The Doorknob- Full Circle
Ask anyone who’s played it what Mother 3’s most sentimental part is. Some may say it’s Chapter 6, or when Flint gets the heartrending news of his wife’s death. Or maybe just before Lucas pulls the final needle. I say, it’s the doorknob. Yes, the seemingly insignificant running gag which starts when a clumsy Thomas accidentally pulls it off Flint’s door in flustering desperation. The doorknob returns, though. In chapter 4, a man in the local jail mentions how he got caught for supposed larceny when he picks up a doorknob in the grass. Later, another man mentions how he, in his anger, threw the doorknob away (He doesn’t specify which direction he threw it). The doorknob is referenced to throughout the entire game.
Why? Perhaps for you to wonder about its whereabouts, what role it may play in the larger story. Or maybe (And I prefer this notion) to think about where the doorknob came from, and in doing so, think back to a simpler time in Tazmily. Think back to when you first saw Thomas running through town, sounding his ridiculous siren. And you feel a sense of emptiness. You’ve moved on, there is so much more to experience, but a part of wants to go back, to relive the joy and excitement ten years n the making that you experienced those first few hours. And there’s the feeling that you may never get the chance to experience that again. You miss the past. This brings you closer, in a way, to the star, Lucas himself. Since then, his family has been torn apart. His father is like a ghost. He has been ridiculed and alone with no one to turn to. No mother whose shoulder he could cry on. No kind words of comfort. A house, but no home.
Then, in the final stretch of the game, where you must confront the source of all the evil you’ve faced, and even your own lost brother. Then you find something. A doorknob. Here of all places, in the bowls of Nowhere Island, on the eve of what may be destruction or salvation. A doorknob. And you realize things have come full circle. At the end, when you confront the Masked Man, the rest of your friends are down, you fight alone. In front of you, your lost brother, beside you, your father, a shadow of his former self. And you feel somewhere above you, your mother’s crying spirit. These are characters that you’ve seen grow, die, and experience loss. In the beginning of the game, they were there, and now they’re there at the end. All represented by a simple doorknob. After the fight, after Lucas puts the lives of his friends, himself, and all who believe in him, on the line, pulls the needle, and ends the world (Seemingly), you, as yourself, find everyone alive and well. Then you-not Lucas-find something at your feet. A doorknob. With this find, you realize you’re as much a part of this world as Lucas or Duster. A doorknob. Who knew?
Ask anyone who’s played it what Mother 3’s most sentimental part is. Some may say it’s Chapter 6, or when Flint gets the heartrending news of his wife’s death. Or maybe just before Lucas pulls the final needle. I say, it’s the doorknob. Yes, the seemingly insignificant running gag which starts when a clumsy Thomas accidentally pulls it off Flint’s door in flustering desperation. The doorknob returns, though. In chapter 4, a man in the local jail mentions how he got caught for supposed larceny when he picks up a doorknob in the grass. Later, another man mentions how he, in his anger, threw the doorknob away (He doesn’t specify which direction he threw it). The doorknob is referenced to throughout the entire game.
Why? Perhaps for you to wonder about its whereabouts, what role it may play in the larger story. Or maybe (And I prefer this notion) to think about where the doorknob came from, and in doing so, think back to a simpler time in Tazmily. Think back to when you first saw Thomas running through town, sounding his ridiculous siren. And you feel a sense of emptiness. You’ve moved on, there is so much more to experience, but a part of wants to go back, to relive the joy and excitement ten years n the making that you experienced those first few hours. And there’s the feeling that you may never get the chance to experience that again. You miss the past. This brings you closer, in a way, to the star, Lucas himself. Since then, his family has been torn apart. His father is like a ghost. He has been ridiculed and alone with no one to turn to. No mother whose shoulder he could cry on. No kind words of comfort. A house, but no home.
Then, in the final stretch of the game, where you must confront the source of all the evil you’ve faced, and even your own lost brother. Then you find something. A doorknob. Here of all places, in the bowls of Nowhere Island, on the eve of what may be destruction or salvation. A doorknob. And you realize things have come full circle. At the end, when you confront the Masked Man, the rest of your friends are down, you fight alone. In front of you, your lost brother, beside you, your father, a shadow of his former self. And you feel somewhere above you, your mother’s crying spirit. These are characters that you’ve seen grow, die, and experience loss. In the beginning of the game, they were there, and now they’re there at the end. All represented by a simple doorknob. After the fight, after Lucas puts the lives of his friends, himself, and all who believe in him, on the line, pulls the needle, and ends the world (Seemingly), you, as yourself, find everyone alive and well. Then you-not Lucas-find something at your feet. A doorknob. With this find, you realize you’re as much a part of this world as Lucas or Duster. A doorknob. Who knew?
