7 lbs.

      There are billions and billions of people on this earth, some of them are bad at heart but others are good and have the right mine-set toward life. One of those good people is Ben Thomas in the movie Seven Pounds. He has it all, with a good wife, maybe kids on the way, he's rich and has a great NASA job but then, he crashes his car with his wife in it and hits a bus and kills seven people which includes his wife. "In seven days, God created the world. And in seven seconds, I shattered mine" (Seven Pounds). People have whats called choice and Ben chose to use his phone in the car even when his wife said to put it any and be done with work. After all of this happens Ben is at his beach house alone and wants help other people that are having trouble in life because he feels its necessary to, in a way, avenge his wife and the six other people he killed. On another subject, throughout the movie you see been at his house or in the motel room he rents with a box jellyfish. Its the only thing that stayed constant with Ben throughout the whole movie. This could mean that the jellyfish represents Ben in a way. He had a beautiful life and then death was in the essence. The jellyfish is both life and death because it is so majestic but at the same time very deadly.

      Its interesting that anyone in the life we live would ever want a jellyfish to keep as a pet. Ben had always wanted a jellyfish even when he was a little boy. "The first time I ever saw a box jellyfish, I was twelve. Our father took us to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I never forgot what he said... That it was the most deadly creature on earth. To me it was just the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen" (Seven Pounds). Ben had no idea that that very same kind jellyfish would end his life. Jellyfish are so unique in many ways. They are so cool to watch just because of the way they move but at the same time your glad that its behind glass because it could kill anyone in a matter of minutes. "Their venom is considered to be among the most deadly in the world, containing toxins that attack the heart, nervous system, and skin cells. It is so overpoweringly painful, human victims have been known to go into shock and drown or die of heart failure before even reaching shore" (National Geographic). After the death of his wife Ben knew the only thing he wanted to comfort him would be a box jellyfish. Ben wanted such a deadly pet because it represented himself. Death is a big part in a jellyfish's life because it can kill so much but look like a friendly or good character at the same time. Ben is just like this in every way possible. "I lied to you, I thing about dying everyday" (Seven Pounds). Death is only a part of life and ever living thing has to go through it. It doesn't matter if your a good or bad person its going to happen to everyone at some point in time and Ben knows that he will kill himself with that jellyfish because its all in the master plan that he has.

      There is good and bad in everyone and everything. Things are always changing and no one can predict them. The box jellyfish is also a symbol of good and not just death and destruction. Its beauty can never be questioned and it is one of the most majestic creatures on this planet. "I'm actually starting to feel pretty bad for you, Ezra. Because I look at my life, and it is surrounded by so much beauty...and you can't see sh*t" (Seven Pounds). As Ben is talking to Ezra (who is blind), Ben and the jellyfish are in that whole scene together and Ben is right, He has one the most beautiful creatures on earth right next to him and I bet he wouldn't trade it for the world. Jellyfish is the meaning of majestic and spectacular. They are creatures that is not understood by humans and have a rare quality to them. "Box jellies are highly advanced among jellyfish. They have developed the ability to move rather than just drift, jetting at up to four knots through the water" (National Geographic). It has taken years to get information like this and people in todays highly advanced technical world still don't know a lot about these creatures. All the scientists know is that they are cool to look and and very deadly. But all Ben thinks is that they are the most beautiful creatures on earth and he could watch them all day long. This can lead back to when Ben and the hockey coach are talking and Ben asks if he is a good person and he actually is because he's paying for some of those kids college payments (Seven Pounds). Ben is always on the lookout for good people and this can relate to the jellyfish because the jellyfish in every scene is the only light source and is the source of life. The jellyfish is a life and Ben is looking for people with life in them.

      Peoples lives are based on life and death and we sometimes choose wether to keep it or throw it away. Ben killed seven people and to make up for it helped seven good people with life in them who were having a hard time. This ca relate to the beauty in life and how jellyfish are life and good people are life. However the jellyfish is also death which ends up killing Ben at the end of the movie. The "life" in this movie was the list of things that Ben did for other people. This includes; He gives a lung to his brother, Holly gets part of his liver, the kidney is given to a hockey coach, the bone marrow is given to a little boy, the house is given to a family who needed a place to rebuild their lives, the eyes are given to Ezra in order for him to be able to see, and the heart is given to Emily. All these things bring life into the world and that is a beautiful thing, just like how a jellyfish is beautiful and has life flowing through it. However the "death" in this movie was Ben killing six people and his own wife and eventually at the end he kills himself. But this is actually a good deed because Emily (Ben's Love entrust) needed a heart and Ben knew without his heart she wasn't going to live much longer. So by bringing death there was life and this all comes back to how the jellyfish is a representation of life and death and people make different and interesting choices everyday to save other people and to keep life going. There will always be life but along with that comes death and that is what everything on earth revolves around.