Introduction:

Within the Mad Max: Fury Road movie, there are a couple of themes that revolve around the character Nux’s journey: religion, politics, and redemption. Nux is one of many “War Boys” who work for the corrupt Immortan Joe, the dictator of the wasteland. After the recent escape of Immortan Joe’s five (yes, five) wives in a recycled oil truck, he rounds up all the War Boys to pursue the vehicle. However, Immortan Joe is a mean and selfish leader, hoarding the water supply from his followers (War Boys included), so how does he stay their leader, and what does this mean for the War Boys?

Idea of Valhalla, and Immortan Joe:

Valhalla is a concept from Norse mythology, which is a place like heaven but for warriors who die in battle. Warriors sent to Valhalla would be granted a Utopia and known as heroes for generations. Immortan Joe’s whole philosophy that he shares with all of his followers is the idea of Valhalla, giving most of the War Boys a purpose. This splits Immortan Joe’s reputation into two: he is a leader of The Citadel (the fortress where he and his followers reside), showing strengths in battle and decision-making, but because he uses the idea of an afterlife to sway his followers, he is also perceived as close to godlike.

Nux’s Drive To Be The Best:

As a result of this, the need to be a great war hero highly affects the War Boys’ behavior. Our main War Boy, Nux, is driven by this philosophy, completely controlling him. According to the comics, Nux was raised with the scraps of the wasteland. In his younger years, his parents died, and he was left to fend for himself. With all odds against him, he proved himself to be a War Boy and devoted his life to Immortan Joe. 

Throughout the film, Nux attempts to stop Immortan Joe’s wives, but fails every single time. Some of these attempts in front of Immortan Joe, like when Nux could have concluded the hunt, but trips and drops his gun. Immortan Joe becomes very unimpressed with Nux. After Nux’s last attempt to stop the wives, while even sneaking aboard their oil truck, he believes he failed and let down his leader. The amount of embarrassment clears the thought of being allowed to go to Valhalla at all.

Redemption:

One of the wives, “Capable”, finds Nux aboard the oil truck and feels bad for him. She makes him feel better, and Nux, for the first time, feels appreciated and destined to do something great. Now, instead of acting on what will get him to Valhalla on Immortan Joe’s terms, he chooses to do the thing he thinks is right, joining forces with the runaway bunch. With his destiny in his own hands, he fends off the War Boys, helping our main characters. With a new understanding, Nux finds himself in a dangerous predicament and ends up sacrificing himself for the people he had been hunting the whole movie. Not only did this give the wives a chance to escape, but it also gave Nux a purpose he had been looking for his entire life.

The idea of purpose/fulfillment that Nux brings to the audience is something to learn from. We must have a balance between satisfying others’ needs and our own. I assume that everyone at some point in life has made a decision to prove themselves to others around them. Sometimes this could be destructive because, at a certain point, the actions you commit don’t benefit yourself. Nux teaches us that everyone has the ability to face the majority when necessary.