Summary
Warning: this article contains spoilers forFuriosa
InFuriosa, the title character carries a peach seed with her wherever she goes – a mysterious trait that has a good explanation.The seed has powerful symbolism from the very first scene of the film,and is an important detail because of how infrequently Furiosa explains her motivations. The MacGuffin is an efficient and elegant way to reveal what Furiosa wants, especially during the phases in her life when she has no one trustworthy to talk to — not that she speaks much anyway.
An exciting action film packed full of chase scenes and brutal violence,Furiosais a film worth seeing in theatres. Despite its breakneck action, the film does a beautifully sophisticated job ofshowing Furiosa’s inner thoughts through the use of symbolic gestures and meanings. The seed is a prime example. It may seem like the peach seed is just emblematic ofthe mystical Green Place, but as she faces setbacks and seeks to do other things on her way home, her seed begins to mean far more.
Where To Watch Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga - Showtimes & Streaming Status
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga brings the action franchise back, and there are different options for where to watch the prequel starring Anya Taylor-Joy.
Furiosa’s Peach Seed Is Originally A Symbol Of Abundance
Just Like Many Humans In The Wasteland, The Seed Becomes Twisted
Most films have emblems, but they usually carry the same significance throughout the story.What’s different aboutFuriosais that the seed’s meaning repeatedly changes.In the opening scene, when Furiosa is picking the fruit, her sister Valkyrie frets from the ground. “We’ve come too far!” she says as Furiosa strains to reach it anyway. The tree is a rare fruit-bearing plant in a blasted wasteland, and this perfect peach is food for the taking.
When Furiosa is taken captive by Dementus’s Biker Horde, the peach is partially eaten by one of the bikers. When Mary, Furiosa’s mother, arrives to rescue her daughter, she kills the man but bothers to stop and take the seed.She leaves the rest of the peach to rot in the dead man’s hand.To the bikers, and possibly to Furiosa herself, the seed is just an inedible part of the fruit. Peach pits are essentially valueless because they cannot be eaten, and out in the Wasteland they can’t even be grown.
(the seed) becomes a powerful symbol of the Green Place— of home— and Mary’s belief that, like the seed, Furiosa can grow and be nurtured safely there.
Furiosa’s mother showed the seed’s true importance:it can help feed generations if given a place to grow. Later, when the Biker Horde has trapped them and Mary knows she will die, she gives the seed to Furiosa.“Whatever you have to do, however long it takes, promise me you’ll find your way home,”she says. It becomes a powerful symbol of the Green Place— of home— and Mary’s belief that, like the seed, Furiosa can grow and be nurtured safely there.
Furiosa’s Seed Takes On A New Meaning After Her Mother’s Death
Dementus Becomes Entangled With What It Represents
Immediately, Furiosa seems to forget this promise.Instead of going home, she doubles back to try to save her mother. Unable to do so, she witnesses Mary’s brutal death, and is recaptured by Dementus’ men. As his name suggests,Dementus is a bizarre individualwho, like Mad Max, has also lost his family. When she refuses to speak the location of the Green Place, Dementus decides to keep Furiosa in place of his children and raise her as his daughter. Furiosa keeps the seed hidden.
The seed is not the only symbol whose meaning changes.Dementus carries a teddy bear that is symbolicto him of his deceased kids. He pushes it into Furiosa’s hands when he decides to keep her. The seed is now symbolic of the promise with her mother, and of her real family and home. Furiosa initially refuses to accept Dementus’ bear, even though playing along might save her life.She drops the bear in the dirt, despite the consequences.
In fact, her hatred of Dementus is so strong that she would rather go with Immortan Joe – who keeps women as sex slaves – than go back with Dementus. By the time she is driving the War Rig, she keeps the seed with her by weaving it into her hair. It is still a deeply cherished symbol of home. However, if returning to the Green Place was all that she wanted, she could have done so after forming her connection with Praetorian Jack. By then,the seed meant something else: a need to make Dementus pay for what he had done.
The Seed’s Meaning Comes Full Circle With Furiosa’s Peach Tree
Can Revenge Create Something Good?
The climax ofFuriosacomes when she finally gets the upper hand against Dementus and,after losing her arm and more than 10 years of her life, she is ready to unleash.After clipping the bear free from his chest – now also missing its arm – Furiosa tells him that she wants what he cannot possibly give her: her mother and her childhood back. Dementus tells her that no matter how much she hurts him,“the scales of anguish”will never be in balance.
Furiosais available for streaming on Max.
Furiosa accepts that challenge. She takes Dementus’ voice away – as keeping the secret of the Green Place silenced her – paralyzes him, and imprisons him in the Citadel.The seed becomes the embodiment of her revengeas it is planted in Dementus’ belly. In synthesizing abundance and revenge, the seed punishes Dementus, feeding on his body against his will. Now growing somewhere nourishing, the seed brings forth new life, becoming a tree. Furiosa picks a peach from it, telling Dementus to look at“our first fruit”that they made together. The overtones quickly become sexual.
Furiosa doesn’t keep her promise to make it home in the course ofFuriosa. Though it seemed to be the symbol of the Green Place and of her promise to return, the seed has taken on a different meaning – one associated with her mother and Dementus – andit is something that she is ready to let go of by the end of the film.She can now turn her attention to helping Immortan Joe’s Five Brides and beingImperator to the War Rig. When she makes her final bid for “home” inMad Mad: Fury Road, her seed is left far behind – retrospectively explaining why this bid ends in failure and why she ends up back at the Citadel: a new home.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Cast
A prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road, Furiosa is an action-adventure film that tells the origin story of the headstrong and fearless Furiosa. Set shortly after the beginning of the “end of the world,” Furiosa is kidnapped and brought before a powerful warlord, now forced to work for him. To find her way back home, Furiosa will adapt to the new harsh and arid world as she grows into the Furiosa she becomes known to be.
