The Lighthouse – A Voyage Through Purgatory

On the surface, Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse is a story about two lighthouse keepers driven to insanity. However, nothing is at seems in this film. Like Eggers’ first film The Witch, The Lighthouse is a period piece. Set in the late 1890s, the film’s two main characters, Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe) and Thomas Howard (Robert Pattinson), are tasked with tending to a remote lighthouse off the New England coast for four weeks. Soon after arriving, the men start to become suspicious of one another, evoking feelings of paranoia and distrust early on. From there, the film displays the men’s slow descent into madness as they become trapped on the island. Like many psychological horror movies, The Lighthouse can be interpreted in a number of ways. Nonetheless, the aim of this article is to analyze and assess the hidden meaning behind Eggers’ masterful work. A SPOILER WARNING is now in place from here.

Religion plays an interesting role in The Lighthouse, more specifically Catholicism. Catholics, unlike most Christians, believe a person can be sent to purgatory after death. Sometimes referred to as the “maze of temptations”, purgatory is meant to test an individual, determining if they’re worthy enough to enter heaven. Pattinson’s character, Thomas Howard, appears to be trapped in some form of purgatory from the onset of the film. Howard is constantly tempted to sin. Instead of maintaining his will power, Howard gives into his vices. Within the first ten minutes, Howard finds a mermaid figurine hidden in his mattress. Mermaids have long been symbols of desire in ocean mythology. Throughout the film, Howard struggles with his sexual desires, even fantasizing about having intercourse with the mermaid. In doing so, Howard commits two of the seven deadly sins, envy and lust.

In the very next scene, Thomas Wake tempts Howard to drink. Although he refuses, later Howard drinks to excess on a nightly basis, thus committing the sin of gluttony. Additionally, Wake questions Howard’s work ethic several times. Although Howard claims to “work as hard as any man”, Wake mentions early in the film that Howard is a slow worker and is behind on his duties, implying the sin of sloth. Altogether, instead of repenting his sins, Howard’s vices continue to worsen as the story progresses, leaving him trapped in purgatory for the foreseeable future.

Besides temptation, there are more instances that provide credibility to this theory. Thomas Wake mentions that his last keeper believed St. Elmo’s own fire had been cast into the lighthouse’s beacon. Even claiming that the light holds the key to salvation. Interestingly, Howard dismisses Wake’s claims as “tall tales”. Howard’s reaction provides some insight into his character as well as the overall themes of the film. Instead of wanting to seek salvation and face his demons, Howard chooses to hide from them. Howard’s suspicious past further proves this idea. Although he claims to have not caused Ephraim Winslow’s death, that doesn’t explain why he took his identity or why he skipped town. Howard also claims he doesn’t pray as often as he’d like but is “God fearing”. He is ashamed of his past but is too afraid to seek forgiveness.

Going back to Wake’s claims, St. Elmo was venerated by the Roman Catholic Church and is the patron saint of both sailors and abdominal pain. If you recall, at the end of the film Thomas Howard is seen writhing in pain as seagulls eat his intestines. Moreover, Wake claims that seagulls contain the souls of dead sailors. Could every seagull on the island once been a sailor? Towards the end of the film, we see the decapitated head of the last lighthouse keeper with his left eye missing. Notably, the seagull that acted as a bad omen for Howard was also missing its left eye. Despite this, Wake claims that the last lighthouse keeper simply went mad. With this in mind, it’s fair to wonder how Thomas Wake contributed to the last keeper’s downfall.

The role of Thomas Wake in the film is incredibly intriguing. Wake continuously tests Howard and seems to be the driving force behind his descent into madness. As they become trapped on the island, Wake provokes Howard, telling him that the island is probably just a “figment of [his] imagination”. It should be noted that Wake was also the one who began influencing Howard to overindulge in alcohol. Furthermore, Wake constantly belittles Howard, often calling him a dog. Consequently, Howard later states that Ephraim Winslow called him a “filthy dog” as he watched him die. This is more than just a coincidence. Often times, Wake feels like an all-knowing character. He predicted Howard’s death with a frightening amount of accuracy saying “the souls of dead sailors [will] peck and claw and feed upon” his body. It’s possible that Wake is some kind of deity, with his presence on the island acting as a test for every ‘wickie’.

Lastly, the scene where Howard finally enters the lantern room is significant. For the entirety of the film, Wake refuses to let Howard tend to the light. This only furthers Howard’s curiosity and his desire to see it. In Wake’s final monologue however, he states the light will “scorch [Howard’s] eyes with divine shames and horror” before casting him down to Davy Jones. After reaching into the light, Howard’s entire face becomes overexposed, before he falls down the stairs. This emphasizes the saying that one should be wary of unearned wisdom. What’s more, Wake also states that Howard will “be punished” for his misdeeds. Altogether, Thomas Howard is an extremely flawed character who was unable to rectify his mistakes, ultimately leading to his demise.