Thesis: An individual at conflict with their inner desires, and their role as a human being among others will gain an inherently flawed perspective of the world around them and subsequently cause the individual to adopt an identity at conflict with not only their own role, but the roles people around them must have, and become removed and introspective in their search for understanding their own selves.

Throughout the movie Caden’s conflict surrounding his own understanding of himself revolves around his conscious mind conflicting with his unconscious mind (which is explored more in depth in the next section), in addition to his conflict with his understanding of the self archetype. Caden has a specific view of his life and who he is. He sees himself as a director, a father, and a husband, and when this is challenged he does not know …show more content…
Sammy is a truth-speaker for Caden’s feelings (most predominantly regarding Hazel). When Caden speaks to Hazel openly and ceases the repression of his feelings for Hazel, Sammy no longer has a role in Caden’s life – resembling Caden too much – and he commits suicide. Caden yells at his dead body saying that Caden didn’t jump when he attempted to commit suicide earlier in the film, showing the only surviving differentiation between Sammy’s subject and Caden’s. Millicent’s role when she becomes Caden is different from who Caden actually is at that point, with Caden being told that Millicent moves nothing like that and does not talk to people. Caden is no longer the self he once was, so Millicent is a representation of what Caden assumed his original subject was – or his ideal subject. Marionettes are puppets that play specific roles, and the imagery of scissors represents Caden’s polarized view he has of people playing specific roles in his life or them otherwise being insignificant to