Symbolism Of Water In Inception

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Christopher Nolan's Inception contains a lot of recurring imagery and symbols. The imagery and symbols helped decipher what was reality and what was fictional. Using shared dreaming technology, the main character has to plant an idea in someone's mind in order to get back with his children. This is ironic because the reason he cannot be with his kids in the first place is because he planted an idea in his wife's mind, which spiraled out of control. Multi-level dreams are a hard thing to follow but the film's symbolism was pivotal in helping the audience and even the characters understand what’s going on.

The biggest irony that the audience faces is that they feel pity for Cobb, in that; he has lost his beloved wife in limbo. We then realize that he is the very reason she is gone. He used his wife to experiment his techniques, thus creating her mental problems, which …show more content…
The further you dive into inception in this film the more water you see. Light rain, thunderstorms, and a snowy mountain are types of water imagery the audience experiences throughout the dream world. Water was often associated with the unconscious during several scenes, for instance the opening scene where he is face down in the sand by the shore; the rainfall while the building was falling apart, the two drinks on the plane which sent the men into a deeper sleep, the bathtub full of water that Cobb is dunked in, the torrential downpour in the city, and the sea that surrounded the city in limbo.

The main character Cobb uses a spinning top to remind himself of which reality he's in. If Cobb doubts as to whether he loses himself in a dream, he checks the spinning top to see if he's dreaming. When the spinning top stops spinning, he's in reality. This totem reveals his grasp or lack thereof of reality. This spinning top symbolizes his sense of stability because he uses it to figure out if he's dreaming or not, it is his safe haven and peace of
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