Analysis of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Part III

Our hero is out in the plains, digging up what he can for food, possibly roots, or carrion, when suddenly he stops what he is doing.  The scene then flashes to the monolith, then back to the leader.  The music begins rumbling in the background, and we recognize that it is the piece that we heard at the beginning of the movie.  We are now getting the idea that the piece of music is tied to some thing of great importance.  The man-ape leader gazes at the ground, finds a bone from an animal long dead.  He picks it up, and idly begins to beat the ground with it.  He does it once, then twice, then he begins to realize the importance of this act.  He begins pounding on the original skeleton, and the scene cuts to a fallen wapiti.  The scene cuts back to the skull being broken by the bone.  The man-ape now knows how to hunt for food.  1

We now find our hero tribe back at the watering hole, where the rival tribe lords over.  Again, there are loud shrieking and gesticulating on both sides.  However, something about this encounter is very eerily different.  The invading man-apes are now walking more upright, more like modern man.  Apparently, the monolith is behind the change, again bringing in the concept of a "god."  We see that these man-apes are now no longer frightened by the shrieks of the rival.  When the rival approaches the leader, he is bashed over the head by a bone.  The rival falls, and the invaders take turns pounding on the inert, supine body.  The rival tribe members are scared by what has happened, and the flee from the scene.  The hero tribe is finally lord of the watering hole, and soon lord of the plains.  We last see these man-apes when, in triumph, the leader throws the bone into the air.2

The previous scene is probably the most pivotal in the movie.  We can conclude that the Monolith had taught them to use tools, and gave them the ability to walk upright.  However, in the absense of the Monolith, man has also learned probably the one thing that has plagued us since the beginning of our existence; the art of how to kill other beings like ourselves.  3