Within the timeline of one's life, one steps through various stages of thinking and different perspectives in which to view the world. In the instance of Truman in the movie "The Truman Show", Truman lives in a manufactured world designed to represent normal society, and the stages that he goes through appear parallel to Soren Kierkegaard's philosophy of the three stages of life: aesthetic, ethical, and "faith" stages.
First a look into the philosophy: Kierkegaard believed that every person in society eventually could pass through three stages. This philosophy is purely subjective since it was based upon his own life; however, it is applicable to any person living within society.
The first stage, which most people will never break out of, is the aesthetic stage. This is the stage of illusion in which people believe in the misconception of societal doctrines governing one's life. Within the aesthetic stage, people go through their life cycle, not really living, but conforming to society's rules and regulations, not knowing that it is possible to break out and be free.
The Søren Kirkegaard statue in the Royal Library ...
Soren Kierkegaard studying
Kierkegaard's manuscript of The Sickness Unto Deat...Such is like the shell surrounding a young unborn bird, keeping it in, keeping it safe, and yet, not allowing it to grow to its full potential.
Once one realizes the illusion that one is in, the illusion of society itself, one has reached the second stage, or the ethical stage. This is the stage of one realizing the walls of society and yet, being unable to do anything about it, instead just asking oneself: "What can I do?" This is like someone just waking up from a slumber and now finally comprehending that they are trapped somewhere. However they don't know what to do to actually break free from their shackles of their inborn illusions. One is alike a young bird, that...