Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade

Before I start typing my blog, I would just like to take a minute and remorse the fact that this will be the last blog post I write for this class. I have thoroughly enjoyed the past semester, and I will miss having this class in the future.

In response to questions 2 & 3, I think that a prominent theme in the film was Indiana's return to his "roots", for lack of a better term, and his discovery of himself. This is seen by the emphasis on his childhood. In the beginning, Spielberg establishes a connection back to Jone's childhood. We see the type of childhood that Jones had, including his values, morals, abilities, and home life. The fact that Jones has been searching for the cross all his life symbolizes his search for himself. It cannot be disputed that the cross scene was an integral moment in shaping Jones' life. Proof of this lies in him keeping the hat that the man gave him. When he finally attains the cross he is on his first steps toward finding closure for his past.

Jone's search for himself is also shown by his search for his father, both literally and emotionally. In the childhood scene, Jones Sr's harshness and emotional distance from Indy is blatantly obvious. Jones the elder also tries to obscure Indy's individuality and personality by calling him "Junior", a name that refers to himself more than it refers to Indiana, instead of the name that Indiana chose. This presents Indiana's struggle to connect with his father as one of the "goals" of his quest.

Before I conclude, I would like to make a speculation on all the grail quests, including this one. I believe that every grail quest is not a means to an end, but rather an end in itself. While each person to seek their own grail never attained what they thought they were looking for, they gained much more. Perceval, Persse, and Indiana all learned an incredible amount while in search of their grails, and this is the true reward, not the grail in itself. This is why the grail can never truly be had. Knowledge is infinite, and therefore no search for it can be conclusive.