I took a class on the history and theory of rhetoric at Whitworth University during the Spring 2010 term. The major project for the class was a paper examining a ‘rhetorical artifact’ – which is basically anything that is an attempt to persuade, whether it be a speech, a film, a painting, or something else. I chose Bioshock as my artifact. The resulting paper is below. Leave a comment, let me know your take.

“Bioshock”: An analysis of visual metaphors in a video game

“Bioshock” is a video game. While one might be tempted to scoff at the concept of a video game being given serious consideration as a rhetorical artifact, one should take a moment to consider our modern culture before passing final judgment.

Video games, as a medium, have fully graduated from their humble origins as children’s playthings. If one were to glance down the gaming aisles at the local Best Buy, one would find a great variety of titles, genres and quality levels in the same way one might expect to find a variety in the film aisle.

“Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 2,” a game published by Activision-Blizzard, brought in $310 million in just the first 24 hours after its release, making it the best-selling entertainment release of all time (by comparison, box office smash “The Dark Knight” made only $155 million in its opening weekend). “Halo 3,” published by Microsoft, made $300 million in its first week. Dollar figures for Bioshock have not been made officially public, but the game has sold over 4 million copies as of March 2010, according to publisher Take-Two Interactive.

These figures serve to illustrate that video games are no longer merely the late-night hobby of nerdy college kids. It has become a multi-billion dollar industry, serving audiences of all ages and tastes. Video games have become entrenched in our culture and are starting to be seen less as interesting toys and more as a valuable art medium – the same path that film walked decades ago.

“Bioshock” is a class of video game that must be distinguished from most of what some might assume to be its peers. It is indeed a game, but it stands starkly apart from “Super Mario Bros.” and “Halo” in much the same way that films such as “The Patriot” or “The Passion” stand apart from the likes of “Spaceballs” or “G.I. Joe.”

“Bioshock” is a game with a heavy narrative that provides deeply insightful commentary on human nature. According to the developers, its story is based heavily on the writings of philosopher Ayn Rand, author of works such as “Atlas Shrugged.” The conclusions drawn by Bioshock’s narrative are of a depth and caliber one would expect with such an origin.

Everything about the game is designed with its message in mind. Visual aspects like character design, the appearance of the city the game is set in, and the settings the players finds him or herself in all work together toward the message. Narrative techniques, gameplay mechanics and audio design also push forward the agenda, though this paper will not explore those aspects of the game.

Because of the element of interactivity inherent in the video game medium, it can be argued that “Bioshock” makes the case for its message in a much more powerful way than could have been achieved in any other medium. Where speeches, film and literature are largely passive for the audience – one-way communication – a video game incorporates the audience into the creation of the experience. A film plays whether anyone is paying attention to it or not; a video game requires active attention and effort to move forward. Because of this, the audience often becomes more emotionally invested in the experience, creating an atmosphere that is ripe for rhetorical persuasion.

This study, then, focuses on “Bioshock” in order to examine what it is saying about our culture. If entertainment reflects culture, then it behooves us to study entertainment in our pursuit of understanding. “Bioshock” stands head and shoulders above most other video games in its metaphorical critique of human nature, and thus makes itself worthy of examination.

“Bioshock”: An introduction

“Bioshock” is set in an undersea city called Rapture. Rapture was the brainchild of fictional visionary Andrew Ryan, a city where the elite of humanity – the artists, scientists, and thinkers of the day – could go to practice their disciplines without fear of government censorship or the bounds of “petty morality.”

In spite of this optimistic outset, by the time the player arrives in Rapture it has been reduced to shambles. Bloody remains and ruined architecture highlight battlefields; citizens driven violently insane by the overuse of a substance known as Adam; entire areas of the city slowly succumbing to the unbearable crush of the ocean.

The player moves through the game, guided by various characters and encountering a variety of challenges and enemies. Throughout, the imagery makes one message clear: Rapture was once magnificent, and could have been a utopia, but for a fatal misunderstanding of the basic nature of man.

Through the use of visual metaphors, the developers of “Bioshock” highlight the inherent fallibility of man. The game clearly establishes the fact that mankind has a natural tendency toward evil, and when the ‘shackles’ of morality and government are removed, he quickly begins to destroy himself.

It must be noted that many of these metaphors appear to be unintentional – and regardless of the development team’s intentions, the following metaphorical inferences are those the author has drawn from the game, not those specified by the creators of the game.

A portrait of disaster: Visual metaphors in “Bioshock”

At once the most obvious and most easily overlooked visual element of “Bioshock” is the city of Rapture itself. Due to its status as the game’s setting, some might be tempted to label it as merely the canvas for the rest of the game to paint a story upon. To do so would be an unfortunate oversight.

The game opens with a plane crash observed from the first-person perspective of one of the passengers – the player character. The plane crashes into the ocean in the dead of night, and the player is forced to swim for the only safe haven available – a lighthouse jutting out of the inky waves. Exploring the lighthouse, the player eventually finds a bathysphere. With no other real option at hand, the player enters and descends into the depths.

This is where the player gets a first glimpse of Rapture. The city is huge, sprawling across acres of ocean floor. Huge towers that would be skyscrapers were they on dry ground jut up like teeth, decked in neon lights and flashing advertisements. The entire spectacle is faintly reminiscent of New York City or Chicago in the 1950s.

From the outside, Rapture is perfect, pristine, proud. Defying the forces of nature and the hostile environment, the city is a veritable Tower of Babel, a testament to man’s triumph over God’s design.

This impression of the city is quickly shattered, however, upon entering the city. The first thing the player witnesses is the brutal murder of an innocent man by a clearly insane denizen of Rapture. Picket signs from a riot now dispersed litter the ground; power is out, and lights sputter against the darkness; sections of the architecture are crumbling. Most apparent are the signs of rampant violence and wanton destruction.

This is the first major visual metaphor of “Bioshock” – that of the white-washed sepulcher. The city is a representation of man’s rejection of society, morality and religion; on the outside, it looks beautiful. But on the inside, all is decay, despair and destruction.

The metaphor is clear: When man strives to stand apart from a transcendent moral code, it often appears beautiful, freeing and even enviable from the outside. But on the inside, the game suggests, chaos is ruling as man’s nature casts about for a moral anchor.

Moving the focus in slightly, the decaying state of the city is another major visual metaphor. The city is coming apart at the seams. Fires burn, walls crumble, doors refuse to function, and, most disturbingly, the city has begun to leak. As the city descended into chaos, critical maintenance of defenses against the crush of the ocean water went undone. Entropy is taking hold of Rapture, and it is quite apparent that the city doesn’t have long before the ocean reclaims it altogether.

It’s hard not to see the parallel to human nature; for those that came to Rapture, hoping to escape the moral and societal shackles the world above had placed upon them, the city represented a grand rejection of the entropic nature of man. But the fall was as inevitable as the ocean’s crushing weight.

Moving from the city to its inhabitants, visual metaphors become even more prevalent. Man’s ultimate inability to truly better himself in any meaningful way is highlighted in the appearance of the citizens of Rapture.

One of the major contributing factors to Rapture’s fall was the abuse of a substance known as Adam. Adam is, in short, a material that allows for broad and dramatic changes to the genetic makeup of the human body. With the proper application of Adam – known as “splicing” – people could change their appearance, weight, sex; anything imaginable was possible, including the impossible. Adam properly applied could also give people the ability to shoot flame from their fingertips, to leap tall obstacles, to teleport, to manipulate objects telekinetically, and a variety of other seemingly supernatural faculties.

The miraculous nature of Adam led to its perception as a wonder drug – which, in turn, led to its abuse. In a society where the only rule was that there were no rules, the abuse was widespread and unchecked. Vicious cycles and escalating demands for performance led to out of control splicing, which eventually broke the mind.

The end result of these unrestrained attempts to improve themselves is that the majority of surviving Rapture citizens is violently insane, hideously malformed, and degenerate in every sense of the word.

Finally – finally, that is, for the purpose of this paper, as the visual metaphors found in “Bioshock” have hardly been exhausted – perhaps the most poignant visual metaphor found in the game is one that may be easily overlooked if the player isn’t paying attention.

Several times throughout the game the player will come across the scene of an execution, usually that of a crucified smuggler. The smugglers appear to have been sneaking Bibles into Rapture – something Andrew Ryan was apparently not in favor of. Though the connection is never explicitly made, the metaphor for man’s desperate search for answers in the face of his own nature is clear.

While reading and watching developers’ commentaries on the game, it is clear that a Christian message was not intended. Nevertheless, the message is there. As the citizens of Rapture fell deeper into madness and warfare, the horror of the work of their own hands became clear to them. When man finds himself at the end of his rope, he begins flailing about for an anchor, for safety, for answers. It is fascinating that the citizens of Rapture, in the midst of this search, wanted Bibles so desperately that smugglers were willing to risk their lives to sneak them in.

Perhaps the creators of the game intended to highlight man’s tendency to seek a crutch in religion when faced with danger. But the imagery they chose creates a more powerful metaphor than that: when faced with a world without answers, man seeks desperately for truth. In this case, the truth of scripture.

Shackles loosed, foundation destroyed

Through the use of visual metaphors, the developers of “Bioshock” highlight the inherent fallibility of man. The game clearly establishes the fact that mankind has a natural tendency toward evil, and when the ‘shackles’ of morality and government are removed, he quickly begins to destroy himself.

Video games have risen from humble origins to become a real art form in our culture. They are a medium that can powerfully influence its audience and communicate deep, meaningful messages.

All of the metaphors explored in this paper highlight the fallibility of humankind and his tendency toward entropy. It is no accident that humankind has historically sought to set up systems of government and morality to protect themselves; it is no surprise that we have also torn down those systems just as frequently.

“Bioshock” is a fascinating exploration of human nature, using visual metaphors to demonstrate man’s fallibility, doing so while immersing the player in its world, forcing the player to consider the messages from a visceral, first-person perspective.

These metaphors serve to highlight the futility of man’s condition, and our ultimate need for a savior in some form. Without restraint, these metaphors imply, human nature will always indulge in its tendency toward chaos.

Jerod Jarvis is an independent gaming journalist and founder of Duality Games. He maintains gaming columns for The Washington Times Communities and for The Outpost. When not blogging madly about games, he freelances for the Spokesman-Review in his hometown of Spokane, Washington and attends school at Whitworth University. Check out his presence on Facebook and Twitter to stay up on Duality Games updates and the inside scoop on the gaming news you care about.