The Wall - Pink Floyd

After watching the famous movie, "The Wall" we had to answers some questions based in what we saw and what we interpret from the vast amount of metaphors shown along the movie.

1)

The boy sees masks on the faces of the people in the train. Later he sees similar masks on the faces of the children in his fantasy. What is the meaning of that?

Both in the real life (train) and in the boy's fantasy (with children) the people are the same, nothing has changed between real life and fantasy, meaning that the boy has lost his imagination because he was taught to think equally.
2)

The riot scene ends and the camera returns to the boy in the classroom as the children recite the lesson. Think of a possible explanation for this.

The boy was thinking about that riot and that would that if he had the chance, he would cause or be part of the riot.
3)

What kind of education does the movie portray? Use the song “The happiest days of our lives” to help you.

Taking into account the song, the education portrayed shows that the teacher hurt and disrespect his students as he receives the same behaviour from his psychopathic wife.

4)

Education is only one of the various social institutions the movie deals with. What others did you notice and how are they portrayed?

The movie portrays many social institutions, education is one of those, however there are at least two more that we could identify: Goverment and Family. Goverment could be defined as the head social institution, the one which controls education and family. It is the institution which tells what to teach to the children, what social context do they have to live in, and the one which decides if children need education. The Goverment as social institution is the “head institution”, Pink Floyd critice the goverment for making and manupulating the entire system as they wished, the Goverment decided what children may think, and they also decided what the childrens family should encourage them to do.

5)

We, in Argentina, often rely on education to solve most of our social problems. We blame education, or the lack of it, for many of them. Consider the huge success (described in the text below) of the song “Another brick in the wall” which claims “we don’t need no education” and compare it to what you think about education.

While the song is not the first example of the anti-education theme in popular music, it comes at a time when increasing numbers of students are questioning the value of their education. Thus, young people are responding to the song with uncommon — and unsettling — enthusiasm.

In May [1980], the South African government banned the song — and the album — "because "Another Brick" had become the anthem of a national strike of more than 10,000 "coloured"

(mixed) students and their white supporters. The students had been protesting the inequality of spending on education for the various races, as well as "intimidation" by teachers, whose authority the Pink Floyd song challenges. The government ban forbids radio stations to play the record, stores to sell it, and individuals to own it.

After reading the text, and realising the impact the song made in South Africa, and after reading the lyrics, we will compare them to what we consider education is. It is true that nowadays we blame the lack of education he distract the attention or simply to avoid deeper problems in society.  The song “Another Brick in The Wall” was used in South Africa as an anthem to national strikes.  The song was written to criticise the government of those days, and the strict control over children,  how authorities abused of their superiority to mock or to punish students and how the government of those days “shaped” kids to be one more brick, without any reasoning out of the box. Nowadays, everyone should access to a good education, in order to learn social parameters, and to prepare for future. We think that, if education is not used as a method to “shape bricks”, then it should be compulsory and everyone should get free access to it.

6)

Up to what extent is education a way of “thought control”?

Education can easily used as a way of “thought control”, because it is a huge social institution in which many parents trust and where they send their kids to learn. Furthermore, parents are not present while their kids learn, so the institution can argue that they are teaching maths when really they are teaching not to think “out of the box”. It could be consider as one of the mayor's “thoughts controllers”.

7)

Explain the meaning of the double-hammer symbol. Use the scene “In the flesh” to answer.

The meaning of the double-hammer symbol take us to a history episode that may represent fascism or even Nazism as the hammers can form the swastika. Also, the symbol represents oppression and a cause to feel terror. Towards the scene “In the flesh” Pink shows himself as Hitler in a way, being mean to the “audience”.

8)

The children falling into the meat grinder is a visual metaphor that makes a powerful point. What is the metaphor and what point does it make?

The scene where the children are falling into the meat grinder has to do with the plans that the system requires towards the kids, the children are reformed in a way that all will be mentally the same.

9)

What is the wall? Can you say whether it is a good thing or not?

The wall is a mentally object that is considered as a separation from you and the outside world. Throughout our years of life, our actions made the wall in consequence. It may be portrayed as a good thing the wall, because it separates you from the things you fell uninteresting or dangerous but also it gives the idea of complete isolation, for example, the scene where Pink is in that hotel room thinking about his memories.