3. Dylan Thomas' Fore-Shadowing Words
The oft-quoted lines beginning with "Do not go gentle into that good night" are from a poem by Dylan Thomas written for his dying father. Nolan repurposed it, firstly to imply humanity's endurance and their will to survive - the mantra of Dr Brand's Plan A - and then as his way of convincing himself and indeed Murphy of the need to let humanity survive at all costs. But the truth is the poem isn't about endurance or hope, it's about futility and screaming against the inevitable. The over-riding message is not of hope and life, but of dismay and death - a hint at what the end of the film really means. The poem has also been used in Doctor Who and Independence Day, which are both as unlikely in terms of actual reference points as John Cena's use of it in WWE 2K15 was.