The Wolves

Wolves in The Grey are not really wolves. They are a symbol for hardship, struggle, danger, fear, and the great unknown of death. The wolves are the film’s version of my cancer demon. They are the mythic beast you wish you could be rid of – that same beast that will never leave your side. Like cancer, they are not angry or sad. They simply are, and they exist to end you.

The Hard Wilderness

We all know life can be harsh. The Grey only helps to simplify that idea by setting the story in the middle of a giant frozen chunk of nature. The men trudge, scrape, and crunch their way through piles of ice and snow. Their bodies scarred, bloodied and chapped. This setting, this seemingly endless march through a snow storm, again reminded me of my own chemo post. Are these men symbols of cancer survivors? For me, there is no question.

The Beautiful Wilderness

There’s a scene where a character comes to terms with his own inescapable death. He realizes he has nothing left physically, so he chooses a spot by a river and sits. His fellow survivor asks why he is giving up and he replies, “Look at that (pointing at scenery). I feel like that’s all for me. How do I beat that? When will it ever be better?” He comes to his own graceful end, through appreciation. He is not giving up, he is choosing how to spend his final moments. As cruel as it can be, nature can be even more beautiful.

God The Scapegoat

The film only gets more intense as it continues, and at one point, we find our hero has lost all his survivor friends. He is alone, afraid, tired, and completely helpless. He looks to the sky and calls to God in a fit of desperate rage and frustration. As I watched the scene my fists instinctively clenched, feeling the raw power of this man’s words. Again, another deep, personal mirror of my God Complex and other post. He says (the following is not for the faint-of-heart or extremely devout):

“Do something. Do something. You phony prick, fraudulent motherfucker – Do something! Come on! Prove it!

Fuck faith, earn it! Show me something real! I need it now, not later, now!

Show me, and I’ll believe in you till the day I die! I swear. I’m calling on you! I’m calling on you!“

Then, after a painful silence from the heavens, he shakes his head and says in a whisper, “Fuck it. I’ll do it myself. I’ll do it myself.” To say that I saw myself in this guy is an understatement. The scene captures the despair of the inevitable against the wish of life. It’s like a piece of my pain is on film. I love it. Absolutely spot-on. Right, fuckin’ on.

To clarify, I’m not happy at the insults at God, I’m just happy feeling like at least one other person completely “gets it” – that helpless desperation and the lashing out that comes with it. It’s natural, and so welcome for me to see in motion.

Raging Against The Dying Of The Light

In the beginning of the film, our hero was prepared to kill himself. We knew he lost his love, but not why. In the final scene, while remembering his fallen companions, he finds himself trapped in the middle of the wolf den. There is no getting out of this situation alive. He remembers a final memory of his wife, and we realize then that she passed away from a terminal illness. Her final words to him are “Don’t be afraid.” And it is with this memory of her love that our hero straps on broken-bottle brass knuckles onto one fist and a knife in his other hand. He faces the wolf, grits his teeth, and in a final clash they leap into each other.

We don’t need to see the fight – it’s irrelevant. He will die like his companions. What matters is that he fights. He lives to the very end. This is not a tragic ending for me. It is a REAL ending, with grace, dignity, power, ferocity, and ultimately love. This is an example of a true survivor, demonstrating real strength of spirit. He rages against the dying of the light. He rages for his lost friends, for family, for love, and for life itself. That is victory.