Robert Eggers’ 2019 film The Lighthouse follows two lighthouse keepers, Thomas Wake and Thomas Howard, who are stranded on a secluded island due to a severe storm. The movie’s narrative is presented from Howard’s point of view, and it explores themes like isolation and the fragile condition of human sanity. These concepts are accompanied by hallucination, including encounters with a mermaid and a man from his past. The film is rather avant garde: there are only two characters with spoken lines, it takes place in one location for a vast majority of the films runtime, and it’s shot with black and white film on a 1.19:1 aspect ratio – making the screen appear almost like a square. That all being said, The Lighthouse is more comparable to a novel than the run-of-the-mill suspense thriller film, which means the audience should look at the components of the narrative more for what they represent rather than what is actually being shown. Through editing and use of symbolism, the mermaid in The Lighthouse represents human nature and man’s inability to suppress it.
To understand the mermaid’s symbolic significance in the film, it is essential to define what the island represents to Howard. In a conversation with Wake, Howard reveals that he used to be a timber man on the American mainland, but he wanted to start fresh and earn a living as a “Wickie.” The script says, “Nothin’ wrong with a man startin’ fresh, lookin’ to earn a living… Soon enough, I’ll raise my own roof, somewheres up country, with no one to tell me ‘what for’…“ (Eggers Pg. 29-30). This statement alone implies that Howard feels the need to escape his past; add to that, the fact that Howard killed a man and took his identity previous to the events of the film – it is almost blatantly obvious that Howard being a lighthouse keeper is an attempt to distance himself from guilt. The island becomes a symbol of escapism.
There are two mermaids in The Lighthouse, one, a wooden figure, and the other being a seemingly real mermaid that washes up on the beach. The audience is introduced to the wooden mermaid relatively early in the film’s runtime, but it is not until near the end of the first act that Eggers presents the real mermaid. While Howard is out doing his chores on the island, he sees lumber floating off its shore. He goes to investigate it, and as it gets closer, the logs move and reveal the body of a bleach-blonde man (Ephraim Winslow). He approaches the body in a trance, and the tide rises, submerging him underneath the water. In the direction of where the man used to be, there is a mermaid in the depths – its face obscured by its hair and its screeching song muffled by the water’s density. This editing succeeds in establishing a thematic connection between the mermaid and Howard’s murdered or possibly fatally neglected ex-coworker. The two symbols do not exist independently from one another in the film – every time the audience is shown the mermaid, she closely follows the appearance of the late Ephraim Winslow.
The next significant appearance of the mermaid is during a scene where Howard attempts to pleasure himself, using the scrimshaw as inspiration. It seems like he has a really difficult time accomplishing this because his mind is clouded with thoughts of the white-haired Winslow. During this scene, three events are inter-spliced with one another: Howard matsurbating, Winslow dying (having been stabbed or shoved with a stake, and then drowned), and Howard engaging in sex with the mermaid. These events are cut together hastily, never spending too much time on one shot. His interaction with Winslow and the mermaid are happening simultaneously in his head, indicating that the two activities are equal to one another. On first viewing, it can be easy to assume that the editing in this scene is meant to show us that Howard is haunted by the action or inaction he committed on Winslow. However, the last thing Howard imagines before reaching climax is Ephraim Winslow sinking under a log. Having achieved his goal, he throws the wooden carving to the ground, breaks it, and wails like a wild animal in anguish. The editing of this sequence leaves little doubt that the death of Winslow is what peaked Howard’s arousal, underscoring his violent human nature and implying a disturbing sexualization of death. To Howard, killing Winslow and dominating the mermaid are on and the same, and the distress in his tone at the end of the scene is generated by his inability to escape his own depravity.
The last place where the mermaid is utilized as a symbol of human nature is in the last act of the film when Howard and Wake get into a fist fight over the old man’s ledger. Wake calls Howard a dog, a term used earlier in the film by Howard as he recounted the death of Winslow to Wake – “but Winslow that goddamned Canady fool bastard… always callin’ me a dog. A filthy dog.” (Eggers Pg. 51). In response to Wake’s insult, Howard attacks him and the two wrestle around the lighthouse’s living quarters until Howard looks at Wake and sees a hallucination of Winslow. He mounts the old man, still seeing Winslow, who lands a punch on him, staggering him. When he looks down again, Winslow is replaced by the mermaid – who caresses his neck before strangling him and turning into Wake again, but this time with a crown of barnacles and brine and a set of tentacles.
Because of the rapid pace at which this scene unfolds, the audience is presented with a great deal of visual information to process and evaluate in a brief period of time. Howard is reminded of his earlier aggressions by Wake’s calling him a “dog,” and his desire for violence is promoted by the alluring image of the mermaid. This is similar to the situation in the two examples that came before it, in which the mermaid did not appear until after Winslow is present in Howard’s psyche. The fact that Howard is able to see the mermaid while he is impulsively beating Wake is a clear sign that he is taking pleasure in this assault.
The most astounding aspect of The Lighthouse is Eggers’ ability to establish Howard’s murderous intent without using words. Although it is logical to believe that Howard was responsible for Winslow’s death because he stole his name and identity, Howard never acknowledges this in the film, and he is not required to do so. From the time the mermaid appears on screen – when Howard discovers the body in the sea – it achieves its goal of establishing a link between Howard and death without disclosing the specifics of that relationship. In the scrimshaw scene, the spectator can deduce that Howard is responsible for Winslow’s death. Winslow’s death is practically a fantasy for Howard, heightening his excitement. Finally, in the fist fight scene, Howard unwittingly admits to killing Winslow. He sees the mermaid in front of him; she appears genuine to him at that moment, and he indulges in his inner darkness. His reaction to the mermaid shatters any doubt that Howard is a violent human being. Thomas Howard’s story in The Lighthouse is jam packed with mystery. In the end, he wasn’t able to escape the violence embedded within him – and although most people aren’t secretly evil like Howard, the feeling of not being able to escape your negative traits is a widely human experience. It is easy to say the past is in the past, but without taking the right steps to take accountability and improve, these undesirable features remain dormant until provoked. The mermaid shows the audience that running away is not the answer to moving past trauma or consequences, and that human nature prevails if left neglected.
