Paper #1

Why Do We Even Remember?

Sometimes, we just have to go back in order to move forward. In order to fully

understand ourselves, we must learn of our past and use what we’ve learned to continue
moving forward. That’s why memories play an important role in our lives because we are
able to see who we were back then and it helps us change for the better. In my case, I always
use past experiences as a learning experience to continue on improving despite all of my
previous failures. For me, memories play an important part in our whole being. It is special
for us because our memories are exclusively for us since we all interpret and recall things
uniquely. In the movie Hero, memories played a very big part on how Nameless came up to
his decision to not assassinate the King. Despite having memories of his family being killed
by the Qin and how he made up his mind to assassinate the King, his encounter with Broken
Sword and the King made him change his mind because he then saw what the King was truly
aiming for – peace. Like what Zhuang Zi said,”We cling to our own point of view, as though
everything depended on it. Yet our opinions have no permanence; like autumn and winter,
they gradually pass away”. No matter what we say to other people, our own belief will
always remain the same because it is through our beliefs that we live our life as it is.

Hero was a unique film since it used flashbacks as imagery for the viewers and the
King himself on what Nameless did in order for him to be 10 steps close to the King. The use
of memory also played an important part in Nameless’ aim to slowly lead the King to believe
that he was lying because the King and Nameless both know several truths that the other
person does now know, causing multiple versions of the incident which are somewhat
connected to the “main memory” – the real incident leading to him reaching the castle. In this
movie, memories weren’t only used as a tool to show a certain story, but also as a form of
mental tactic against the King. These different memories had a big impact on the different
characters’ take on whether they should assassinate the King or not. For Sky and Flying
Snow, the memories that they had made them choose to assassinate the King for their own
personal reasons. Broken Sword chose to abandon his plan to assassinate the King because
even if he was sure that he’s going to assassinate the King, the things that he learned from
calligraphy and swordsmanship show the true intentions of the King which was to achieve
peace and unity across the land. That’s why in the memory of Nameless, he recalled what
Broken Sword wrote on the sand which was “our land”. In the memory of the King, he
recalled what happened between him and Broken Sword and then realized on why Broken
Sword abandoned the assassination plan. In my opinion, this is why flashbacks and memories
played a very important part in the movie. That’s why the different colors that the characters
wore in the different versions of the story show which type of memory it is. Based on the
color, it is shown that what actually happened was when all of the characters wore white. It
shows the true past and is the actual memory that isn’t biased by the Nameless’ lies and the
King’s underestimation. It is through the past of the characters that we see their beliefs and
stands and the truth behind what was perceived by others.

Based on how I understood the film, it can be inferred that the real “hero” is
Nameless. Every time he tells the story to the King, it slowly shows his true intentions and
why he wanted to take the King down. From his reason for killing the three for the King’s
safety to deliver Broken Sword’s message to the king (“our land”) and not killing any of the
three, the level of plausibility escalates. By being able to deliver the scroll of Broken Sword
with the character of “sword” written on it, not only did the King realize that he needed to
unite the whole land, he was also enlightened on the true goal of swordsmanship – peace. By
not assassinating the King, Nameless chose to put the sake of the nation more than his own
reasons. With the appearance of Broken Sword in the lives of both Nameless and the King, it
enabled them to have a change of heart with what they actually want in life. With the King
changing his goal from hiding inside the palace in fear of his assassins to someone who will
eventually unify China and Nameless changing his goal from getting revenge for the death of
his family to agreeing with what Broken Sword was fighting for which was to be part of one
land, the change of heart played a big part on the development of these characters. With the
ideals of Broken Sword being told to the King, Nameless served as a catalyst for a new
reform within the nation.

In conclusion, it is through the past that show who we are in the present. Through the
different failures and obstacles that we might have encountered before, we must learn to use
these in order to not repeat the same things in the future. It is through the past that we learn to
value certain beliefs which influence what we do in our lives. Like what Zhuang Zi said,”We
cling to our own point of view, as though everything depended on it. Yet our opinions have no
permanence; like autumn and winter, they gradually pass away”. It shows that regardless of
what people say, we all have our own beliefs which no one can take it away from us.