The Book of Groups

Arnold ChangRELS 1260-01arnoldchang2013@gmail.com

IntroductionA proper study in any field, academic or not, demands a proper definition of the word group, as well as its interdependence within the subject. In mathematics, a group can be briefly defined by a set of elements together with an operation that combines any two of its elements to form a third belonging to the set and satisfying the group axioms, the latter term that, for the purposes of this discussion, may be regarded as conditions. Similarly, a social group may be defined as one in which belonging entities are bounded by their own set of analogous conditions. In this case, an entity will belong to a particular group if and only if its inclusion benefits the groups defined goals, independent of that of the entity. Size is of no concern, and an entity may belong to any number of groups, so long as each of these groups goals does not interfere with the others.With this in mind, a particular solution to a problem that potentially compromises the integrity of each and every social group of the Homo sapiens group may be developed. An apocalypse, or at least the oracle of one, seems to be an integral theme of human society. The post-apocalyptic film, A Book of Eli, demonstrates that the solution to the so-called apocalypse problem is for social groups to band together, almost as if entirely predicted by the texts of every major world religion. A further condition would be that each and every entity of the Homo sapiens group agrees to shares a common goal and morally surrender to other members of society. These groups, for the purpose of argument, can be classified by size as the trivial self, the tribe, and the society.

The SelfEvery human social group, at its core, is composed of a set of selfs. Philosophically, the self can be defined as the essential qualities that make an individual distinct from all others (Gaynesford). Nevertheless, differences in qualities seem to bring selfs together to form a group, almost as if compelled by a force. The Old Testament opens with a passage filled with lonely, depressing connotations. Before God created the heavens and the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep (cf. Genesis 1:1-2, NRSV). The use of the negatives, formless void, and darkness can be ascribed to the author(s) attempt at conveying Gods loneliness. Shortly after creating Adam, God says, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner (cf. Genesis 1:18, NRSV), which implies that even God believes that the self should never remain alone, and instead form connections, the beginning of a social group.In the film, The Book of Eli, the viewer is presented with a disturbing scene: a lonely man named Eli is traveling alone across a desert. The tension of unnatural loneliness and of a lack of groups forms the basis of the films plot, not the apocalyptic setting. Although Eli may be void of any groups initially, he overcomes a group of bandits a tribe, as this report will shortly expound on due to his firm belief and hope in the King James Bible, which he carries. Because the Bible contains the word of God as if often symbolized as such Eli and the Bible form a social group, and together illustrate that the solution to the apocalypse problem lies in the existence or not of mutual harmony. In the film, truly singular selfs, such as all the travelers who were cannibalized by the paranoid couple George and Martha, did not survive the apocalypse. In fact, George and Martha themselves perished. As portrayed in the film, the couple forms a singular. In order for a self to be distinct from another, there must be distinguishing qualities between the two. The film purposefully denies George and Martha of this right in order to illustrate the lack of a social group, and thereby logically justify their imprisonment during the apocalypse.

The TribeA tribe, on the other hand, can be defined as a set of distinct selfs in a local social group. These small sets of social groups may or may not find salvation from the apocalypse problem by their degree of transcendence of selfish needs. In a section aptly titled, Indian Maze of Deities and Renewable Eternity, Rehill describes the history of the Vedic religion that would eventually become Hinduism, providing such statistics such as, more than 100 smaller settlements have been unearthed in the valley (Rehill, 64) and distinguishing these tribal religions by the differences in their Gods and Goddesses. Indra was the god of war and vanquisher of the sun; Prajapati the god of creatures. Shiva and Vishnu were originally minor gods (64). Rehill admits to the overwhelming contrasts and specifications of each of these tribal religions, calling the Vedic rituals and practices [] far too complicated (65). Despite such nitpicky details, the core of Hinduism, which is the mixing pot of all these tribal religions, lies in karma, reincarnation, and release form the life-death cycle (65). The fact that the tribal religions were able to concur on such moral simplicity demonstrates the dependence of the solution to the apocalypse problem on release from the life-death cycle and embracing every aspect of life and death on this planet (65). The Book of Eli makes an exact case for the solution, albeit through trial-and-error rather than a neat, straightforward guideline. During the rising action of the film, Eli is presented with a conundrum with a seemingly obvious solution. A girl is chained up and screaming for help and no other social groups appear to be present. Should Eli add the girl to his social group by selflessly helping her? As it turns out, this girl is part of a tribe; though she is unwilling to be a part of it, the social group of bandits goal is to include her to use as bait. This tribe lacks the mutual support of all its members and there fore there is an inherent instability due to mismatched trust. Consequently, the stable social group consisting of Eli and the Bible achieve salvation, whereas the local tribe does not. Whether or not such physicality is realistic is irrelevant; the directors message to the viewer is communicated by exaggerations and instances of symbolism.Solara is presented with the exact conundrum in the latter half of the play; due to her physical weakness, she is unable to break free from the bandits. However, Eli, at this point, has added Solara to his social group and is thereby inclined to fight them off. It is clear that their social group has goals that align with each of the constituting members; stability is present, where again none exist in the second local tribe of bandits, which succumbed to the apocalypse.

The SocietyThe transition between a tribe and a society occurs naturally when societally beneficial laws are determined. Though at first thought such addition provides enormous complexity, it becomes much simpler by distinguishing subgroups within a society based off of observed behavior in relative accordance with the law. Just as how in a classic apocalyptic denouement, Christ casts the Beast into a Lake of Fire [and] slaughters the Beasts followers (Hedgehog, 65), social groups distinguish a set of members from belonging wholly to a society by labeling them as a tribe a subgroup, but one now necessarily distinct. With this in mind, it is easy to see how tribes may fall prey to the apocalypse while still belonging to a society. In the Christian religion, the level of salvation from the apocalypse can be classified into three tribes: the banished, the indeterminate, and the holy. Membership to one of the tribes depends on how well the individual behaved according to the Ten Commandments, enumerated by Moses but arguably ordained by God. Even a slightly cursory glance at these commandments is sufficient to logically deduce that the Christian religion is one heavily based on mutual respect, unconditional love, acceptance, and undeniable trust. To break such conditions is to forgo the solution to the apocalypse problem; to abide is to obtain salvation.A society, broken though it may be, clearly exists in The Book of Eli. Carnegie attempts to maintain a society based not off of clergy, but rather off of intimidation and control. The law is simple: respect the authority, or be excluded and relegated directly from societal membership to the singular self, a dangerous classification as expounded in this report. Carnegies dictatorship-like society, however, fails to constitute members with aligned goals; in particular, there is a void of trust and unconditional acceptance. Bar fights occur often, and Carnegies selfish attempts at obtaining stealing, rather the Holy Bible are reflected in the directors clear portrayal of the shifty nature of the local tribes he hires. Although Carnegie succeeds in obtaining this Holy Bible, the Bible is fundamentally a physical object; it is at this point that the metaphor that linked Eli into a social group from the very start disintegrates. No member of Carnegies society achieves salvation from the apocalypse problem. Carnegies permanent disability, the dozens of men shot down by Eli, the truck that was blown up by a hand grenade thrown by Solara, and the betrayal of Carnegies very own daughter from him and by extension, from Carnegie himself all serve to highlight the very fundamental flaw in the establishment of his society.

ConclusionSocial groups are arguably much more complex than they appear to be. A thorough analysis of the structure of a social group requires additional perspectives than the admittedly limiting post-apocalyptic viewpoint. However, analysis of the aforementioned does provide interesting insights, and ones backed by not just modern films, but also by texts as historical and impactful as the Bible, in addition to scholarly material written on the material. The solution to the so-called apocalyptic problem, from the standpoint of structures of social groups, is the existence of a group whose members share a common goal and furthermore abide in one another.

Works CitedGaynesford, M. de I: The Meaning of the First Person Term, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2006.

"New Revised Standard Version."oremus Bible Browser. 10 Feb 2011. Web. 18 Jan 2014.

Hughes, Allen, dir.The Book of Eli. Dir. Albert Hughes. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2010. Film.18 Jan 2014.

Rehill, Annie.The Apocalypse is Everywhere. Santa Barbara: Praeger, 2009. 64-65. Print.

"Abrahamic Religions."Hedgehog Review. 10.1 (2008): 65. Print.

21