Krotius

One of Disney’s masterwork films is The Lion King.  While some may dismiss it as nothing more than a children’s movie, they fail to see that like most fairy tales it contains much deeper themes.  It’s a classic bildüngsroman, or coming-of-age story, that describes how a son matures into his father, or how men mature and become more like God. The first image in the movie is a rising sun.  This is consistent with the theme of “The Circle of Life.”  The sun represents a never-deviating pattern of death and rebirth through its daily rising and setting, an eternal constant that embodies the “Circle of Life.

When I was little - seven or ten or something - I was walking and I found this bird, lying on the ground, breathing hard but unable to get up. Something was broken - I think her wing - and it broke my heart to see her struggling. I took her to Dad and we tried to nurse her back to health. I remember, we kept her in this shoebox, 'cause I had just gotten new shoes and I was really proud of them. She fought for a couple of days but Dad didn't think she was gonna make it. I told a lot of people about my bird, my starling, over the years, but I always kept one thing a secret. One night, I woke up and something drove me to check up on her. I stu