Birthmark
Each of the stories is shown to have some sort of effect on the other. This only becomes clear as the movie progresses and we see the various incarnations of the different characters. However, each story has a character with a comet shaped birthmark. This symbolizes the character’s importance for the story and indicates them as the current protagonist.
Reincarnation
The six stories shown have the characters from different eras. Each reincarnation of the character is vastly different and the importance of their role in each story is different. The shifting nature of one’s significance in the grand scheme of things is always hidden for the person involved. This allegory of characters losing their importance in one story and regaining it in another is meant to reflect the nature of life, how it bends and moves according to no one.
Love
The story of each character is one of overcoming some sort of hardship and becoming a protagonist in one incarnation or the other. One factor that binds these stories together is that of love. Each character has a symbolic and overpowering connection with love. In Mr. Ewing’s case he finds his wife who helps him eradicate slave trading. While, in Robert Frobisher’s case we see him in carry through his ordeal with letters sent to his beloved Rufus Sixsmith.
Butterfly Effect
In some cases, the experiences that one character faces in their current incarnation have some effect on the later characters. The confinement of Timothy, the publisher, to a nursing home and his experiences there become a major part of Sonmi-451’s story. This rippling effect is symbolic of the consequences each person’s actions has on his surrounding, even if they are times apart.
Slave
The story of Sonmi-451 is based on the current worldview on AI. The fear of the eventual creation of a self – conscious being that is superior to a human. Sonmi’s story is allegoric to that of a slave escaping and regaining their freedom. And her overall arc gives the audience material to ponder the nature of free will.
