The Matrix – Names, Symbols,
Motifs
Just a reminder…
• Symbols – Things in the film that represent
more than themselves. Eg. The blue and red
pills.
• Motifs – Repeated images that link to a main
idea in the film. Eg. Telephones.
Names
• What is the significance of the following
names in The Matrix? Some are quite tricky,
try to utilise everyone at your table’s
knowledge. If you’re not sure, move on to the
next one. Hint: One is anagrammatic.
• Neo
• Trinity
• Morpheus
• Cypher
Names
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Neo – Anagram of “one”. Means new, revived.
Anderson (son of man) 9 Greek root Andros (man).
Doubting Thomas. (Doubting son of man)
Trinity – Completes trinity of Morpheus, Neo, and
herself. Could relate to the trinity in the Bible – The
Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
• Morpheus – God of dreams in Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
(The drug morphine is named after him) Has the ability
to take any human form and appear in dreams.
• Cypher – Lucifer. “Don’t hate me Trinity, I’m just the
messenger.” – Lucifer calls himself the messenger.
Names and Synthesisers
• Correlations with names of synthesisers
– Morpheus - E-MU Morpheus synthesisers.
– Trinity - Korg Trinity synthesisers.
– Matrix - Oberheim Matrix synthesisers.
– As for numbers: 303 and 101 are Roland
techno synthesisers marks
• Definitions of synthesiser - "an electronic
keyboard instrument that can generate
reasonable imitations of other instruments."
Plato’s Cave
Inside the cave
• How is Plato’s Cave similar to the world of the
matrix?
Release from the cave
• How does this compare to Morpheus’ claim
that most people are not ready to be freed
from the matrix?
• Why free mainly younger people from the
matrix?
• The sun is described as “in a certain way”
being the cause of the things seen in the cave.
How is the matrix as a programme based on
reality?
Return to the cave
• How similar is the attitude of Neo similar to
the returning prisoner?
• How would you expect Neo (like the returning
prisoner) to be treated upon his return by
those in the matrix?
The Wachowskis’ Cave
• Using the model of Plato’s Cave, design a
labelled picture that shows people’s
experience in the matrix.
• You should show how the slaves experience
simulated life and are deprived of the real
thing.
• The drawing/diagram needs to be labelled
and explained.
The Nebuchadnezzar
• The Nebuchadnezzar – Crew’s ship. Biblical
reference to Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon
from the Book of Daniel. He is known for
conquering Judah and Jerusalem and
exiling the Jews.
• Nebuchadnezzar dreams of a huge image
made of various materials. The prophet
Daniel tells him it stands for the rise and
fall of powers.
• Unfortunately he also loses his mind
because of his pride – this is irrelevant to
The Matrix
Plaque on Nebuchadnezzar
• Reads “Mark III No. 11 Made in Usa Year 2069
• The Christian Bible’s Mark 3:2 reads: "And
whenever those possessed by evil spirits
caught sight of him, they would fall down in
front of him shrieking, 'You are the Son of
God!'"
Red and Blue Pills
• Neo’s choice to find out about the Matrix.
Foreshadowed twice.
• 1. Mr Anderson’s boss explaining he has a
choice to either show up to work on time, or
find another job.
• 2. Mr Smith gives Mr Anderson the choice of
helping him to find Morpheus or risk trouble
with the law (and agents). “One of these lives
has a future, the other does not”. (Irony)
Hotel Lafayette
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Marquis de Lafayette 1757-1834.
French Aristocrat and Military officer.
General in American Revolutionary War (1775-’83)
Leader of Garde Nationale (middle class) during the French
Revolution (1789-’99)
• Member of Society of Friends of the Blacks – pushed for
end of slave trade and equal rights for free African
Americans.
• Wrote to George Washington in 1783 urging emancipation
of African Americans.
• Protected Louise XVI and Marie Antoinette in storm
Versailles
Telephones
• As always represents communication or lack
thereof. Between humans and machines.
• Also the barrier between the real and
programmed world.
• How “information” is passed between real and
programmed world.
Clothing (Protagonists)
• Black leather, Glasses.
• Show characters’ separation from the
enslaved inhabitants of the Matrix.
• Dark clothing reflects both the world the
characters live in (the earth ruled by
machines) and their dangerous task.
• In a way reflect agents “inhumanity”
Clothing (Agents (Antagonists))
• Shows separation from enslaved humans in
Matrix.
• Tidy, trim appearance reflects who they are –
programmes. They are by nature bound by
rules and must be tidy. (Programmes and
math don’t work if things are untidy)
Simulcra and Simulation Book
• Philosophical treatise by Jean Baudrillard.
• Looks at the relationship between symbols, reality
and society.
• Argues contemporary society has replaced all
meaning with symbols and signs. That human
experience is a simulation of reality.
• These signs hide the truth that reality is irrelevant
to today’s society.
• Hence the book is a symbol of a hidden world, one
that is irrelevant to the world of the matrix.
Four Examples
• Contemporary media including television, film, print, and the
Internet, -blurring the line between products that are needed
(in order to live a life) and products for which a need is
created by commercial images.
• Exchange value, in which the value of goods is based on
money rather than usefulness, and moreover usefulness
comes to be quantified and defined in monetary terms in
order to assist exchange.
• Multinational capitalism - separates produced goods from the
plants, minerals including the people and their cultural
context used to create them.
• Urbanization, which separates humans from the nonhuman
world, and re-centres culture around productive throughput
systems so large they affect alienation.
101 and 303
• Linked to university paper codes
• First paper in a subject – 101. 101 could also
relate to binary code used by computers.
• Third year papers – in the three hundreds.
• 101 on Neo’s door with White Rabbit.
• 303 seen just before Neo is shot and
subsequently “believes”.
Other references:
• The Wizard of Oz “Kansas is going bye bye.”
• Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll – White
rabbit. Morpheus “You must feel a little like
Alice…” (Lewis Carroll: "It's a story about
consciousness, a child's perception of an adult
world.“)
• Dystopian genre eg. Orwell’s 1984
In groups
• Discuss how your chosen symbol, motif, name
relates to the film and creates meaning.
• Divide your A3 into 4 squares.
• Complete the following, one for each square:
• Example
• Meaning
• Purpose and Effect
• Relevance to rest of film