Book Of Life Animism Analysis

The movie, The Book of Life, contains aspects and scenes of Animism. The most prominent example is when the celebration of The Day of The Dead occurs. Families gather around deceased family members’ graves to set up food and to pay remembrance in order to ensure that the family member is not forgotten, and thus, guaranteed a good afterlife. This practice is known as ancestor worship, an aspect of Animism. Animism is defined as “a belief in numerous personalized, supernatural beings endowed with reason, intelligence and/or volition, that inhabit both objects and living beings and govern their existences” in the New World Encyclopedia. Animism does not fit any particular religious belief or teaching due to its broad range of spiritual beliefs,

One of the main characters, Manolo visits his mother’s grave along with his family where it is decorated and lavished. Manolo asks his father whether or not if she’ll come back tonight, portraying the belief that the dead visits in dreams. The scene continues on to show spirits of dead people at their graves as the father explains that as long as someone remembers them, one could feel their presence for that one night along with all the other ancestors. The scene concludes with Manolo remarking that he could feel them as spirits surround him all around. This scene clearly exemplifies the aspect of ancestor worship in Animism and the belief that remembrance through rituals and worship was necessary to guarantee a soul’s well being and journey in the

Animism breaks this commandment because of its core belief in spirits, which leads to worshipping the spirits. Because Animism believes in the interrelation between the spirit and the living world, Animism is led to worship inanimate objects and nature. In addition, altars are dedicated to the spirits in order to appease the spirits in hopes of avoiding their wrath or in hopes that the spirit will have a good afterlife. While Animism may fear the spirit’s wrath or the possibility that their ancestors may not have completed their journey in the afterlife, Christians are assured through the message of the gospel and God’s grace. It is through God’s grace and belief in Christ that humans do not have to live in fear of the wrath of the spirits since there is only one God. It is through the message of the gospel that Christians know where their loved ones will be in the afterlife. Their afterlife does not depend on a Christian’s ability to remember and worship them, but on God’s grace and the person’s belief in Christ. (John