Mosley 1

Tess Mosley

Professor McEver

English 1102

September 26, 2017

The Juxtaposition of Religion and Oil in ​There Will Be Blood

Paul Thomas Anderson’s ​There Will Be Blood​ (2007) chronicles corruption in the oil

industry by following the life of oil mogul Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis). Anderson

spotlights the moral degradation of Plainview during his rise to affluence and his interactions

with Pentecostal pastor Eli Sunday (Paul Dano) as he develops into a mogul of his own.

Throughout the film, Plainview embodies the Devil, a role that leads the audience to believe that

Eli will act as his foil. However, as the film progresses, Eli feeds on the dependency of his

congregation and begins to represent a corrupted form of the Holy Spirit. By juxtaposing these

two characters and what they stand for, Anderson challenges what is viewed as the American

success story.

Instead of defining Eli by the potential good he may be doing, Anderson tells his story

almost exclusively in Plainview’s perspective and by doing so, the audience only sees his lust for

money. Like philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, Plainview believes that religious figures are driven

by the same motives that drive him: power and wealth (Nietzsche). This attitude towards religion

leads Plainview to leverage his promises of economic growth and popularity over Eli. While Eli

attempts to draw the men working on the oil rig into his congregation, Plainview interjects that
 Mosley 2

he needs his men well rested so that they can work to “blow gold all over the place,” (​TWBB​).

Eli ceases his protest, revealing his priorities. These priorities solidify in the end when Eli

denounces his religious beliefs in exchange for the promise of money. Eli does not have his

religion at the forefront of his concern, but his wealth, which leads the audience to share

Plainview’s disdain for Eli. Despite these feelings towards Eli’s fraudulence, Plainview is no

stranger to using religion –and any other means– to move up the socioeconomic ladder.

Plainview lies, cheats, and murders to achieve the life he wants, which communicates an

agreeance with historian Niccolò Machiavelli’s stance that there are no morals in power

(Nederman). Because of Plainview’s earlier statements that he does not belong to a church, the

audience understands that when Plainview rearranges Eli’s blessing of the well and recites it to

the town, it is not an act of his own religion. Rather, film studies professor Terri Murray explains

that it is done to ensure that “any religiosity to be drawn from the well will be under his

authority, not Eli’s” (Murray). Plainview recognizes that religion is a strong force in Little

Boston, and often uses it to his advantage alongside his promises of water, schools, and a

booming economy. By placing this Machiavellian misanthrope in juxtaposition with a

self-proclaimed prophet, the audience notices the glaring similarities.

While Plainview seems to be the antithesis of Eli, their motivations and journeys are

fundamentally the same. Plainview begins the film as a poor silver miner and through hard work,

he becomes a prominent figure in the oil industry. In typical circumstances, this progression

would make him a respectable character; however, as his fortune grows, actor Daniel Day-Lewis

describes that he “separates himself further and further from humanity” until his final act
 Mosley 3

“quenches the last spark in his own soul, which is already shredded from his experiences”

(“TWBB Interview”). Eli begins the film as a devout and Holy pastor, and after his self-centered

need for power corrupts him, he ends the film confessing that “God is a superstition” (​TWBB​).

Just as Plainview’s success separates him from humanity, Eli’s success separates him from

religion. Both individuals are motivated by the want for “no one else to succeed” and it leads to

their demise (​TWBB​). This demoralization is expected of a greedy businessman, but a small town

pastor is held to a higher standard. Through Eli’s deterioration, Anderson communicates that

even the holiest among us are not immune to the lure of wealth.

There Will Be Blood​ tells a cautionary tale of greed and power and effectively negates the

idealization of a successful businessman and of a pastor. Eli aspires to be monetarily successful,

follows the path of the Holy Spirit, and ultimately dies at the hands of greed. In contrast,

Plainview fulfills his aspirations by following the path of the corporate Devil. Plainview

completes his goal of having a mansion in solitude, but finishes his life as a crazed and drunken

hermit. The film leads audiences to question their values and the integrity behind what they are

working towards. If a life hard work and devotion results in being a slave to wealth, then what is

the audience to aspire to? Anderson suggests that there is no sure path to success and happiness.

Each individual will be faced with the temptation to place wealth above all else, and giving into

this temptation will result in a downfall similar to the two seen in the film.
 Mosley 4

Works Cited

Murray, Terri. “There Will Be Blood.” Philosophy NOW, no. 74, 2009.

Nederman, Cary. "Niccolò Machiavelli", ​The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy​, ed. Womer

2014, Stanford University, Oct. 20, 2014.

Nietzsche, Friedrich. ​Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future​. Edited by

Rolf-Peter Horstmann and Judith Norman. Trans. Judith Norman, Cambridge UP, 2002.

Questia School​.

There Will Be Blood​. Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson, performances by Daniel Day-Lewis, and Paul

Dano, Paramount Vantage, 2007.

“There Will Be Blood - Interview with Daniel-Day Lewis & Paul Thomas Anderson (2007).”

YouTube,​ Uploaded by FilMagicians, 25 June 2017, www.youtu.be/0SFvaootAL8.