The Mystic Figure
The Mysticism of J. Robert Oppenheimer
J. Robert Oppenheimer, “the father of the atomic bomb” as examined in Christopher Nolan’s latest biopic uncovers the multifaceted personality of the said inventor. Oppenheimer had often been seen as a womanizer, a genius, a sort of liberal yet unfazed by the realities of politics.
As we uncover Oppenheimer’s character, we get to see how he perceived the world around him, or yet how he sees the world beyond, as looking into “a star exploding.” The explosion of a star is a metaphysical allusion to what he would later create, the atomic bomb and how he looked beyond transcendent realities. He was a conflicted figure who was responsible for serving a country, yet only later realizes the impact of what he did. He was celebrated to be the figure that was able to fight the Japanese, and yet he was not directly responsible for what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As a Jew, he felt an immense responsibility to fight off the Germans, yet Hitler killed himself so he was placed in a position where the atomic bomb was no longer useful and Truman’s administration instead made the atomic bomb as a weapon against the Japanese after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Oppenheimer created the atomic bomb with a greater goal but was mishandled by a government to create a weapon of mass destruction. Truman later on meets with Oppenheimer in the Oval office–Oppenheimer later says he feels he has “blood in his hands.” Truman handles a handkerchief to Oppenheimer, makes him leave the Oval office and calls him “a baby.” We see how Oppenheimer was made into a sort of heroic political figure after the war, yet he was only useful as long as he served the Americans. He was in a conflicted position to serve the greater good, yet what he has created is “death, the destroyer of worlds.” Truman’s response shows that Oppenheimer was only made a hero for what “he did” for the Americans, instead of what he did for his fellow Jews. What he created was mishandled to serve a mission he was not even supposed to be a part of. Years after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, his supposed allies were revealed to betray him, from a Soviet spy, to Lewis Strauss calling Oppenheimer, “a threat to American security.” Oppenheimer, despite everything that has been used against him, has remained a figure that does not take revenge and remains detached from the world of politics. Einstein would later speak to Oppenheimer telling him, “a country that he served, is also the same country that betrays him.” We see that while the world is against him, he remains the center of everything that is happening and the elusive figure that accepts what happens to him and around him. As the verdict was made, and he was not viewed as a “communist” there were still terms and accusations he had to accept and being a sort of “political figure” he had to accept the responsibility of everything brought to him. The life work he had created had major consequences even if he was not in a position of choice. Power and capability interplay to create responsibility.
