The Master Themes

Submitted By rjmiller486
Words: 513
Pages: 3

Paul Thomas Anderson, a film director, descants about who is really in charge, in his movie The Master. Paul Thomas Anderson utilizes two characters to display how we are all the master at one time or another using Freddie Quell and Lancaster Dodd. All relationships require some give and take. What we take from each relationship will continue to change as we evolve ourselves. This allows to shift from dominant to submissive or submissive to dominant. The most prominent relationship in The Master, is of Freddie Quell and Lancaster Dodd. Their relationship is constantly changing. At the beginning of the movie, it shows Freddie having sex with a sand woman, and then later cuddling with her, showing he is really lonely. When Freddie meets Lancaster on his boat, Freddie is drunk as usual and offers his services to Lancaster. Lancaster is the first person that can drink Freddie's poisonous concoctions, they immediately hit it off. They are polar opposites, Freddie is a drunk drifter who tells it like it is, and Lancaster is a rigid uptight, wealthy genius who rarely speaks the truth. Lancaster leads a cult like group, who believe that your spirit will live forever through various bodies. The relationship between Freddie Quell and Lancaster Dodd is at first almost like a frat buddy relationship. They drink a lot at the cult meetings, which sets Lancaster's life in an immediate downward spiral. It takes Lancaster's wife Peggy stepping in for them to stop drinking. After Freddie stops drinking, he uses his friend for not only a sense of family but for a change of lifestyle. He was a drifter for his whole life, he never had anything nice. This all changed when he met Lancaster, he had a nice place to stay, traveled the world, and always ate well. Freddie truly was happy with the sense of belonging he got from Lancaster. Lancaster uses Freddie for furthering his cause. Freddie is a broken man, who Lancaster wants to rebuild to prove he is the master. He also