NARRATOLOGY: Ramayana

Narratology refers to both the theory and the study of narrative and narrative structure and the ways that these affect our perception. While in principle the word may refer to any systematic study of narrative, in practice its usage is rather more restricted. It is an anglicisation of French narratologie, coined by Tzvetan Todorov (Grammaire du Décaméron, 1969). Narratology is applied retrospectively as well to work predating its coinage. Its theoretical lineage is traceable to Aristotle (Poetics) but modern narratology is agreed to have begun with the Russian Formalists, particularly Vladimir Propp (Morphology of the Folktale, 1928).

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narratology)


The Story:

Bala Kanda

Dasharatha was the king of Ayodhya. He had three queens: Kausalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra. He was childless for a long time and, anxious to produce an heir, he performs a fire sacrifice known as Putra-Kameshti Yagya.^[31] As a consequence, Rama is first born to Kausalya, Bharata is born to Kaikeyi, and Lakshmana and Shatrughna are born to Sumitra.^[32][33] These sons are endowed, to various degrees, with the essence of the God Vishnu; Vishnu had opted to be born into mortality in order to combat the demon Ravana, who was oppressing the Gods, and who could only be destroyed by a mortal.^[34] The boys are reared as the princes of the realm, receiving instructions from the scriptures and in warfare. When Rama is 16 years old, the sage Vishwamitra comes to the court of Dasharatha in search of help against demons, who were disturbing sacrificial rites. He chooses Rama, who is followed by Lakshmana, his constant companion throughout the story. Rama and Lakshmana receive instructions and supernatural weapons from Vishwamitra, and proceed to destroy the demons.^[35]

Janaka was the king of Mithila. One day, a female child was found in the field by the king in the deep furrow dug by his plough. Overwhelmed with joy, the king regarded the child as a "miraculous gift of God". The child was named Sita, the Sanskrit word for furrow.^[36] Sita grew up to be a girl of unparalleled beauty and charm. When Sita was of marriageable age, the king decided to have a swayamvara which included a contest. The king was in possession of an immensely heavy bow, presented to him by the God Shiva: whoever could wield the bow could marry Sita. The sage Vishwamitra attends the swayamvara with Rama and Lakshmana. Only Rama wields the bow and breaks it. Marriages are arranged between the sons of Dasharatha and daughters of Janaka. Rama gets married to Sita, Lakshmana to Urmila, Bharata to Mandavi andShatrughan to Shrutakirti. The weddings are celebrated with great festivity at Mithila and the marriage party returns to Ayodhya.^[35]

Ayodhya Kanda

After Rama and Sita have been married for twelve years, an elderly Dasharatha expresses his desire to crown Rama, to which the Kosala assembly and his subjects express their support.^[37][38] On the eve of the great event, Kaikeyi—her jealousy aroused by Manthara, a wicked maidservant—claims two boons that Dasharatha had long ago granted her. Kaikeyi demands Rama to be exiled into wilderness for fourteen years, while the succession passes to her son Bharata. The heartbroken king, constrained by his rigid devotion to his given word, accedes to Kaikeyi's demands.^[39] Rama accepts his father's reluctant decree with absolute submission and calm self-control which characterizes him throughout the story.^[40] He is joined by Sita and Lakshmana. When he asks Sita not to follow him, she says, "the forest where you dwell is Ayodhya for me and Ayodhya without you is a veritable hell for me."^[41] After Rama's departure, king Dasharatha, unable to bear the grief, passes away.^[42] Meanwhile, Bharata who was on a visit to his maternal uncle, learns about the events in Ayodhya. Bharata refuses to profit from his mother's wicked scheming and visits Rama in the forest. He requests Rama to return and rule. But Rama, determined to carry out his father's orders to the letter, refuses to return before the period of exile. However, Bharata carries Rama's sandals, and keeps them on the throne, while he rules as Rama's regent.^[39][42]

Aranya Kanda

Rama, Sita and Lakshmana journeyed southward along the banks of river Godavari, where they built cottages and lived off the land. At the Panchavati forest they are visited by a rakshasa woman, Surpanakha, the sister of Ravana. She attempts to seduce the brothers and, failing in this, attempts to kill Sita. Lakshmana stops her by cutting off her nose and ears. Hearing of this, her demon brother,Khara, organizes an attack against the princes. Rama annihilates Khara and his demons.^[43]

When news of these events reaches Ravana, he resolves to destroy Rama by capturing Sita with the aid of the rakshasa Maricha. Maricha, assuming the form of a golden deer, captivates Sita's attention. Entranced by the beauty of the deer, Sita pleads with Rama to capture it. Lord Rama, aware that this is the play of the demons, is unable to dissuade Sita from her desire and chases the deer into the forest, leaving Sita under Lakshmana's guard. After some time Sita hears Rama calling out to her; afraid for his life she insists that Lakshmana rush to his aid. Lakshmana tries to assure her that Rama is invincible, and that it is best if he continues to follow Rama's orders to protect her. On the verge of hysterics Sita insists that it is not she but Rama who needs Lakshmana's help. He obeys her wish but stipulates that she is not to leave the cottage or entertain any strangers. He draws a chalk outline, the Lakshmana rekha around the cottage and casts a spell on it that prevents anyone from entering the boundary but allows people to exit. Finally with the coast clear, Ravana appears in the guise of an ascetic requesting Sita's hospitality. Unaware of the devious plan of her guest, Sita is tricked into leaving the rekha and then forcibly carried away by the evil Ravana.^[43][44]

Jatayu, a vulture, tries to rescue Sita, but is mortally wounded. At Lanka Sita is kept under the heavy guard of rakshasis. Ravana demands Sita marry him, but Sita, eternally devoted to Rama, refuses.^[42] Rama and Lakshmana learn about Sita's abduction from Jatayu, and immediately set out to save her.^[45] During their search, they meet the demon Kabandha and the ascetic Shabari, who direct them towards Sugriva and Hanuman.^[46][47]

Kishkindha Kanda

The Kishkindha Kanda is set in the monkey citadel Kishkindha. Rama and Lakshmana meet Hanuman, the greatest of monkey heroes and an adherent of Sugriva, the banished pretender to the throne of Kishkindha.^[48] Rama befriends Sugriva and helps him by killing his elder brother Vali thus regaining the kingdom of Kiskindha, in exchange for helping Rama to recover Sita.^[49] However Sugriva soon forgets his promise and spends his time in debauchery. The clever monkey Queen Tara, second wife of Sugriva (initially wife of Vali), calmly intervenes to prevent an enraged Lakshmana from destroying the monkey citadel. She then eloquently convinces Sugriva to honor his pledge. Sugriva then sends search parties to the four corners of the earth, only to return without success from north, east and west.^[50] The southern search party under the leadership of Angad and Hanuman learns from a vulture named Sampati that Sita was taken to Lanka.^[50][51]

Sundara Kanda

The Sundara Kanda forms the heart of Valmiki's Ramayana^[52] and consists of a detailed, vivid account of Hanuman's adventures.^[48]After learning about Sita, Hanuman assumes a gargantuan form and makes a colossal leap across the ocean to Lanka. Here, Hanuman explores the demon's city and spies on Ravana. He locates Sita in Ashoka grove, who is wooed and threatened by Ravana and hisrakshasis to marry Ravana. He reassures her, giving Rama's signet ring as a sign of good faith. He offers to carry Sita back to Rama, however she refuses, reluctant to allow herself to be touched by a male other than her husband. She says that Rama himself must come and avenge the insult of her abduction.^[48]

Hanuman then wreaks havoc in Lanka by destroying trees and buildings, and killing Ravana's warriors. He allows himself to be captured and produced before Ravana. He gives a bold lecture to Ravana to release Sita. He is condemned and his tail is set on fire, but he escapes his bonds and, leaping from roof to roof, sets fire to Ravana's citadel and makes the giant leap back from the island. The joyous search party returns to Kishkindha with the news.

Yuddha Kanda

The War of Lanka by Sahibdin.It depicts the monkey army of the protagonist Rama (top left, blue figure) fighting the demon-king of the king of Lanka, Ravana in order to save Rama's kidnapped wife Sita. The painting depicts multiple events in the battle against the three-headed demon generalTrisiras, in bottom left – Trisiras is beheaded by the monkey-companion of Rama – Hanuman.

This book describes the battle between the army of Rama, constructed with the help of Sugriv, and Ravana. Having received Hanuman's report on Sita, Rama and Lakshmana proceed with their allies towards the shore of the southern sea. There they are joined by Ravana's renegade brother Vibhishana. The monkeys named "Nal" and "Neel" construct a floating bridge (known as Rama Setu) across the ocean, and the princes and their army cross over to Lanka. A lengthy battle ensues and Rama kills Ravana. Rama then installs Vibhishana on the throne of Lanka.^[54]

On meeting Sita, Rama asks her to undergo an "agni pariksha" (test of fire) to prove her purity, as he wanted to get rid of the rumours surrounding Sita's purity. When Sita plunges into the sacrificial fire, Agni the lord of fire raises Sita, unharmed, to the throne, attesting to her purity.^[55] The episode of agni pariksha varies in the versions of Ramayana by Valmiki andTulsidas.^[56] The above version is from Valmiki Ramayana. In Tulsidas's Ramacharitamanas Sita was under the protection of Agni so it was necessary to bring her out before reuniting with Rama. At the expiration of his term of exile, Rama returns to Ayodhya with Sita and Lakshmana, where the coronation is performed.^[54] This is the beginning of Ram Rajya, which implies an ideal state with good morals.

Uttara Kanda

The Uttara Kanda is regarded to be a later addition to the original story byValmiki and concerns the final years of Rama, Sita, and Rama's brothers. After being crowned king, many years passed pleasantly with Sita. However, despite the Agni Pariksha (fire ordeal) of Sita, rumours about her purity are spreading among the populace of Ayodhya. Rama yields to public opinion and reluctantly banishes Sita to the forest, where sage Valmiki provides shelter in hisashrama (hermitage). Here she gives birth to twin boys, Lava and Kusha, who became pupils of Valmiki and are brought up in ignorance of their identity.

Valmiki composes the Ramayana and teaches Lava and Kusha to sing it. Later, Rama holds a ceremony during Ashwamedha yagna, which the sage Valmiki, with Lava and Kusha, attends. Lava and Kusha sing the Ramayana in the presence of Rama and his vast audience. When Lava and Kusha recite about Sita's exile, Rama becomes grievous, and Valmiki produces Sita. Sita calls upon the Earth, her mother, to receive her and as the ground opens, she vanishes into it Rama then learns that Lava and Kusha are his children. Later a messenger from the Gods appears and informs Rama that the mission of his incarnation was over. Rama returns to his celestial abode.

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramayana)

The Criticism:


the story is on the form of a third person point-of-view which sets a perfect example of narration. Narration is the foremost element of narratology. Also, it is written in such a way that the data is presented neatly and organized for the reader's comfort and amusement. 

  

POST-MODERNISM: La Vie mode d'emploi by Georges Perec

Postmodernism is in general the era that follows Modernism.^[1] It frequently serves as an ambiguous overarching term for skepticalinterpretations of culture, literature, art, philosophy, economics, architecture, fiction, and literary criticism. Because postmodernism is a reactionary stereotype, it is often used pejoratively to describe writers, artists, or critics who give the impression they believe in noabsolute truth or objective reality.^[2] For example, it may derogatorily refer to "any of various movements in reaction to modernism that are typically characterized by... ironic self-reference and absurdity (as in literature)" or to "a theory that involves a radical reappraisal of modern assumptions about culture, identity, history, or language".^[3] It is also confused with deconstruction and post-structuralismbecause its usage as a term gained significant popularity at the same time as twentieth-century post-structural thinkers.

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_modernism)


The Story:

Between World War I and II, a tremendously wealthy Englishman, Bartlebooth (whose name combines two literary characters, Herman Melville's Bartleby and Valery Larbaud's Barnabooth), devises a plan that will both occupy the remainder of his life and spend his entire fortune. First, he spends 10 years learning to paint watercolors under the tutelage of Valène, who also becomes a resident of 11 Rue Simon-Crubellier. Then, he embarks on a 20-year trip around the world with his loyal servant Smautf (also a resident of 11 rue Simon-Crubellier), painting a watercolor of a different port roughly every two weeks for a total of 500 watercolors.

Bartlebooth then sends each painting back to France, where the paper is glued to a support board, and a carefully selected craftsman named Gaspard Winckler (also a resident of 11 rue Simon-Crubellier) cuts it into a jigsaw puzzle. Upon his return, Bartlebooth spends his time solving each jigsaw, re-creating the scene.

Each finished puzzle is treated to re-bind the paper with a special solution invented by Georges Morellet, another resident of 11 rue Simon-Crubellier. After the solution is applied, the wooden support is removed, and the painting is sent to the port where it was painted. Exactly 20 years to the day after it was painted, the painting is placed in a detergent solution until the colors dissolve, and the paper, blank except for the faint marks where it was cut and re-joined, is returned to Bartlebooth.

Ultimately, there would be nothing to show for 50 years of work: the project would leave absolutely no mark on the world. Unfortunately for Bartlebooth, Winckler's puzzles become increasingly difficult and Bartlebooth himself becomes blind. An art fanatic also intervenes in an attempt to stop Bartlebooth from destroying his art. Bartlebooth is forced to change his plans and have the watercolors burned in a furnace locally instead of couriered back to the sea, for fear of those involved in the task betraying him. By 1975, Bartlebooth is 16 months behind in his plans, and he dies while he is about to finish his 439th puzzle. Ironically, the last hole in the puzzle is in the shape of the letter X while the piece that he is holding is in the shape of the letter W.

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life:_A_User%27s_Manual)

The Criticism:

The story fits the theory in the sense that it is fictional and it tackles about a man who wants to live his life in a way he does without the concern of others. Which during the time it was written is nearly impossible, because of the government.

Furthermore, it tackles about how a man creates his own fate in the world in a sense that he dictates what he is going to do, but in the bitter end he is going to suffer. In the modern times this is not how life goes. Just look at our parents' lives and our lives, we are not that free even democracy is everywhere. The book is teasing us on how we can manipulate our own life, which is not so possible for we are still under the government. 

ARCHETYPAL: Clash of the Titans by Beverley Cross

An archetype (pron.: /ˈɑrkɪtaɪp/) is a universally understood symbol, term,^[1] statement, or pattern of behavior, a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated. Archetypes are often used in myths and storytelling across different cultures.

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archetypal)


The Story:

King Acrisius of Argos (Donald Houston) imprisons his daughter Danaë (Vida Taylor), jealous of her beauty. When the god Zeus(Laurence Olivier) impregnates her, Acrisius sends his daughter and his newborn grandson Perseus to sea in a wooden coffin. In retribution, Zeus kills Acrisius and orders Poseidon (Jack Gwillim) to release the last of the Titans, a gigantic sea monster called theKraken, to destroy Argos. Meanwhile, Danaë and Perseus safely float to the island of Seriphos, where Perseus grows to adulthood.

Calibos (Neil McCarthy), son of the sea goddess Thetis (Maggie Smith), is a young man engaged to marry Princess Andromeda (Judi Bowker), the daughter of Queen Cassiopeia (Siân Phillips) and heir to the rich city of Joppa; but has destroyed Zeus's sacred flying horses (excepting only Pegasus). To punish him, Zeus transforms Calibos into a deformed monster and he is exiled by his people. In revenge, Thetis transports Perseus (Harry Hamlin) from Seriphos to Joppa, where he learns that Andromeda is under a curse and cannot marry unless her suitor successfully answers a riddle, whose failures are burned at the stake. In order to aid his son, Zeus sends Perseus a god-crafted helmet which makes its wearer invisible, a magical sword, and a shield. Perseus, wearing the helmet, captures Pegasus and follows Andromeda to learn a new riddle from Calibos. Perseus is nearly killed by Calibos but escapes, losing his helmet in the process.

Perseus presents himself as suitor and correctly answers the riddle, presenting the severed hand of Calibos. Perseus wins Andromeda's hand in marriage. Calibos, finding that Thetis cannot act against Perseus, instead demands that she take vengeance on Joppa. At the wedding, Queen Cassiopeia compares Andromeda's beauty to that of Thetis herself, whereupon Thetis demands Andromeda be sacrificed to the Kraken on pain of Joppa's destruction.

Perseus seeks a way to defeat the Kraken, while Pegasus is captured by Calibos and his men. Zeus commands Athena (Susan Fleetwood) to give Perseus her owl Bubo; but she orders Hephaestus (Pat Roach) to build a mechanical replica of Bubo instead, who leads Perseus to the Stygian Witches (Flora Robson, Anna Manahan, and Freda Jackson). By taking their magic eye Perseus forces them to reveal that the only way to defeat the Kraken is by using the head of Medusa the Gorgon, who lives on an island at the edge of the Underworld.

On the Gorgon's island, Perseus kills Medusa's canine guardian Dioskilos, who slays one of Perseus's companions, whereas two others die on encounter with Medusa herself. Perseus uses the reflective underside of his shield to deceive Medusa, decapitates her, and collects her head; but the shield is dissolved by her blood. As Perseus and his party set to return, Calibos enters their camp and punctures the cloak carrying Medusa's head, causing her blood to produce giant scorpions. Most of the men are killed; but Perseus slays the last scorpion and thereafter kills Calibos.

Weakened by his struggle, Perseus sends Bubo to bring Pegasus; this Bubo does, and later diverts the Kraken until Perseus appears on Pegasus. In the subsequent battle, Bubo and Perseus use Medusa's head to turn the Kraken into stone, and free Andromeda.

The gods predict that Perseus and Andromeda will live happily, rule wisely, and produce children, and Zeus forbids the other gods to pursue vengeance against them. The constellations of Perseus, Andromeda, Pegasus, and Cassiopeia are created in honour of their namesakes.

The Criticism:

It falls to the theory because it follows the basic format of a mythological story. It is told in a way a normal story flows and develops.

All the characters from the usual myth type story has the same characteristics with those of in the Clash of the titans. They are all heroic at some point in the story and they would commit a grave error.

LOGOCENTRISM: Fairly Odd Parents: Pipedown

Logocentrism is a term coined by the German philosopher Ludwig Klages in the 1920s. It refers to the tradition of "Western" science and philosophy that situates the logos, ‘the word’ or the ‘act of speech’, as epistemologically superior in a system, or structure, in which we may only know, or be present in, the world by way of a logocentric metaphysics. For this structure to hold true it must be assumed that there is an original, irreducible object to which the logos is representative, and therefore, that our presence in the world is necessarily mediated. If there is a Platonic Ideal Form then there must be an ideal representation of such a form. This ideal representation is according to logocentrist thought, the logos.

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logocentrism)


The Story:

Timmy is trying to build the Eiffel Tower with his "Locko" Building Blocks (a parody of Legos). but every time he comes close to completion, something would disturb him and cause the entire tower to topple. At first, a loud emergency test news cast by Chet Ubetcha disrupts him, then a sabotage by Vicky causes the tower to collapse again. After locking himself in his garage and nearly finishing the tower again, Timmy's Dad burst through the boarded up doors and causes the tower to collapse yet again, before pulling Timmy away to play a game of charades with the Dinklebergs.

Timmy's quests for his father why they are having a friendly game of charades with the Dinklebergs when his father hates Mr. Dinkleberg, but his father explains they only hate them while out of earshot. and he wants to gloat about his many charade trophies and rub them in Mr. Dinkleberg's face. Mr. Turner explains to his wife and son a few signals to help them to victory. But after playing for a mere 1.25 seconds, Timmy causes them to lose, and Mr. Dinkleberg walks off with an entire wheel-barrel full of Mr. Turner's trophies. Enraged, Mr. Turner sends Timmy to his room.

While in his room, Cosmo and Wanda attempt to cheer Timmy up, but soon a three way shouting match breaks out between them. Fed up with yelling and screaming, Timmy wishes for complete silence before going to bed. The next morning, Timmy's alarm clock goes off, but he does not wake up for another 45 minutes because there is no sound. Timmy wakes up and, after realizing his alarm clock is not broken and being unable to wake up his godparents, he finds out that the wish for no sound continued into the next day.

While Cosmo and Wanda are still asleep, Timmy goes downstairs to play with a huge stereo system. He then turns it on He then inserts a music disc called "Now that's what I call Loud Music" into the machine. He then turns the volume all the way up. The stereo then plays the music on the disc, but there is still complete silence. Timmy then accidentally knocks over a series of expensive art pieces in his house, causing his father to scream at him again. but since there is no sound, Timmy stands by unaffected. causing Mr. Turner to attempt screaming louder and louder until he explodes into a pile of clothes. Nervously, Mrs. Turner hands her son his lunchbox without further protest.

At Timmy's school, Chester and A.J. are attempting to figure out why there is no sound, when Francis sneaks up behind them and gives them a wedge. Unable to hear their screams, Francis pulls their wedgies up harder until Chester and A.J. explode into clothes. Seeing this, Timmy plots revenge on Francis, He ties the flag pole rope to a starving dog. and the other end of the rope to a hole in Francis' underpants. Timmy then tosses his lunch(some ham) into the dog's direction. The dog smells the ham and it runs after it, causing the rope to hoist Francis' underwear up the flag pole by his underwear. This causes Francis to scream so loud he explodes and loses all of his clothes. All the other kids are shown cheering in happiness at Francis' misfortune.

At the Dimmsdale Observatory, a scientist notices a meteor approaching the city, and runs off to warn Chet Ubetcha, who in turn sets off a now silent alarm before fleeing toward Mexico. Cosmo and Wanda, now awake, notice the meteor and set off to warn Timmy. After using a fire hose to get Timmy's attention, Cosmo and Wanda attempt to warn him of the meteor, but Timmy cannot get what they were hinting at. so Wanda simply turns his head for him. While Timmy notices the cause of the panic, Mr. Crocker pass by and sees Cosmo and Wanda, He tries to point them out and tell everyone else. but they are all too busy panicking and cannot hear him either, Mr. Crocker screams so loud that he explodes and loses all of his clothes. 

Timmy tries to figure out a way to undo his wish. While Mr. Dinkleberg flees by, he drops one of Timmy's fathers' charade trophies, which gives Timmy an idea. Using charades, Timmy spells the Eye Wish 4 Sound to Cosmo and Wanda. The wish is granted, which causes a nasty surprise for Timmy's parents who were sleeping next to the stereo system he activated earlier, Timmy then wishes for the meteor to be gone moments before it hits the city. With everything back to normal, Timmy returns home where his parents apologize for yelling at him earlier over the charades incident. Mr. Dinkleberg comes by to gloat that he had Mr. Turner's trophies melted into a gold toilet seat. before his stomach grumbles and he remarks that he is going to try it out, Timmy and his mother jump off the couch and Mr. Turner explodes once again in anger.

Later on, while in his room, Timmy manages to finally complete the Locko Building Block Eiffel Tower. Moments after its completion though, his father opens the door to tell Timmy that they are playing the Dinklebergs in red light, green light for the golden toilet seat, before slamming the door shut and causing the tower to collapse again. Timmy boils with anger and screams so loud the top of his house blows out, along with almost all of Timmy's clothes.

(from: http://fairlyoddparents.wikia.com/wiki/Pipe_Down!)

The Criticism:


The story begins pretty normal, everyone can talk and such. Then one event caused Timmy to wish that the sound gone.

It falls to the theory in a sense that, without language they can't communicate. If an impending catastrophe was going to happen they can't communicate and Timmy can't wish his way out of it. They had to play charade in order to wish the sound back for him to wish that the catastrophe to stop.

ECOCRITICISM: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Ecocriticism is the study of literature and environment from an interdisciplinary point of view where all sciences come together to analyze the environment and brainstorm possible solutions for the correction of the contemporary environmental situation. Ecocriticism was officially heralded by the publication of two seminal works,^{[citation needed]} both published in the mid-1990s: The Ecocriticism Reader, edited by Cheryll Glotfelty and Harold Fromm, and The Environmental Imagination, by Lawrence Buell.

In the United States, ecocriticism is often associated with the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE),^{[citation needed]} which hosts biennial meetings for scholars who deal with environmental matters in literature. ASLE publishes a journal—Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment (ISLE)—in which current American scholarship can be found.

Ecocriticism is an intentionally broad approach that is known by a number of other designations, including "green (cultural) studies", "ecopoetics", and "environmental literary criticism".

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eco-criticism)

The Story:

Will Rodman (James Franco) is a scientist at biotechnology company Gen-Sys who has been trying to develop a cure for Alzheimer's disease and is testing a new gene therapy drug on chimpanzees. The drug, a modified virus, mutates a chimpanzee, giving her a human level of intelligence. She later goes on a rampage which is seen as a side effect of the drug. When Will's boss Steven Jacobs (David Oyelowo) subsequently orders chimp handler Robert Franklin (Tyler Labine) to euthanize the remaining test chimpanzees Franklin discovers the chimp had given birth and was only protecting her baby. Unable to bring himself to kill the baby chimp, Robert gives him to Will, who takes him home to raise.

Will's father Charles (John Lithgow), who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, names the baby chimp "Caesar" (a reference to Julius Caesar). Caesar (Andy Serkis) has inherited his mother's high intelligence and develops quickly. One day, after he frightens the children of their neighbor, Douglas Hunsiker (David Hewlett) and receives a cut on his leg, Will takes him to the San Francisco Zoowhere primatologist Caroline Aranha (Freida Pinto) treats his injury. Will begins to take Caesar on excursions to the redwood forest atMuir Woods National Monument, but after seeing a family's German shepherd, Caesar asks if he is a pet. When Caesar questions his identity, Will tells him that his mother was given a drug and that the reason for his intelligence is that the drug affected him while still in the womb. Caesar becomes more aware of his biological identity and begins to view himself as different from his human family.

A desperate Will tests a sample of his cure on his father. At first, his father's condition improves, but eventually his dementia returns. Confused, he attempts to drive Hunsiker's car, and damages it, angering Hunsiker. Caesar witnesses the confrontation and attacks Hunsiker, prompting authorities to place him in a primate shelter run by John Landon (Brian Cox), where he is treated cruelly by the other apes and the chief guard, Landon's son Dodge (Tom Felton). Caesar escapes from his cell and frees a gorilla called Buck kept in solitary confinement. With Buck's assistance, Caesar gains dominance over the other apes by intimidating the sanctuary's alpha chimp.

Will creates a more powerful form of the virus to resume treating his father, and boss Jacobs clears its testing on chimpanzees, which further increases their intelligence. However, unknown to the scientists, it is fatal to humans. Franklin is exposed to the new virus and begins sneezing blood. Attempting to contact Will at his home, he accidentally infects Hunsiker, and he is then later discovered dead in his apartment. Will attempts to warn Jacobs against further testing but when Jacobs refuses to listen, Will quits his job.

After his father's death, Will bribes the elder Landon into releasing Caesar into his custody, but Caesar refuses to leave. He later escapes from the ape facility on his own and returns to Will's house, where he steals canisters of the new virus and releases it throughout the cage area at the facility, enhancing the intelligence of his fellow apes. The apes put an escape plan into motion. Landon's son Dodge attempts to intervene, leading to a fight with Caesar. Caesar shocks Dodge by shouting "No!" at him, and later kills him through electrocution. The liberated apes storm the city and release the remaining apes from Gen-Sys, as well as the entire ape population of a zoo.

A terrible battle follows as the apes force their way past a police blockade on the Golden Gate Bridge to escape into the Redwood forest. Buck sacrifices his life to save Caesar, jumping into a police helicopter (with Will's boss Jacobs aboard) as they try to shoot Caesar. Buck damages the helicopter severely forcing it to crash on the bridge. A still alive Jacobs trapped in the helicopter is finally killed when Koba, an ape who had spent a lifetime being tested on, kicks the helicopter off the bridge. As the apes find their way into the Redwood forest, Will arrives and warns Caesar that the humans will hunt them down, and begs him to return home. To Will's surprise Caesar speaks like a human, telling him that "Caesar is home" among his fellow apes. The final image shows the apes climbing to the tops of the Redwood trees, looking out over the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco Bay.

In a post-credits scene, Hunsiker arrives at his job as an airline pilot. He sneezes out blood as he is infected by the virus he got from Franklin. The camera pans to a filled flight-status display board, zooming in on New York implying the spread of a global pandemic.

The Criticism:

It falls in the theory because, it shows the typical man versus nature thing. Another species are trying to dominate the present inhabitants, and the main character is suppose to stop it from happening.

The main character didn't exactly stop it, the apes are the one's who made everything normal again by moving away from the humans to live a peaceful life.