The Wrath of Khan, as I have previously stated, is the best Trek movie- not just because it recaptures some of the feel of TOS, but because it addresses some universal issues and themes. These include aging, ruinous obsession, sacrifice, and death. This isn't to suggest that the movie is a dreary slog through philosophy: on the contrary, W of K moves along briskly and tensely. There is action in the film, but it's action which always furthers the story. It is never mindless explosions for the sake of spectacle; there is always a point to it, and there is not so much of it that it numbs you to the effect of the violence which occurs. Furthering this timeless feel is the use the film makes of classical literature. On the shelf on the Botany Bay, there are a variety of very familiar tomes: The Inferno, The Holy Bible, King Lear, Paradise Lost, and Moby Dick. Each of these are in some way applicable to W of K. For example, Dante's The Inferno tells of people suffering or being punished for things they did in life. Paradise Lost is the tale of fallen angel Lucifer who was cast out due to his ambition, but would rather rule in Hell than serve in Heaven. This one was obviously a favourite of Khan's, as he brought it up during his TOS episode, Space Seed. King Lear is the story of an aging king brought down by his own bad choices, while Moby Dick tells of Ahab, the sea captain who embarks on an obsessive and ruinous quest for revenge on the white whale which had previously injured him. Khan has evidently spent a lot of time during his exile reading these last two, as he quotes from both during the film. He seems to have spent little or no time reading the Bible- at least the New Testament. Also, there's a book on the shelf called Statute Regulating... Commerce. Thank goodness he doesn't start quoting from this, or W of K might have ended up being more like The Phantom Menace. Regarding the theme of aging, while all of the characters are older and greyer, it is Kirk who is really struggling with accepting this. When we see him at the beginning of the film, he is discontented with his life. Longing to be in space and in command, he is stuck behind a desk and giving tests to wet-behind-the-ears cadets whose wide-eyed enthusiasm make him feel even older. Ultimate irony: he's actually presiding over the Kobayashi Maru, the infamous no-win test which as a young cadet he himself had rebelled against. Then, once again in the big chair, he is unsure of himself, wondering if he has indeed grown too old for captaincy. It probably doesn't help that he's facing an enemy from his past who only seems to have grown stronger and more self confident with the passage of time. Adding to Kirk's feelings of being old and off his game is the presence of David, his son with Dr Carol Marcus. In accordance with Carol's wishes, Kirk has had no contact with his son; indeed, David is not even aware that Kirk is his father. Looking at his now adult child, Kirk has a sense of loss and searing regret. He sacrificed the chance of a family for his career, and was extremely successful. Yet now, at the top of his profession, he is conscious of an emptiness and discontentment with his life. Looking at David presents him, as he says, with a look at his "life that might have been, and wasn't." Weighing what he has against what he's missed, Kirk can't help but wonder if he made the wrong choice so many years before. Another theme which is present in W of K is that of the destructive nature of unbridled obsession. The original Khan episode, Space Seed, focused more on the inherent problems of unrestrained ambition, underlined by Khan's reference to Paradise Lost. In Wrath of Khan, he quotes frequently from Moby Dick, the tale of the sea captain so intent on having his revenge on the whale responsible for the loss of his leg that he is willing to risk everything- his ship, his crew, and his own life- to achieve it. And if Khan is Ahab, then Joachim is his Starbuck, the voice of reason. In Moby Dick, Starbuck implores Ahab to give up his quest and concentrate on the profitable business of whaling. In W of K, Joachim points out to Khan that they have Genesis, and can therefore go anywhere and do anything they want. But just as the obsessed Ahab refuses to listen to his first mate, so Khan is unwilling to pay heed to Joachim's pleas. His need to punish and destroy Kirk outweighs all other considerations. This is how Kirk manages to goad Khan into making the fatal misstep of entering the nebula. Khan is no fool: he no doubt realizes that he's being played, but he is so lost in his obsession that he will do anything no matter how reckless and costly to get one more shot at his enemy. And so he goes down, hating Kirk and quoting Herman Melville to the bitter end. The Kobayashi Maru test which we see at the start of the film sets up one of its main themes, that of the no-win scenario. During the test, cadets are presented with a situation in which they receive a distress call from a Federation ship in the Neutral Zone. If they don't enter the Zone, everyone on the malfunctioning vessel will die. If they do enter the Zone, they will be set upon by Romulan ships and destroyed themselves. Cadets taking the test must decide whether to attempt rescue or let the ship be destroyed. When Saavik fails the test and protests that it was unfair because there was no way to win, Kirk tells her that that is the point. A no-win situation is something that every commander may face at some time, and that how one faces death is as important as how one faces life. When she learns that Kirk as a cadet reprogrammed the variables of the test so that he could defeat it, Saavik points out that this means he has never faced death. Now, this is not strictly true- Kirk has many times in his career faced death himself, and lost people he cared about: crewmen, friends, and even family. But he has always managed to avoid the worst consequences in hazardous situations through competence, cleverness, and sheer luck. I think this allowed him to convince himself that he was just fast enough, smart enough, and good enough, he'd be able to protect his ship and crew, and keep disaster at bay. The death of Spock forces him to admit what he already knows to be true: that sometimes you can do everything right, and still lose. Also, even if you win, victory can be very costly, and involve great sacrifice. This brings us to Spock's response to a seemingly no-win situation... with his usual impeccable logic, Spock sacrifices himself to save the Enterprise and her crew, fulfilling the statement he made earlier in the film: "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few- or the one." Once again, this evokes the literary, not so much the books on Khan's shelf, unless it's the Bible: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). Mostly, though, it refers to the book which Spock gave Kirk for his birthday, A Tale of Two Cities. In it, Sydney Carton sacrifices himself to save Darnay and his family, going to the guillotine in his stead. As he awaits death, Carton says, "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." Thinking of Spock, Kirk quotes this passage and is comforted. And, gazing at the Genesis planet with its promise of life, he feels a sense of renewal. Thanks to his friend, Kirk has been given the opportunity to start again with his son and his vocation, and he is not one to squander such a gift. Finally at peace with himself, Kirk is able to answer honestly when Carol asks him how he feels, "I feel young."
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