Essay Questions

Where does Shaw's hope come from?

As a child Shaw spent a great deal of time with her father after her mother's death. Since then she has always sought to find the answer to life and death and the origin of the human species. She seeks this as a form of holding on to her relationship with her mother and father in that she believes that there is the potential to reconnect with them even though they are gone.

What is discovered to be the purpose of the planet that the team is on?

The planet was used by the advanced lifeforms in order to grow a disease capable of wiping out an entire species. But the experiments they created were uncontainable and nearly wiped out their species in the process. Thus the planet is the representation of death and destruction in how it relates to the attempt to destroy others lives.

What is the meaning behind David being a member of the Prometheus crew in their exploration?

David is an artificially intelligent being that was created by Peter Weyland. He is the only one of the crew that is capable of sustaining the long voyage into space. He does not eat, sleep, drink nor does he require any of the basic needs of a human being. Thus, because he is not human his relationship to morality is skewed. He simply does what he is told. This, though points to the insight that David, though having artificial intelligence is amoral. Thus, he does not become immoral, but is told to do what is immoral by Weyland. He is imbued with Weyland's immorality which ultimately leads to the destruction of all but one of the crew.