The house and surrounding area in which the film takes place often resembles the Garden of Eden from the Book of Genesis. The house is a beautiful, isolated home surrounded by trees and other lush greenery. There is no driveway and no clear path to arrive or leave the property. Everyone seems to just appear and disappear from the land. Over the course of the film, more and more human beings arrive at the home, including figures representing Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, and sinners, who take advantage of the home and are punished for their transgressions.
Within the house, His office could be considered the representation of the Biblical Tree of Knowledge. Inside His office, the crystal, representative of the fruit from the tree, attract the attention of Man and Woman. Mother repeatedly tells them to stay away from the crystal and to not touch it under any circumstances since it means the world to Him. However, as was the case with the Biblical story of Adam and Eve in the Garden, they don’t listen. The temptation is too much so they sneak into the office and Woman drops the crystal, leaving it shattered all over the floor.
The image of the shattered crystal may also represent the story of Onan and his sperm. To make a long story short, Onan was supposed to impregnate his deceased brother’s widow, but since he realizes the child would be considered his brother’s heir and not his own, and would thus receive the inheritance before himself, he pulls out before ejaculating and spills his sperm or “seed” on the floor. This image of shattered crystal could relate to this Biblical tale. (Book of Genesis, n.d.)
He gets very angry with them and kicks them out of his office. mother even tries to kick them out of the house for good, but He says “and where would they go?” He boards up the doors to the office and thus forbids anyone from ever entering there again. This represents the Fall of Man and Woman.
The architecture of the home is also very octagonal in shape. Octagons are used in the floors, the walls, the lights and the door frames, even picture frames. Director Darren Aronofsky wrote “There are all of these alchemy theories about the octagon and numeric beliefs about the number eight and about infinity and regeneration,” he said, adding that it also gave him a new, literal dimension to play with in terms of cinematography. “The reason I like the octagon shape as a filmmaker was when I shot through a doorway you’re not looking at a flat wall. You’re looking at a diagonal wall that adds depth and just makes things more interesting.” (Miller, 2017) The use of the octagon to represent infinity and regeneration likely relate to the finale of the film, where we learn all about how He keeps re-starting the story over and over with a new mother to try and perfect it. (see Apocalypse)
