'Every living creature on earth dies alone'?

[muffin]

Alright well, we all know this is a major quote from the movie, but I've never really fully understood the concept.

Dr. Lilian Thurman: What did Roberta Sparrow say to you?
Donnie: She said, "Every living creature on earth dies alone."

Dr. Lilian Thurman: The search for God is absurd?
Donnie: It is if everyone dies alone.

Also Donnie says something about his dog going under his porch to die, to die alone.

To be honest I don't understand this at all, I may be totally oblivious to some concept here so if someone could enlighten me that would be superb.

Does he mean it literally? Like every living creature dies alone, as in no friends / relatives around you when you die. Or what?

Thanks for the help!

[twinkletwos]

i've wondered about these statements too.

it could mean, literally, that when anything dies, it goes to death by itself. that is, on the other hand, when a creature is born it is usually in the company of others, i.e. its mother/parent, siblings, family, pack members, herd, etc. (unless it's a spore or some such).
but unless we go in a mass wipeout, we each die solitarily; even if loved ones are present holding our hand, we must leave by ourselves, alone.

metaphysically, it could mean that "after" death there is nothing: one is alone in the void of non-existence (which, in this case, one wouldn't "be alone"; one would simply not be at all).

we don't know for certain if Roberta Sparrow believed these word sincerely or if she offered them to Donnie as a spur to his own discoveries. it may be a moot point anyway.
and what did Donnie find in the end, his own? did he die alone?
obviously he was by himself, but was he alone? or did he feel present in "God's Channel"?

still a bit of a puzzle...or mystery

[thepretender]

I haven't thought too much about this quote except to think that it was uttered by a person who is more pragmatic than hopeful.

I wonder why many creatures do go off to die alone.

You would think that they would want some comfort too?
Maybe creatures are more accepting of fate than we are.
Maybe we are too hopeful that the folks around us can alter our lives and our demise with their prayers and that is why we don't go off alone.

Maybe it is a sign that the minute one does pass 'over' that alone becomes totally acceptable because so many questions are answered.
Just some thoughts.

[Jorge Sanchez]

when they say every creature dies alone it is tru because everyones death authentic the death is their own death nobody elses. everyone dies alone because their death cannot be shared with anybody, its called authenticity, and it branches from existentialism.

some may interpret this as when you die alone, you had no one but your self, this is true. for example lets say your mom died and you cried. why do u cry is it because she died or because of the way her death will affect you? it is common to believe that one cry or morns for the dead person but if the death did not affect you, you would not cry. which brings me to another question who is a funeral for is it for the dead for the living? if u understand existentialism you will know its trully for the living.


so when you die you die alone because nobody shares the experience of your death!

[Michael Gilley]

Hello. Actually, this line held my attention for the rest of the movie. At first, I thought about it in the terms that have been described here, but upon later reflexion I have come to a different conclusion.

First of all, it's important to take the quote within the greater context of the movie. At the time Darko was in the so-called Tangent Universe that yielded the Manipulated Dead, or those who die but would normally not have died in the Primary Universe. This was written about by Sparrow who also offered the words to Darko. The book's contents are surely linked to her words. They are like a clue. Just as Darko's dog hid under his porch to die so also must Darko die alone to save the Primary Universe.

Throughout the entire movie the question of divine predestination is questioned. If all things die alone, or in the ethos of the movie, if all things die by fate alone then there is no need to search for God because God will inherently "find you" through that destiny. It's important to note also that God in the philosophy of this film is destiny (all powerful, all controlling, all knowing, etc.).

So, I think this statement by Sparrow and follow up by Donnie Darko really have to do with the plots conclusion of Darko figuring out that destiny of a lone death awaits in order to save others. Interestingly, this kind of idea is not new. It fits comfortably within the realm of neo-Gnosticism. That is, salvation (of the self, others, or both) through knowledge. Historically, Gnosticism has been kind to philosophy and highly mystical in nature often naming voids and ideas that are not physically evidenced (the book). Darko is confronted with the need and pursuit of such salvation and he finds it in the form of secret knowledge imparted in the pages of a book and through the 'teachings' of an insider (Frank).

Has anyone else seen or thought of this connection? What do you all think are the cultural implications and/or ramification behind such thinking?

Assuming God exists, do creatures really die alone if they have God? What does 'alone' mean?

[Shail]

After just watching the film and being curious about what 'Grandma Death' said to Donnie, I came up with my own opinions.

Although most of them have already been stated(and I'll save you the boredom of re-reading them), there are a few simple ones that I think must be mentioned:

1) Roberta Sparrow was nicknamed 'Grandma Death', for her appearance and other death-like signs, but I also think that this name is symbolic as a role assigned to her.

Although she is no reaper, she does act as a form of oracle, ultimately predicting Donnie's fate(to die alone). Only after she mentions this to him, does he begin to think about death, and fear it. Grandma Death is the foreshadower for the protagonist and the audience watching the film.

2) 'Every living creature on earth dies alone'- When I first thought about it, I thought she was almost acting as a comforting mechanism to convince Donnie to understand that all things die(individual deaths, with individual causes).

By telling him the above, he looks for anyone who makes him feel like he is not alone. And it is because of this that Frank-bunny is created(if you agree that he is created by Donnie's actions, and not by some Super-Sentient form in context of the film). In the end, Gretchen(who Donnie reached out for) dies alone, and so does Donnie. But each of these deaths were necessary.
-

I'm sure I've just confused myself a little, so have a good night all.

[schizobunny]

I think personally that Grandma death says "All living things die alone" specifically to Donnie because they were both recievers and maybe she understands that he is the reciever and therefor is a different type of being in the T and PU so he is in his room. completely by himself at the end when he dies.

[knifeplay]

Aug 21, 2008 15:43:04 GMT -5 muffin said:

Alright well, we all know this is a major quote from the movie, but I've never really fully understood the concept.

Dr. Lilian Thurman: What did Roberta Sparrow say to you?
Donnie: She said, "Every living creature on earth dies alone."

Dr. Lilian Thurman: The search for God is absurd?
Donnie: It is if everyone dies alone.

Also Donnie says something about his dog going under his porch to die, to die alone.

To be honest I don't understand this at all, I may be totally oblivious to some concept here so if someone could enlighten me that would be superb.

Does he mean it literally? Like every living creature dies alone, as in no friends / relatives around you when you die. Or what?

Thanks for the help!

this doesnt answer your question but i just realized when he says the search for god is absurd if everybody dies alone .... is it absurd if it brings you together with one or more people during the search ?
im not saying this to make people think god is real or that faith is a good thing - i am not a chrisitian i am not religious at all or anything but yeah , just thought of that point

[Chris]

Ok, this is more of a question, but being that Roberta Sparrow wrote a book on time travel, does anyone else find it odd that in her quote "every living creature on earth dies alone", why does she say "earth". wouldn't every living creature dies alone suffice? Did Donnie maybe find a way of not dying alone by traveling through space? I just find it odd that earth was in the sentence, almost like instead of stating the obvious, Roberta was saying more... just a thought, what do you all think....?

[Phil]

if its taken with the a religious context, then she could just be defining between earth, heaven and hell. you die on earth alone, but are together in heaven?

[FUNRADIANT]

During the course of the movie Donnie explained during class in regards to the motive behind why the people in the story in question behaved like they just about sums up the whole hidden meaning behind DD.

Basically the present world - burned into the ground, will give rise to a new better world created from scratch.

The worm hole appearing in the sky is like the phoenix rising from the ashes with change in its wake. Everything dies alone, yes, but more to the point 'everything dies'.

Let's just say when we die we leave our present reality in the physical sense yet our hopes and dreams remain never the less and in so passing away we are forced to put all our hopes and dreams away. Then reality permitting should we ever bring out our hopes and dreams we find that they are exactly the same as when we put them away. To remain eternal one would need to conquer each reality one after the other, sometimes its just believing in things others don't or can't believe that we may prevail. Let's say, that we believe that our hopes and dreams are kept within ours souls and within our very life force and so cannot be altered or interefered with by others. So reality exists, we become aware of it, yet then, that same reality fades away, following that, at some point a new similar or vastly different reality exists once again, we become aware of it, only for that reality to inevitably once again pass away and so on and so forth, yet our hopes and dreams remain never the less, to bear witness to countless further realities. As slowly but surely, our whole spirit world evolves and eventually passes away only for our hopes and dreams to remain as part of the new world that has yet to evolve.

So what do we know about our present reality? Interestingly, any particle of mass, (an electron for example), moving over a distance may be measured in electron Volts and also the mass of any particle of mass, (an electron for example), may be measured in electron Volts. Should our totality, (universe), in its entirety be equal in labour to the application of capability strength, (measured in electron Volts), across the cross-sectional area and length of a living creature. Such that, vibrations in the soul of the sender are equal to vibrations in our totality, (our whole universe viewed according to Quantum mechanics and also the beloved philosophy of time travel as pure energy), and should it be scientifically verified that our universe conducts spirit as electrically recorded in a video showing a ghost pushing on a door, (with the corresponding work done in the door moving over a distance also measured in electron Volts, yet with no energy added or taking away from our present totalities configeration, only the corresponding change in vibration within its configeration). Meaning that our totality in its entirety was formed out of a finite amount of kinetic energy with portions of kinetic energy made to accelerate around some fixed point forming simple energy systems, whereby, a particle of mass is then equal to a bundle of energy, (with corresponding frequency and wavelength), accelerating around some fixed point and an atom is a complex energy system. Where the displacement of the components composing a body of mass, (thus matter is held together at the same constant rate eaual to the speed of light), is due to the potential energy available within the given system being converted into the kinetic energy of motion. Thus, it could be considered that the total kinetic energy of any energy system, (atom or body of mass for instance), within our totality is actually proportional to the overall motion of our totality in its entirety. Furthermore, labour is required in order that the principles of energy conservation are constantly upheld and most importantly the conservation of momentum indicates that our whole energy simulation computing our existence at the current rate operates as a monumental circuit. Whereby, the fundamental forces are all proportional to the cabability strength of a soul being observed to radiate/manipulate energy/spirit. Therefore, all living things within our universe that pass away and all their hopes and dreams are kept safe under the wing of the higher spirit in question and presently God is only ever as far away as the fundamental forces that govern nature!!

Okay, so let's just say our alternative theory holds its weight in water, then surely if our present reality is but a supernatural occurence would it not be in our best interests to become rich in spirit and so acquire knowledge and skill in weilding spirit. Thus, no longer fearing passing away on the material plane but becoming master of both the material and ghost planes, thereby succeeding in furthering our own hopes and dreams. As nothing, no matter how bad it may be at the time lasts forever.

Just believe in your hopes and dreams and one day the cellar door shall open only for you to inevitably witness all your hopes and dreams come true and so in this way shall they inevitably develop again and again forever and ever, amen.

[germaine cornellier]

i am donnie darko. i said that because my cat went under the porch to die. you will find any farmer will tell you that the animals go off by themselves to die. the point is, at that moment, when you are dying, you are alone with the fact that you are dying.

[Joe Dixon]

The entire point of the film is built around this one quote.

Donnie is stuck in a tangent universe, a universe that he has relived over and over again (thus many moments in the film instigating that subconciously he has done this before).

if donnie does not send the airplane engine back in time at the end of the tangent universe, a cross over in space time occurs and the world as we know it comes to an end. Then the tangent universe resets and he goes through the same 28 days all over again, with no recollection (except subconcious recollection) of the fact that he has lived through these 28 days many times before, this is why the opening of the film begins with him on the top of that mountain, where the tangent universe comes to a final end at the end of the film. The animated dead, frank, is trying to persuade donnie to send the airplane engine back through the loophole and into the normal universe, which would prevent the end of the world (and the resetting of the tangent universe). However donnies hesitation, which has stopped him from doing so in previous tangent universes, is derived from one thing, he is afraid to die alone.

Roberta Sparrows line "every living creature on earth dies alone" coupled with the death of grechen causes a realisation for donnie that for him to save the world he must die alone, and there is nothing he can do about it. so at the end of the film he sends the airplane engine back from the tangent universe into the normal universe and kills himself, therefore making the cycle of the tangent universe obsolete. He has saved the world at the cost of his own life, but he laughs in the face of death upon waking before he dies, knowing that he has saved the world.

Such a clever film, it takes ages to get your head round this, but thats basically the official report on the plot of the film. Throughout the film you notice things that suggest the tangent universe has been lived through many times before.

[twinkle]

^Throughout the film you notice things that suggest the tangent universe has been lived through many times before.

although you bring up some very salient points, what is the evidence?
true, your interpretation has a certain poetry to it, that Donnie is repeating his actions until he learns better. BUT: what is gained by anyone by Donnie's death?
presumably, at the end when we see him laughing in bed, he's accomplished his mission and the world is saved. why not visit the kitchen for a well-earned beer? how would the end result be any different? MUST Donnie die?
this has been a highly & hotly debated topic (look around at some other threads).
i do not say you are wrong at all and maybe i've missed something.
please post again and provide what you've seen to suggest a Tangent Universe, endlessly repeating.
thanks for a good post.

[wheres donnie]

in my belief, Grandma Death says this implying that in this earth (tangent universe) creatures die alone, she uses this context because when Gretchen dies, she dies alone, and once Donnie fixed the tangent universe and is back in the primary universe, she is alive once again so he dies so that she'll live and don't have to be alone, predicting that if he stays alive her death will come again.