Film Analysis

Throughout history, war has caused war upon war. Although we have recorded these instances of one war causing another, and nothing really being solved, we continue to kill one another, torture one another, and threaten one another as a global problem solving technique. In Pink Floyd's movie, The Wall, this recurring motif of mankind is criticized. The example that they show is post-World War I Germany coming to life and rearing its ugly head in Europe. Through the metaphor of the cat preying on a dove and the peace symbol of the dove, this scene conveys the message that when faced with fear and oppression, the worse is brought out in humankind, thereby falsifying the myth that terrorizing and killing people is a solution to conflict.
At the beginning of the scene, a cat is shown eyeing a dove. This cat symbolizes the Allies after World War I. After World War I, Germany was heavily punished for supposedly starting the war, although they did not. Other countries demanded reparations and Germany was put heavily into debt, which only got worse when hit with the great Depression. The dove is then shown looking up at the cat, and as the cat approaches, it flies away. This symbolizes the Germans recognizing the injustice that they had been faced with. As it flies away it is separating itself from the the Treaty of Versailles and no longer obeying the limitations the Allies had put on them. The dove then becomes a surreal cartoon burst into blood, and a Nazi Eagle replaces it. The dove, a renowned symbol of peace suddenly becomes the symbol of hate. The Nazi's then take fear, oppression, and war as their path to solve their crisis. This cycle of the “oppressed becoming the oppressor” or the “hunted becoming the hunted” is evident through all human history, achieving very little social progress.
The dove is the symbol of peace throughout the scene. It shows how fragile peace is because of mankind's instinct to solve problems through violence. At the beginning, the dove is seen being confronted by the cat. The cat is the evadable predator. It stands for forced reparations and demilitarization of Germany. As the dove flies into the sky it is torn apart by the Nazi Eagle. The machine like Eagle is a symbol for hate, the biggest predator of peace. The dove is torn to shreds by the Eagle and that is the death of peace. Lastly, the dove is shown flying through the skeletons and rubble of Britain after the bombing. When it flies past the skeletons the skeletons turn into crosses, it symbolizes that the only peace that is reached during wartime is in death. The afterlife is the only place that man, woman, or child can achieve peace as long as this cycle of hatred, war, and discrimination continues.
With the metaphor of the cat preying the dove and the dove symbolizing peace, Pink Floyd is able to communicate that fear and oppression only bring out the worse in people. Imposing fear on people and murdering people achieves nothing but more fear and murder in the future. Violently solving conflicts has caused crisis and disaster throughout the world indefinitely. In this scene this cycle of humanity is shown as something to be avoided at all cost, for it only brings about nightmarish consequences. This truth will plague mankind with discontent forever.