'There Will Be Blood' Spoiler Analysis

Oil seeps through the Earth as the promise of wealth seeps into the mind of one Daniel Plainview until it becomes an obsession in Paul Thomas Anderson’s epic, “There Will Be Blood.” Daniel Plainview was once a silver miner barely receiving a profit, that is until he struck oil. As he stares down into a well, oil covering his face, he never looks back and makes it his life goal to dig for oil and become as wealthy as possible. Plainview does all of this while simply using his adopted son, H.W. Plainview, whom he had no choice but to take in in order to create an image of a family man to potential investors. Daniel only cares about himself and his wealth and that is made apparent as the film goes on. He has no real friends, just business partners and employees. No spouse, no real family, just himself and his greedy obsession. He succeeds in convincing people to hand over their land for a very cheap price and continues to climb in power with no one questioning his motives until he meets Eli Sunday, a preacher who challenges Daniel’s plans and pushes for religion to be involved in the oil drilling. Daniel is not a religious man and becomes increasingly frustrated with Eli’s constant questioning and insistence on the presence of God in the drilling. In the film, based on his sins of greed and even murder, Daniel serves as the Devil while Eli serves as God and the two collide in wanting control over the land to continue their work. As Daniel’s obsession grows, so does his madness until it boils over in a finale where God is defeated, and his blood is shed while the blood of oil continues to seep from the ground, promising wealth to unsuspecting minds that could succumb to the obsessions Daniel Plainview did as he transformed into the devil himself. With the final line “I’m finished” it is almost as if Plainview is saying he is finished with the devil’s work.