The Imitation Game is one of the best examples why we, as writers, need to go WAY beyond thinking about a Protagonist having a 'flaw' and instead look at the totality of their psyche to determine their initial state of Disunity. Yes, you could say Turing's flaw is his pride or some such thing. And he is that. But his pride is born of much deeper psychological dynamics. And, of course, pride does not take into account the more deeply affecting issue of his hidden sexual orientation. So I propose we begin our analysis of The Imitation Game and the Protagonist's psychological journey by exploring Alan Turing's Disunity state: * He is an intellectual genius, but severely hampered emotionally. This is why Joan is such a critical character as she provides an emotional touchstone for his journey into feelings. Yet at the end of the day, he ends up more comfortable in the presence of machines than people. * He is proud to the point of pomposity, but apart from his innate intellectual capability, one can't help but wonder how much of his pride is compensation for whatever feelings he has about his homosexuality, some of which have to be negative if only by the influence of cultural values and the furtive nature of his sexual trysts, hiding in the shadows. * He is a gay man in a society where it is illegal to be gay. Thus he has to hide his own sexuality. * He is obsessed with breaking the Nazi code, but how much of that is to help win the war vs his own need to create a legacy or at least make something perfect to counteract his imperfect life. There are other dynamics working at cross-purposes in Alan's psyche. What's your analysis?

As far as character archetypes are concerned, here's my read: Protagonist: Alan Turing Nemesis: Nazis Attractor: Joan, Christopher (the machine) Mentor: The Enigma Group Trickster: Christopher (the human) The two that might need some explanation are Mentor and Trickster. The group as Mentor because they not only do provide key information at key times to help the code-breaking process, they also help show Turing how to work with others, not just a lone wolf. Christopher as Trickster? Well, obviously Turing is attracted to him, a Romance figure, so one would tend to put him in Attractor camp. However what's the most important function of the character? Bottom line, Christopher's tragic life and death becomes something of a curse on Turing, as he will NEVER find an idealized lover like that. So literally an ally when they were in school together and best friends, but once Christopher had passed away, I would argue the symbol of Christopher acts more like an enemy. Indeed, Turing's suicide feels like the only way he can resolve all of the turmoil of his life and reunite himself with Christopher in death. As I say, there's no right or wrong when it comes to character archetypes, merely tools for analysis and crafting a story. What are your thoughts on the matter? And the bigger question of the story's psychological journey?

Hmm. I fail to see how the Enigma group fulfills the role/mask of Mentor. They certainly provide no mentorship in terms of Turing achieving his objective goal. (Isn't that the role of a mentor, to aid the protagonist in achieving his objective goal?) Turing is the brightest light bulb in the room, albeit others are blind to that fact. It seems to me that if anyone provides mentorship it is Joan. She coaches him on the need to get other team members to like him because he needs them to break the code -- his objective goal; he can't do it all himself. Also, I did not see Turing as being "proud to the point of pomposity." Rather I see that as how others perceived him. He is confident of his skills and has every reason to be confident. What he lacks are the social graces to cloak his confidence with humility and deference to his social superiors. This is because Turing suffers symptoms of Aspergers syndrome (a clinical diagnosis that didn't exist then). Through no fault of his own or of his upbringing, he lacks basic social skills. He takes every statement literally, misses the emotional subtext. He can't even appreciate a joke let alone tell one. How others feel, emotions, were Turing's Enigma code -- and he could never decipher the code. Conversely, he was an Enigma code to others -- they couldn't decipher his character (with the exception of Joan). What Winston Churchill said of the USSR at the start of World War 2 would be an apt description of Turing, a man who was "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma." Finally, I took the story as one where Turing's disunity is never resolved. (How could it be in the context of those times?) I don't see his suicide as a resolution, well not a happy one. Its tragic denouement of a brilliant man who would have been a misfit were he straight and being gay only compounded his problems and suffering.

Paul, good points all. As I say, archetypes are fluid, especially since any character can wear a 'mask' in any scene or relationship. Re the team as Mentor: If we focus on the issues of Alan actually working together with others, rather than strictly alone, and getting the machine to work, even though there is a lot of hostility between the team and Alan early on, they do stand up for him at a key point, and there is this:

"Hugh Alexander approaches, telling Alan that if they run the wires on Christopher diagonally, they'll eliminate rotor positions 500 times faster. Alan is able to utilize this idea."

This information, while not being THE key to the problem, is a piece of 'wisdom' which benefits the whole. Re "pomposity": I meant it in terms of how Alan came off to others. Arrogant might have been a better choice of words. Re Joan: For me, looking at her as an Attractor boils down to getting to the root of the Joan-Turing relationship. Yes, she brings intellectual 'wisdom' to the mix. But there is in my view much more going on in the emotional realm between them. Or it seems like that's the most important dynamic between them. He exposes himself and his emotional fragility to her arguably more than anyone in the story, even Christopher. But again, it's all a matter of interpretation, and I can see your point. This is a great observation:

How others feel, emotions, were Turing’s Enigma code — and he could never decipher the code. Conversely, he was an Enigma code to others — they couldn’t decipher his character (with the exception of Joan). What Winston Churchill said of the USSR at the start of World War 2 would be an apt description of Turing, a man who was “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.”

It's one of the layers of the "enigma" theme that makes the script rich with meaning. Finally, I wasn't suggesting Turing found Unity or that his disunity was resolved, and I certainly wasn't suggesting his suicide was a happy resolution. It is, as you say, a "tragic denouement". What I was attempting to do was go inside the character's mind -- which we had been able to do multiple times in the story via the flashbacks to his relationship with Christopher -- and speculate that at least one level of why he decided to commit suicide might have been to join Christoper - at last - in death. If anything, if that has any validity at all, it just ADDS to the tragedy, that the character may have felt while he could not find peace and understanding in THIS world (life), he might have believed he could find it in THAT world (death). Your observations and this discussion speak to the value of writing multidimensional characters as they create different points of connection and interpretation for the audience. Thanks!

It seems the only simple role to work out is Alan's -- he's the protagonist, that much is clear. Interesting that there's so much debate...a sign of a complex film, I suppose. I do agree with PaulG in seeing Joan as the Mentor; and for me, Christopher as the Attractor. But that's also because I see Alan's "flaw" as being unintentionally, naturally apart from society (intellectual separation and the time period's view of being gay) and his need to connect and be understood/listened to without judgment. He says this to Detective Nock, and while he delivers the message arrogantly, I think what he's saying is: Listen to me. Hear me. Christopher is the person who best understands him, and his need is to get that idealized childhood acceptance back. In this discussion, I think we've left out the significant role that the cops play. Alan's life unravels because of Nock's desire to root out his secrets, despite being told by his superior to let the matter lie. And Nock is the one to whom Alan tells his story. But I think Nock is a Trickster, rather than a Nemesis, because he seems to feel badly by the end (although maybe that's not enough). I also find Menzies to be a significant Trickster -- he seems to be an ally but his willingness to blackmail Alan is what forces Alan to drive Joan away for her own protection. I didn't find the Nazis to be the Nemesis, especially as not a one appears in the film. To me, it was just other people, society at large -- maybe the cops, Alan's schoolmates, Commander Denniston, all the people who don't get him and want him to behave in another, inauthentic way. Maybe too his Nemesis is the Enigma machine, which he defeats with his own machine. Anyhoo...