Dead Man and Auguries of Innocence

In Dead Man, William Blake the poet is the hidden focus of the film. Nobody recites a few couplets that appear in Auguries of Innocence, that illustrates the theme of the loss of innocence through experience. The loss of innocence is an underlying theme in much of Blake's work. Blake believes in a world of consisting of reason and sensibility; in such a world one's natural desires are suppressed, pushed to the recess of our minds that we are called upon to ignore. Experience, Blake theorizes, is gained through the experience one gains from the knowledge of their imaginative spirit that their primitive desires produce, he tries to provoke his readers through his poetry, forcing his readers to abandon their innocence once they gain the experience that had previously been hidden. 

In Dead Man,the character, William Blake, has been forced to abandon his innocence. Blake acts primitively during his journey, unlocking what had been hidden in the recess of his mind and therefore gaining experience. William Blake epitomizes the underlying theme of the work of the poet William Blake.

Comments

[Diego]

Very interesting analysis Justine. I believe Blake is being force to find himself by breaking his ties with his old self. I don't know if the losing of innocence is what unlocks what has been hidden because there are characters like Cole that are not innocent but don't have a clear mind.

[Jiayi]

I could not wrap my mind around how Dead Man was similar to Song of Solomon until I read your post. So thanks for the insight.

Milkman's loss of innocence as he learns Seven Days from Guitar, as he is patted down by the police, as he hears that nobody could do anything to the Butlers even though everyone knew they killed Macon Dead I and as he hunts and takes heart out from Bobcat mirrors William Blake's loss of innocence in the Dead Man.

The poet William Blake does force the readers to acknowledge human capacity for evil. For example, in one of his poem A Poison Tree, he writes about how supressed anger or grudge will make people do horrific and wild things, which is exactly what happened to Guitar when he takes part in the Seven Days and when he chooses to kill Milkman rather than confronting him about the gold.