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Does Steven Spielberg Use The Tropes In The Film Raiders Of The Lost Ark

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The most successful artists often employ tropes during the creative process. Tropes are the devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the viewer's minds and expectations. The famed director Steven Spielberg utilizes multiple common tropes in his 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark. The most pertinent tropes Spielberg included that most viewers will recognize are The Quest for Lost Treasure, The Evil Empire, and Paranormal Prophecy. The usage of such tropes may be primarily fact-based, but how meticulous the director is about purely relaying facts in the film is a question open for debate. This paper will examine if the majority of the film is fact-based and what percentage is a twisted truth that Spielberg …show more content…

The manipulation of facts is seen throughout Raiders of the Lost Ark particularly with the Ark of the Covenant. To preface, the Ark of the Covenant is part of the Old Testament and thus is only real to a person if they believe in the Old Testament. Indiana Jones finds himself in the city of Tanis, where the Nazis are also searching for the Ark of the Covenant. Tanis is a real place and is a “... ancient Egyptian city was located in Northeastern Egypt….[and]... royal tombs were discovered. Jewelry, precious stones… and pharaoh masks were all found--but no Ark.” but in the grand finale of Raiders of the Lost Ark Jones and his correspondents are victorious in their quest for the Ark but in reality, no has ever found the religious Ark yet. Spielberg is somewhat authentic with his usage of the trope yet he does certainly blur the facts in some …show more content…

The Old Testament Book of Exodus explained in great detail the appearance of the Ark and the rumored miracles it was capable of performing. According to Richard A. Lovett and Scott Hoffman and their writings for National Geographic, “ the Babylonian Empire conquered the Israelites, and the Ark, at the time supposedly stored in the Temple in Jerusalem, vanished from history. Whether it was destroyed, captured, or hidden--nobody knows. Unlike Spielberg’s portrayal of the Ark of the Covenant, the true biblical artifact remains intangible to archaeologists and historians worldwide. Archaeologist and esteemed National Geographic Society fellow Fred Hiebert explains the matter of the lost Ark this way: “ We are talking about things [at] the crossroads between myth and reality.” and continues on to say that he thinks the stories are intriguing but does not believe the scientific method will ever effectively be used to prove or fictitious aspects are certainly present in his film Raiders of the Lost

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