Narrative & Allegory - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Narrative & Allegory

Gears of War 3

• Imulsion is a naturally occurring material on Sera.
• It comes from beneath the ground
• It is a liquid
• It is energetic (i.e. It can be used to power things)
• It has a corrupting influence on living beings (both physically and figuratively)

Once a Locust, this creature has been infected by the Lambent and turned into a Lambent Drugde

This is a poster that can be found

in Gears 2. It reads:

‘No Blood for Imulsion’

These are images of the ‘No Blood for Oil’ campaign that ran in opposition to the US-led invasion of Iraq.

• Gears of War World
• GOW released in 2006… US forces still in Iraq (until 2011!)
• E-Day sees a surprise attack on humans
• 2008 – GOW 2 establishes link between Oil and Imulsion; humans get sick with Imulsion-Sickness
• GOW 2 – we learn Locust are fighting Lambent enemy; it is hinted that Lambent lives in Imulsion…

US Foreign Policy

• 11th September 2001 – Al Qaeda attacks US
• October 2001 – US-led invasion of Afghanistan
• March-May 2003 – US-led invasion of Iraq…
• …critics say the invasions are about Oil

• Gears of War World
• 20th September 2011 – GOW 3 released
• We learn that the ImulsionIS the Lambent… a parasitic enemy that gets inside you and turns you into one of them
• We learn that humans can ‘go Lambent’, turning into Formers
• Mankind saved, but only by destroying the Imulsion

US Foreign Policy

• 18th December 2011: US forces leave Iraq

Former human who has ‘gone Lambent’…

• Watch this clip from the end of the game
• If we take Imulsion as representing Oil, what evidence is there that this game is criticising our dependence on Oil?

• Allegory: A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one
• Prior to E-Day, humans on Sera fight each other over Imulsion (called The Pendulum Wars)
• On E-Day, the humans on Sera are the victims of a surprise attack (like 9/11)

UIR Flag

COG Flag

• No blood for Imulsion posters similar to No blood for Oil protests
• Imulsion is an energetic fuel that also hides a destructive enemy (the Lambent)
• At the end of GOW3, the COG forces are aided by the UIR (Union of Independent Republics) – their old enemies in the Pendulum Wars

• The message seems to be: in order for the humans of Sera to survive, they must all unite and get rid of/stop drilling for Imulsion
• The reunion of the COG and the UIR and the destruction of the Imulsion derricks at the end of the game suggest this to be true
• The idea is therefore suggested that in order for the humans of EARTH to survive, we need to stop going to war with ourselves and reduce our dependence on Oil…