Year 12-English-Invictus & Ransom-A.

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Both Invictus and Ransom rely on repetition and metaphor to engage and maintain
audience interest.’ To what extent do you agree with this assessment?

Leadership is showcased as a sacrificial act that is is required for the inspiration of the followers
and shown repeatedly and metaphorically throughout both texts and this sacrifice will ultimately
lead to personal success with their goals. In Invictus, Eastwood employs a repeated walk for
Mandela, which serves as a metaphor of his journey as a sacrificial president as he exerted all
his energy into the unification of South Africa. The first morning walk threatened Madiba’s safety
as the likelihood of assassination for Mr President was high and these strolls made him an ‘easy
target’. The second walk symbolised how Mandela had sacrificed his relationships with family
members as he worked for a greater cause and the final walk represented how he had
abandoned his well-being for his duty to the country.Through such repetition, the audience are
compelled to see that as the country grew stronger in unity and harmony, the President grew
weaker losing perspective in the importance of taking care of his own “problems”, highlighting
how this downward spiral is inversely related to the prosperity the group experiences. Leaders
choose the legacy they want to leave and the audience interest is maintained on how this
leadership would play out - questioning if the sacrifices would be enough to bring greatness
back to South Africa. Similarly, this sacrifice was evidently seen through Priam who surrendered
his identity to become a ‘ceremonial’ figure who has ‘ribbons’ metaphorically tied to the ‘centre
of him’. Ribbons are often associated with formal ceremonies representing how his leadership is
solely ritualistic. The ‘taut’ nature of the delicate ribbons portray how Priam is forced by his
status to feel very little attachment which drains him constantly- and how his numerous external
pressures have robbed him of his expression. On the other hand, the ‘loose’ connections
symbolise how certain relationships have little impact on him, essentially a ‘representational’
relationship devoid of true intimacy. Therefore, Priam’s kingly leadership enforces a life of
unwanted sacrifice, where the usual human relationships are laid aside for his ‘symbolic’ value
only to lose the invaluable relationships with his family.Characters struggling with this common
imbalance engages the audience’s interest as the relatable and yet raw experiences touches
the hearts of readers as they reflect on the difficulty of finding stability in their circumstances .
Both texts heavily depend on repetition and metaphor to remind the audience that leadership is
often a selfless act that requires the surrender of one’s emotions as a greater perspective is
needed to withstand pressure and heartache.
Through repetition and metaphors, both texts engage the audience on how sacrificial leadership
inspires, yet there is a low self-esteem that all leaders will experience and eventually need to
overcome to reach their legacy. Within Invictus, there is a repeated idea regarding overcoming
obstacles as seen by the repetition of the theme song, especially the trumpet solo which is
metaphoric of Mandela being a disciplined and lonely soldier who will defend his country away
from civil strife and apartheid legacies. The repeated ascending melody octave interval
symbolises a low to high status in life and the word “Invictus” means undefeated- as related to
leaders overcoming self-doubts. The song repeats in different form at various parts of the
prompt- exemplifying that for leaders to influence others, they must conquer their own internal
battlefield of unfulfilled dreams, regrets, failures and fractured relationships. Ransom parallels
this with Achilles who must overcome his internal battlefield, where Patroclus' death is indirectly
his doing.Evidently, both texts showcase how sacrifice of societal norms and expectations for a
greater legacy can lead to a decrease in dignity-as backlash becomes overwhelming- but to
defeat these assumptions can bring significant triumph for the nation and most importantly the
leader themselves. Fundamentally, the sacrifice of family can lead to a significant low self-
esteem but forfeiting loved ones to create a larger legacy if often a worthy price. Malouf
presents Priam as an ‘ancient doll’-one whose ‘power lay in containment’- and this lack of
emotion in his leadership affects his neglect towards his fifty children who lack the raw
experiences that Somax so fondly reminisces on. Priam becomes a representation of the nation
who is becoming a ‘living’ sacrifice for his nation with his various obligations, and akin to this,
Mandela similarly overlooks his family as he endeavours a new legacy for South Africa. Through
the conversation Mandela has with Zinzi, Eastwood presents how leaders can occasionally be
blinded by their own ambitions and tend to deactivate their reactions -and sense of remorse and
sympathy for their own children-as Mandela criticizes Zindi for ‘only addressing [her] own
feelings’ disapproving her feelings of pain that are deep-rooted in great love for Mandela. Both
these individuals ultimately face the consequences of their neglect and are disconnected from
the most important relationships- inducing lower self-esteem as they recognise their own
failures as fathers- but this lack in connection helps them to create a greater legacy for their
families and exert their energy on refining themselves to be better ‘fathers’ for the nation.

Audience interest is sustained as they view how leadership require the bravery to act as
prosperous leaders need to have the courage to change visions into reality, and both texts show
repeated and metaphorically how these actions come from inspiration or separate motives. The
‘gold’ that was exchanged for the ‘restored, shining’ body of Hector symbolises how Priam has
achieved a righteous mission-and though his plan of freeing himself from ‘royal tradition’- he
incited action and ultimately changed his legacy. The portrayal of Priam- the ‘ancient doll’
inciting action with sheer confidence- aligns with Mandela who praises the flag waver in the
crowds encouraging him by ‘thank[ing]’ him for ‘honouring’ the new flag, as this flag represents
the new path and legacy that South Africa is going down after the hurtful apartheid era. Through
this encouragement, Eastwood shows how the flag plays as a symbol throughout the whole film-
transition from the first match where the stadium was filled with old apartheid flags to the last
match where South African proudly waved the new flag- highlighting how Mandela’s action
made a movement within the nation. The audience interest is upheld as Mandela and Priam
journey through these initial and repeated actions, encouraging others to ‘exceed their
expectations’ and stimulate activity and ultimately creating a greater legacy for the nation by
becoming role models. Additionally,both texts show that with inciting action, there is always an
equal and opposite reaction, and these reactions can hinder progress but will not stop the
legacy. Francois’s leadership is challenged multiple times as he persuades the Springboks to
‘change’ as ‘time’ has demanded to and to reconsider their views regarding apartheid instead of
seeking ‘petty revenge’. Fundamentally, this backlash proves to make Francois a better leader
as he learns to handle the unexpected obstacles discovering that only through inspiration is
change possible.Likewise, Priam becomes a mighty leader by overcoming his fear of Hecuba
and becoming ‘bold’ and ‘defiant’ even when her ‘fierce[ness’ intimidated Priam. Hecuba’s
helpless and emotional reaction did not waver Priam from focusing on the goal -to ransom
Hector’s body-and this backlash as he incited a ‘unprecedented’ action accentuates to readers
that when leaders have a passion, nothing can stop them achieving that objective.Both texts
offer a new perspective on the role of a leader, and audience interest is endured as leaders
learn that inciting action can create movement and backlash and coping with both effects will
help create a greater destiny. Commented [1]: I like this paragraph better than the
other too. There is more "integration" here
Commented [2]: Thank you :)