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Eye Symbolism In Catcher In The Rye

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Without the special visual aid and focus on the eyes, the contrasting portrayals of the (assumed) humans versus replicants in the story would essentially be lacking and non-distinctive; therefore, the rampant eye symbolism becomes extremely effective and usefully serves as a visual and metaphorical device for various events within the storyline. Connecting back to the introductory scenes, the first characters we see are Dave Holden and Leon. Dave Holden is a blade runner who identifies, hunts, and "retires" (kill) replicants who have arrived on Earth illegally. The identification process acts as Holden’s assignment to test replicants at the Tyrell Corporation who infiltrate the company in the hopes of extending their four-year lifespans. Holden operates polygraph-like machine called the Voight-Kampff to test an individual’s level of empathy in order to differentiate humans from replicants. The test measures bodily functions such as respiration, heart rate, brain activity, blushing, and eye movement in response to emotional triggers. The founder the corporation, Eldon Tyrell confirms the test: “Is this to be an empathy test? Capillary dilation, the so-called blush response? Fluctuation of the pupil... involuntary dilation of the iris.” Eyes play an important, key role in the test, for the “fluctuation of the pupil” and “involuntary dilation of the iris” indicate empathy. Replicants aren’t able …show more content…

Thus, the message regarding Ridley Scott’s use of the eye symbol in Blade Runner can be interpreted as a platform for the question: Do replicants have souls? The eye motif serves as a visual metaphor for deciding who is human, as well as showing who is superior or inferior in the dystopian world. With the claim that the only visual, divergent characteristic between replicants and humans is the difference in their eyes, the movie embodies the image of the eye as the image of the

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