This document discusses Roger Ebert's relativist perspective on truth and perception as it relates to the film Rashomon. The film tells the story of a murder through different accounts from four witnesses, each with their own version of events. From a relativist point of view, each character's account is their own truth, influenced by their individual experiences and beliefs. The document examines how concepts like emotion, perception, belief, and mental maps help explain why the characters perceive the events differently. Ultimately, there is no absolute truth about what truly happened, in line with Ebert's relativist views on the subjective nature of truth.

1. Ellen McKay
Senior Seminar Period 4
September 21, 2010
Ebert’s Views in Relation to Rashomon
There is a contrast in the way one perceives the film Rashomon depending on the
person’s view of the world and how characters act. This Japanese film creates much controversy
of what the resolution or truth actually is, but is what makes it such a great topic to study when
learning about perception and reality. In Rashomon, the samurai’s wife is raped and he is killed,
and the plot unfolds as four characters tell their story of what happened. The wife, bandit,
woodcutter, and samurai tell their stories of what they believe happened, and consequently there
are all exceptionally different. The difference in their stories is what allows the audience to
analyze what they believe happened. An absolutist would say there is one absolute truth;
therefore one person is telling the truth, while the others are lying. A relativist would say that
truth is dependent on individuals; therefore everyone is telling the truth because it is what they
believe is true. Roger Ebert’s perspective is like relativists, since he believes each character is
telling the truth of how the murder occurred. Even if they are exaggerating, it is all the truth of
how they witnessed the event. Roger Ebert’s views of truth and perception fit well with the film
Rashomon because all the characters told different stories, which proves that each individual sees
a truth of how the murder happened, and that story is true to them.
Ebert’s views relate to the theory of relativism which is also similar to Pascal’s beliefs,
as they all believe there is no absolute truth; therefore there are multiple truths. Relativism is
defined by the variations in truth as a result of individual beliefs such as culture, religion, or
experience. These together explain why there is no absolute truth and everyone has different
beliefs; truth is subjective to what one believes. In Rashomon, each character has a different
background, which is why they speak of the murder in their own way. The bandit has a history
of crime and accomplishments, and this could be why he believes he fought hard and then killed
the samurai. The woodcutter is simply a witness, and is only explaining what he saw after the
murder. The wife has a similar culture to the samurai, but it is her loving, naïve character that
leads her to believe she killed him, since her dagger was in him. The samurai has lived different
experiences through his career, and after he sees his wife’s actions he concluded he killed
himself out of anger. Pascal, a relativist, would say the characters’ stories were all true because

2. truth depends on a characters influence or experiences. Pascal believes that God exists, but
understands that only some people believe in Him since everyone is able to believe what they
want. This explains the understanding relativists have of people, and is why there can be many
different truths amongst a group of people.
Emotion and perception are also large influences on the truth and reality of a situation
because everyone observes and feels experiences differently. Emotion is what people use when
making decisions because it is what feels rights, especially when making quick decisions. The
murder in Rashomon results in emotional characters, and clarifies why emotion, a way of
knowing, is dominant in the characters recollection. It is intuition that made the characters focus
on emotion. Also each character had a different relationship with the samurai; therefore had
various feelings toward him and his death. Perception can also result in uncertain truths because
many people perceive situations differently. This connects with emotion because if a character is
upset they tend to see things in an over exaggerated manner. Also since perception is “the
awareness of things through our five senses” (Lagemaat), one character might have seen
something and jumped to conclusions, while another could have heard something and jumped to
conclusions. This connects to Rashomon because we watch the film and see the way they saw
what happened; therefore we can determine the differences between what they saw.
Belief and mental map also relate to Ebert’s views of perception and truth because one
usually follows the beliefs defined in their mental map; therefore they could believe something
someone else considers false. Belief is important with truth and perception because one usually
will not see truth or perception without believe it first. Ebert’s views are subjective as truth is
dependent on each individual, but belief is defined before a person actually states a truth. This is
an important aspect to a relativist’s theory since truth can be true to one, but false for another;
therefore truth must be believed or thought out in their mental map. A mental map is the “reality
which includes our ideas of what is true and what is false, what is reasonable and what is
unreasonable, what is right and what is wrong, etc.” (Lagemaat). Since each character has a
different mental map they perceive reality differently because they have their own ideas of right
and wrong. Therefore belief and mental maps are important to be aware of in a character
because they help understand characters thoughts and actions, and all impact the analysis from a
relativist.

3. Ebert’s views of perception and reality result in uncertainty of who the murderer was,
but explain why each character told a different story about the murder. Belief and mental map
have an effect on a character’s emotions towards an event and how they perceive it. All of these
theories are dependent to an individual and explain why a relativist believes there is no absolute
truth. In Rashomon there is no way of knowing who the murderer is especially if a relativist
perspective is followed, meaning every story is true to that one individual. The idea that there is
no absolute truth emphasizes why there are confusions and misinterpretations every day, no
matter how important or unimportant the issue is.
Works Cited
Lagemaat van de, Richard. Theory of Knowledge for the IB diploma. Cambridge University
Press 2005. Textbook.