Finale Fireworker
Member
Before Naughty Dog and The Last of Us broke new grounds on interactive storytelling, we had Irrational Games and BioShock. I study BioShock on a scholarly level and have thus assembled an encyclopedic knowledge of its content. There is so much that can be said about BioShock's text, but for my first thread on GAF I thought I would share some trivia. There are no spoilers in the OP.
..::The Pipe Wrench::..
BioShock's pitch documents detail the ambition to be "the next Halo or Half-Life," and Irrational's attempt to mimic the iconography of the latter's melee crowbar is not subtle. "Ha ha," thinks the player, "that's a reference to Half-Life." But why a wrench? Because in System Shock 2 the first weapon you acquire is a wrench. That's the only reason. /endthread, right?
Wrong.
The pipe wrench, as it turns out, is an invention conceived by a single man whose patent of the concept made him very wealthy. His success inspired and encouraged subsequent inventors to follow his model. Stillson's idea changed plumbing forever and he collected royalties from its sale his entire life. Further, his invention completely outmoded all the other tools used prior to his prototype. We still use the pipe wrench, virtually unchanged, to this day. Stillson "built a better mouse trap" and it made him rich. This is the Randian dream come true.
The pipe wrench, intentional or not, is a symbol. It represents Rapture, the self-made man, and the capitalist ideology the city is built upon. It is a trophy of "the idea" and a person's right to benefit (profit) from their intellectual property. In Jack's hand is Stillson's legacy. With this context, the wrench represents the entire fall of Rapture.
The wrench is a metaphor for libertarian capitalism: the force that built Rapture and then destroyed it. It's a tool that made a man with a good idea and a knack for business very successful, but unregulated in the wrong hands it becomes and instrument of war. Jack's violence with the wrench is a parallel to the destructive misuse of Andrew Ryan's ideology. You are employing an emblem of what Rapture once symbolized and using this symbol to tear it down from the inside out. When properly upgraded the wrench is the most powerful weapon in the game - another detail that only deepens the metaphor. There is no weapon more dangerous than economics. In the right hands it is progressive, in the wrong hands it is destructive.
..::Jack's Sweater::..
Now for something lighter.
Jack was intentionally designed to be as generic as possible to serve the narrative and his lack of characterization is paradoxically the most important part of his character. Jack's generic white sweater though, as it turns out, is not a generic white sweater at all. It's very specifically an undyed cream-color Aran jumper sweater made from unscoured sheep's wool. The design and texture of the wool makes these sweaters water resistant and therefore wearable and functional at sea. The Irish designs were usually very intricate and used common Gaelic braid patterns, patterns that also happen to resemble chains. Edit: Including ONE spoiler:
This thread can also double as an AMA regarding any textual interpretations of BioShock. Ludonarrative dissonance? There is none. Feel like the post-twist game is extraneous? It isn't. Think the final boss fight is really bad? It totally is. It sucks. Test my BioShock expertise, if you like. Or just enjoy the fun facts above.
I will answer every question as my availability to do so allows.
..::The Pipe Wrench::..
"Now, would you kindly find a crowbar or something?" -Atlas
BioShock's pitch documents detail the ambition to be "the next Halo or Half-Life," and Irrational's attempt to mimic the iconography of the latter's melee crowbar is not subtle. "Ha ha," thinks the player, "that's a reference to Half-Life." But why a wrench? Because in System Shock 2 the first weapon you acquire is a wrench. That's the only reason. /endthread, right?
Wrong.
The pipe wrench, as it turns out, is an invention conceived by a single man whose patent of the concept made him very wealthy. His success inspired and encouraged subsequent inventors to follow his model. Stillson's idea changed plumbing forever and he collected royalties from its sale his entire life. Further, his invention completely outmoded all the other tools used prior to his prototype. We still use the pipe wrench, virtually unchanged, to this day. Stillson "built a better mouse trap" and it made him rich. This is the Randian dream come true.
The pipe wrench, intentional or not, is a symbol. It represents Rapture, the self-made man, and the capitalist ideology the city is built upon. It is a trophy of "the idea" and a person's right to benefit (profit) from their intellectual property. In Jack's hand is Stillson's legacy. With this context, the wrench represents the entire fall of Rapture.
The wrench is a metaphor for libertarian capitalism: the force that built Rapture and then destroyed it. It's a tool that made a man with a good idea and a knack for business very successful, but unregulated in the wrong hands it becomes and instrument of war. Jack's violence with the wrench is a parallel to the destructive misuse of Andrew Ryan's ideology. You are employing an emblem of what Rapture once symbolized and using this symbol to tear it down from the inside out. When properly upgraded the wrench is the most powerful weapon in the game - another detail that only deepens the metaphor. There is no weapon more dangerous than economics. In the right hands it is progressive, in the wrong hands it is destructive.
..::Jack's Sweater::..
Now for something lighter.
Jack was intentionally designed to be as generic as possible to serve the narrative and his lack of characterization is paradoxically the most important part of his character. Jack's generic white sweater though, as it turns out, is not a generic white sweater at all. It's very specifically an undyed cream-color Aran jumper sweater made from unscoured sheep's wool. The design and texture of the wool makes these sweaters water resistant and therefore wearable and functional at sea. The Irish designs were usually very intricate and used common Gaelic braid patterns, patterns that also happen to resemble chains. Edit: Including ONE spoiler:
the sheep's wool and braided chains, which are also double helixes, are a reference to bioscience and the nature of Jack's creation.
This thread can also double as an AMA regarding any textual interpretations of BioShock. Ludonarrative dissonance? There is none. Feel like the post-twist game is extraneous? It isn't. Think the final boss fight is really bad? It totally is. It sucks. Test my BioShock expertise, if you like. Or just enjoy the fun facts above.
I will answer every question as my availability to do so allows.
