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Symbolism In Pan's Labyrinth

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The film Pan's Labyrinth is a fairy tale told with the confines of reality. It is the story of a young girl, Ofelia, living in post-Civil War Spain under the oppression and structure of her step father, the Captain. Ofelia walks a fine line between this harsh world and one of fantastia with the hopes of fully joining it. Throughout the film, Ofelia's shoes are used as a motif, representing her rebellion towards society's order as she completes three tasks. Before Ofelia starts out on her first task of reclaiming a key from the stomach of a giant toad, her mother makes the young girl a beautiful green dress and gifts her a pair of new black party shoes. She tells her daughter that, when she wears the outfit, she will "look like a Princess."

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