Significant Gospel Moments & Themes in Cool Hand Luke

CHILDHOOD:  Luke’s mother Arleta (Our Lady) has a special feeling at Luke’s birth that he will grow to be a special person and will have a fulfilling life. After Joseph in mentioned in Jesus’ birth, he isn’t mentioned more than once in the gospel of Luke (the story compared to Jesus most represents the gospel of Luke); likewise, in the film, after Luke is born, that father leaves and is never heard of again.  Not much is known about Luke’s childhood, just like Jesus.

BAPTISM:  The baptisms in this film are just simply parts of the film that involve water, but have a significant effect on the character.  Luke’s baptism occurs after the inmates have finished paving the road. As the rain comes down, everyone but Luke flees for shelter. Luke asks for God to “give him a sign, and to let him know that he’s up there.”  Dragline's baptism is also in the rain.  At the end of the movie, when he finally attacks Godfrey, and does "some world shakin'," it is in the rain.

Calling of the First Disciples:  Luke gains his first followers in the fight scene with Dragline. The prison inmates were followers of Dragline but after the fight, the inmates and Dragline himself started to warm up to Luke in the prison.  He wins over Dragline completely after he wins the card game with nothing, and he tells Dragline, "Sometimes 'nothing' can be a pretty cool hand" (thus his nickname).  Dragline will become Luke's closest disciple from this point forward, taking on the role of Peter in the gospels. This story could be compared to when Jesus called his first disciples and they just left with him instead of following their other leader of the time.  Jesus did nothing to gain the discipleship of the soon to be apostles.

 

THE LAST SUPPER: After Luke has been badly beaten up by the guards, he is unable to eat his own food, and the punishment would have been to go back into the box.  Instead, the prison inmates share his rice and take some of his “body” symbolized by the rice. 

JESUS/LUKE AS A MILITARY HERO: The messiah was understood by first century Jews as a tremendous warrior that would come and take back the promised land through a big war.  Jesus, although he was proclaimed messiah by his followers, wasn’t remembered for being a war hero.  It is Dragline that mentions Luke's war record to the others.  In the gospel of Mark, Peter says to Jesus, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!" Jesus tells the disciples not to tell anyone about him. (Mark 8:29-30)  This is because they expected Jesus to be a great military leader.  When Luke is put in jail, he is a military hero with a purple heart, a silver, and a gold medal for excellence.  After he is gone, however, he is best remembered for his kindness towards all of the other inmates.

TEMPTATION: There is one scene in the movie when a beautiful voluptuous woman comes out  to wash a car.  This woman symbolizes temptation of the flesh.  All of the other inmates begin to gawk open-mouthed, but Luke simply just tries to lead them away from their ideas.  Just like Jesus, he was trying to lead them away from sin. 

 

THE LAW: Jesus often tells his disciples that they no longer have to follow the Mosaic Law.  In the film, when the rules are being laid down for the inmates, Luke is accused of not listening.  He claims in his defense that he “didn’t hear anything worth listening to, just a bunch of rules and regulations that don’t make much sense.”   When someone tries to explain to him that he must follow the rules, He remarks, “The bosses need all the help that they can get.”  He replies to a guard who knows he is doing the wrong thing, “just because it’s you job doesn’t make it right.”

 

RELATIONSHIP TO GOD: In the gospels, Jesus is called the “Son of God.” In the gospel of Luke, Jesus prays to God when he is in need of help. In the film, Luke calls God “old man,” which means, "father." At the end of the film, when he is in doubt and needs advice, he turns to his "old man." He just wanted to know God’s plan for him and he would go along with it.

LENGTH OF HIS MINISTRY: Jesus ministers throughout Israel and Judea for two years until his death.  In the film, Luke is sentenced to two years in prison, and is killed during this time.

CHILDREN: When Luke escapes for the second time, he has the opportunity to either go to two adults or two children, and he decides to go talk to the children. 

AGONY IN THE GARDEN: Luke cries after being beaten and prays to God that he will have the strength to continue.

 

EGG MIRACLE: Every person in the prison, guards and inmates alike, (with the exception of Dragline, his closest follower) thought it was impossible to eat 50 eggs (6 pounds) in one hour.  Luke was able to do it just in the nick of time. 

ROAD PAVING: It was the inmates’ job to pave the road one day, supposedly a long and difficult task. They were commanded to finish before dusk. Inspired by Luke, they finished 2 hours before nightfall. Although this is not a miracle, it goes to show the effect of Luke's personality on those who follow him. One significant part about this scene, which you may miss if you're not looking for it, is that the prisoners begin to lose some respect for the bosses. Before Luke told them to speed up, the inmates made a conscious effort to avoid hitting Boss Godfrey's shoes.  Once they really get going, though, they completely disregard their oppressor, and throw the dirt all over his feet if he's in the way. From this point forward, the guards began to look for a reason to single Luke out.  In this sense, the Road Paving scene could be a take on the cursing of the Temple. (Luke 19:47-48)

DEATH:  The prison guards symbolize Roman executioners, the chief priests, scribes, and leaders of the Jews, everyone that doesn’t like Luke (Jesus).  They try everything they can to get him in trouble.   There are many symbols of death in the movie.  Luke is unfairly persecuted and put in the box.  The first giveaway that Luke is a Christ Figure comes at the end of the Egg Scene. After eating the 50 eggs, hey lays, in his under-garments, across a wooden table with his arms extended, his head down, and his feet crossed after straining his body for his disciples.    The real death scene is just after he digs the ditch (his grave). He comes into the bunk after having barely enough energy to pull himself out of the hole, he stretches he arms across the two bedposts.  He screams, “WHERE ARE YOU NOW?!”  (My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?), and falls down. His friends abandon him, and tear the picture from the magazine in two. For the first time in the film, Dragline has nothing to say in Luke's defense. The final crucifixion scene, which is the hardest to see, and the most interesting, is at the very end of the movie. As Dragline gives the final voice over, the camera zooms out from the road to reveal that they are working at a crossroads. The picture of Luke from the magazine is superimposed on the cross shape.  His arms are up around the two women's shoulders. It looks as though he is extended on the cross with Mary, his mother, and Mary Magdalene at the cross with him. Look for this one; it's really cool.

RESURRECTION:  If Luke’s death is when the bosses appear to break his spirit, then his resurrection is when he escapes for the third time.  He escapes for three days, the amount of time it took Jesus to resurrect.  After this, he does many things that Jesus did during those 40 days he remained on earth.

WORDS OF INSTITUTION: While Dragline (Peter) and Luke (Jesus) are with each other after his resurrection, Luke tells Dragline, “I’ve done enough world shakin’, and it’s about time that you finished up for me.”  He then goes off by himself to a church to talk to his “Old Man” one more time.  At the end Dragline is seen wearing a set of chains.

ASCENSION/PENTECOST:  Luke lifts himself up to fulfill God’s plan for him in the end.  He prayed to God one last time before being delivered.  Dragline goes back to the prison and talks about all the stories that they had of Luke.  It is Dragline and all the disciples gathered together just like Pentecost in the Acts of the Apostles.

 

 

This handout is an approved outside source. Your Works Cited Would be as follows.

“Luke as Christ Figure.” Christian Brothers High School. 2003: 1-2. date you looked at this <http://cbhs.org/rmartin/filmsacrament/cool_hand_luke/christ_figure.htm>.

 

Your in-text citations would use the following format (“Luke” 1).

 

 

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