Repentance - Metanoia

Shortly after his refusal to play the harmonica, we see Red in his cell “contemplating” his harp for over ten seconds. He is, in a sense, in a tug of war between the hope of his gray but known familiar world and the Hope of an unknown, mysterious Reality, that beckons him forward. He is like Neo in the movie The Matrix who has been offered a choice between a red and a blue pill.

            Red’s ultimate decision to blow the harmonica symbolizes a “new direction,” a fundamental change in approach; a movement from static hope that only frustrates to a novel form of Hope that requires “letting go” of the reigns and handling over control to Divine influence and guidance. This is the radical moment of “Metanoia,” of entering the “Big-Meta” “Mind-Noia” of the Ultimate.

            The harp blow represents the affirmative “yes” to Divine action. God will only work deeply within the soul when invited. Christ always knocks within, but we must “open” the door with an act of affirmation. Red has now, in a sense, “placed another bet” on the “music” that might “save his mortal soul.” Red’s abandonment of his version of “hope” is also referenced in The Count of Monte Cristo: “The wretched and miserable should turn to their Savior first, yet they do not hope in Him until all other hope is exhausted.”

            In the Hero’s Journey, this moment is depicted as “Crossing the Threshold;” this is where all of the dynamic action, the meaningful transformation of the soul begins to unfold and manifest.