The Lighthouse
What are the forces of God? Is a building God because it guides the actions of the humans within them? Are architects Gods for constructing the world around us? Is the law God for informing our decisions? These are things that whether we recognize them or not have far more influence on us as individuals than we may consciously realize at any moment. Society as we know it is a man-made construct that forges us as human beings from our inception. However, society's grasp on the world only reaches so far. At the fringes of the world, mankind's grip begins to slip, and it is here that "The Lighthouse" sets its story.
For Thomas Howard/Ephraim Winslow, their role as a wickie is like any other job. Just like any member of society, they want to work, save, and settle down. The lad respects the work for this purpose, initially refusing to drink or stray from the guidebook provided by the institution he owes this fresh start to. For Thomas Wake, those motivations are there too, but beneath that is something deeper and sacred to the communal mythos of his work, and the feeling of being a part of something greater. Wake is old and no longer sees himself as working within this system, but as the system itself, his family and home no longer a true thought in his mind. This is enough to keep these men stuck upon a rock for weeks on end amongst conditions meant for no man to survive.
Indeed, they operate in spite of nature and the world around them, however, they are foolish to think they are above it. Soon after the murder of a simple sea bird, the world retaliates. Nobody comes for them. The world that had bound them before is gone, and with it the standards they held begin to crumble. Slowly, the storm picks apart the lighthouse, with drops of water and crashes of waves. With nothing left to control, the men turn to the only thing they have left: each other.
These two Thomases experience everything together, one second hugging one another, and the next brawling on the floor. They seem to fight like an incessant married couple, hoping to latch onto those dreams of families and settling down that brought them out here in the first place. Quickly though, they turn to a primordial rage to crush one another. Exhausting everything with one another, Thomas Howard once again arrives at the final act of control he has over mankind: death.
And it is then the simple lives of man are resolved.