The Imitation Game Essay

The Imitation Game
The Imitation Game is a historical drama based on the life of Alan Turing. Turing was a legendary cryptanalyst, mathematician, computer scientist, logician, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. The film, begins in 1939, when British intelligence recruits the Cambridge mathematician alumnus to help a team of specialists crack Nazi communication codes, including the Enigma. At the time, the Enigma was thought to be unbreakable. Turing proved himself to be a valuable genius and his contributions to designing the Bombe were significant during World War II, but he encountered disgrace when authorities revealed he was homosexual. Two years after he was convicted of “gross indecency”, he committed suicide by ingesting a lethal

He was quiet, secluded and separated himself from the rest. Throughout his development, Turing began experiencing an attraction for the same sex, a conduct that was strictly forbidden in England. This attraction led him to develop a friendship with a boy named Christopher Morcom, who often intervened on his behalf when he suffered at the hands of bullies. Their friendship tragically came to an end when Christopher died of Bovine Tuberculosis. Shortly after Christopher’s death, Turing began to avoid thinking and talking about Christopher. These are symptoms associated with Childhood Traumatic Grief (CTG). CTG is defined as a traumatic reaction that takes place after a sudden, unexpected, or anticipated death (NCTSN, 2014). Following Christopher’s death, Turing immersed himself in his studies, but his professors systematically complained about his lack of appropriate English grammar and untidiness, rather than encourage his genius and foster his strengths. As he grew older, Turing became more socially withdrawn, but actively sought much greater intimacy of expression. Although Alan Turing did not seek to be a rebel, conflict between his free-ranging scientific mind and literature based training was just the beginning of his constant cultural clashing. This was aggravated by the development of an avoidant personality and his conflict with society over his homosexuality. By the time that