down...Walter becomes overwhelmed with feelings of revenge, as he blames Ned for all the bad things that have happened to him over the course of the last few weeks...as an attempt to extract revenge, Walter hits the gas, fully intending to plow Ned to the pavement...however, while the car approaches rapidly, Ned remains, unflinching and calmly enough, unthreatened...a stance that translates to the fact that while some people insist on blaming God for their unfortunate fate, God is not intimidated by us...there's no promise in the Bible that tells us if we follow God that things are going to be great all the time, God doesn't owe us anything...Walter's petty attempt at placing blame on Ned is just a reminder of the futility of our cursing the heavens for our misfortune
Ned's last appearance is on the sidewalk after Walter has remembered his entire dark past...when Walter runs out of the hotel where he wrote chapter 23, he stops in the street, in front of the oncoming bus number 23...before the bus reaches him, he notices that lo and behold, Ned is there observing...however, it is the voice of Walter's son that snaps him out of his daze, just in time to avoid his death...it is at this point that Walter (as the narrator) concludes that there is no fate, just a series of choices that we are faced with, with the prospect of making different decisions...Walter concludes that he made the wrong choice once, he tried to kill himself once, as it was the easy thing to do...but not this time, because he wanted better for his son, he didn't want to teach his son to make the same mistakes...i suspect that if the movie were to continue, this would be the last we'd see of our observer, Ned...the text that appears after the film "be sure your sins will find you out - Numbers 32:23" supports this hypothesis...Ned was the one who was always there observing Walter's behavior, seeing the true Walter, even when the rest of the world was blind to his deeds...
our story concludes, once again, that life is about choices...we can choose to believe that our lives are subject to curses and fate, or we can get out there and prove that we are capable of choosing the right path among so many wrong ones...23 is little more than a diversion from the truth...it's an obsession, looking for answers and assigning blame in something as simple as a number...if we are able to assign the responsibilty of our actions to something like a number, then we would be off the hook...it could be argued that we behaved in that way because we HAD to, not because we chose to...but Ned is out there all the time, and Ned clearly has insight into our true selves and our true situation...Ned, in the movie, is present at all key decisions that Walter makes, even when Walter refers to the incidents as fate, rather than decisions, until Walter at last finds his way...so what is it that the movie is really saying to us? perhaps something along the lines of "enough with foolish distractions and diversions...enough with blaming God or luck...it's time to evaluate life as it really is, a subject to our choices..." in line with what the movie says, God is out there and He knows what is going on both within and around you...He will lead you to the truth, as Ned lead Walter to Laura's grave, if you are willing to follow and listen...but i wouldn't challenge God, as things didn't work out so well for Walter when he tried to capture Ned...God is not safe by any means, but He is good and He is just
and that's all i've got to say about that....now go see the movie if you haven't!
hokay, so...the movie starts off with a string of "coincidences" that lead walter to that fateful meeting with Ned...Ned, as you all know, is described (toward the end) as being the "Guardian of the dead"...the first time i saw the movie, this didn't strike me as being significant, however, the second time around, i took note of the priest's emphasis on his words...he called Ned the GUARDIAN OF the DEAD...emphasising all the words, besides "the"...automatically that made me think of what the acronym would be...sure enough, "guardian of the dead" translates to GOD...by understanding this key piece of information that is so subtle, the movie takes a step into a much deeper level...agree to disagree, as perhaps this is all coincidence, but ask yourself if the writers of the movie believe in coincidence...
when Ned first makes his grand appearance, he is seen in the back alley behind the chinese place...as he does throughout the movie, Ned stands still, passive, as though he is observing and even listening to Walter's story as Walter attempts to capture him...ironically enough, Ned only attacks Walter after Walter tries to capture and control Ned...previously to that, Ned, as i mentioned, remained tranquil...
after being bit, Walter is made late for his meeting with Agatha...this delay allows Agatha time enough to wander into the bookstore next door to her store, which had the address 599, where she finds the book...Walter later brings that to our attention, upon seeing Ned again...he states that "this would have never happened if it weren't for you"...through this line, Walter is attributing his fate and what has happened to one little dog...paranoia or symbolism, you decide...
Ned is seen throughout the movie a number of times...INCLUDING IN THE PAST...when Walter is burying the body of Laura, Ned is seen, looking on with that same observant and somewhat sad expression...this fact cements the fact that Ned is no ordinary dog, as no adult dog would be capable of living over such a gap of time...there were at least 16 years between Ned's first and second appearance, an unlikely number of years for a stray dog to survive...
Ned's character takes on a very unique role, as he seems present at several very key moments of Walter's life, always observing quietly...just by the fact that he seems to be omnipresent is one reason to believe that the writers intend him to serve more purpose than simply being a dog there by chance...when Walter spends a night out to "clear his head" he spots Ned from his hotel room, watching him as always...Walter thereafter grabs his gun and pursues Ned...Ned leads Walter back to Laura Tollins' grave, for the second time in the movie...it's funny, because before Walter even had a clue about who Laura Tollins was, Ned lead him there, to that grave stone....this is a clear and powerful demonstration that Ned seems to know more about Walter than Walter knows about himself...Ned knows all about what Walter has done, where he's been and who he was, even though Walter has blocked it all out...ironic that the Bible mentions that God "knows the heart of men"...that is to say that they cannot hide who they are inside, what they've done, and what they believe, even if they hide those things from themselves and the rest of the world...
a later appearance of Ned is in the middle of the street, as Walter is driving the family home after his trip to Cassanova's Park...a bump in the road halts Walter's driving, as he looks up and sees Ned sitting in the road, staring him down...Walter becomes overwhelmed with feelings of revenge, as he blames Ned for all the bad things that have happened to him over the course of the last few weeks...as an attempt to extract revenge, Walter hits the gas, fully intending to plow Ned to the pavement...however, while the car approaches rapidly, Ned remains, unflinching and calmly enough, unthreatened...a stance that translates to the fact that while some people insist on blaming God for their unfortunate fate, God is not intimidated by us...there's no promise in the Bible that tells us if we follow God that things are going to be great all the time, God doesn't owe us anything...Walter's petty attempt at placing blame on Ned is just a reminder of the futility of our cursing the heavens for our misfortune
Ned's last appearance is on the sidewalk after Walter has remembered his entire dark past...when Walter runs out of the hotel where he wrote chapter 23, he stops in the street, in front of the oncoming bus number 23...before the bus reaches him, he notices that lo and behold, Ned is there observing...however, it is the voice of Walter's son that snaps him out of his daze, just in time to avoid his death...it is at this point that Walter (as the narrator) concludes that there is no fate, just a series of choices that we are faced with, with the prospect of making different decisions...Walter concludes that he made the wrong choice once, he tried to kill himself once, as it was the easy thing to do...but not this time, because he wanted better for his son, he didn't want to teach his son to make the same mistakes...i suspect that if the movie were to continue, this would be the last we'd see of our observer, Ned...the text that appears after the film "be sure your sins will find you out - Numbers 32:23" supports this hypothesis...Ned was the one who was always there observing Walter's behavior, seeing the true Walter, even when the rest of the world was blind to his deeds...
our story concludes, once again, that life is about choices...we can choose to believe that our lives are subject to curses and fate, or we can get out there and prove that we are capable of choosing the right path among so many wrong ones...23 is little more than a diversion from the truth...it's an obsession, looking for answers and assigning blame in something as simple as a number...if we are able to assign the responsibilty of our actions to something like a number, then we would be off the hook...it could be argued that we behaved in that way because we HAD to, not because we chose to...but Ned is out there all the time, and Ned clearly has insight into our true selves and our true situation...Ned, in the movie, is present at all key decisions that Walter makes, even when Walter refers to the incidents as fate, rather than decisions, until Walter at last finds his way...so what is it that the movie is really saying to us? perhaps something along the lines of "enough with foolish distractions and diversions...enough with blaming God or luck...it's time to evaluate life as it really is, a subject to our choices..." in line with what the movie says, God is out there and He knows what is going on both within and around you...He will lead you to the truth, as Ned lead Walter to Laura's grave, if you are willing to follow and listen...but i wouldn't challenge God, as things didn't work out so well for Walter when he tried to capture Ned...God is not safe by any means, but He is good and He is just
and that's all i've got to say about that....now go see the movie if you haven't!