The Circle of Life in the Lion King

Abby Jones

Mr. Klobusnik

English 11        

2 October 2016

The Circle of Life in The Lion King

        The circle of life is a symbolic representation that illustrates birth and death.  It is the idea that life is infinite, meaning if something dies it will give a new life to something else.  In the movie The Lion King it greatly exemplifies the circle of life through the death of a character and its effects on the community.

        The movie starts out with Mufasa, king of Pride Rock, holding his newborn son Simba, who is next in line to be king.  Everyone in the entire kingdom is happy about the new born prince, except for one person. Mufasa’s brother, Scar, is very jealous of Simba because he was next in line to become king before he was born.  Out of anger, Scar plans to kill Mufasa.  He draws Simba to the gorge, while the hyenas cause a stampede of the wild beasts. Scar knows that Simba would have no chance of surviving. Simba’s father comes to his son’s aide and saves him, but unfortunately finds himself in danger. Scar sees this and rushes over not to help Mufasa, but to make sure he dies.  Then Scar tells Simba that the death of Mufasa was all his fault and that he should run away because the kingdom would be upset with him.  Trusting his uncle, Simba runs away and does not return.

        Mufasa’s death impacts the circle of life not only for Simba, but also for Pride Rock as a community. Since the king is dead and Simba ran away, Scar is left to be king.  Scar destroys Pride Rock and everything Mufasa worked so hard to accomplish.  He is very cruel and starves the lions.  Meanwhile, Simba is found and rescued by Timon and Pumbaa.  The three become very close friends. Simba learns the carefree lifestyle of his friends and their philosophy “Hakuna Matata”, which means “no worries”.  He has a pretty good life going with Timon and Pumbaa, until one day he runs into one of his old friends while hunting.  Nala, Simba’s childhood friend, who was shocked to find that Simba was still alive begged him to come back to Pride Rock to help them.  At first, Simba was defiant and ignored Nala, but then after he talked to Rafiki he discovered that it was his duty to return to his kingdom.  He knew his father would want him to return and save the kingdom.