Essay Questions

What is the reason for Harold's obsession with death?

We learn that Harold became obsessed with death after everyone believed he had died. Police officers told his mother the news of his death and she fainted. Harold witnessed this just as he was coming into the door of their home, and has since sought this same response ever since and has believed he will only get it from repeating similar acts of violence in order to gain her attention/affection.

What makes Maude different?

Harold has crashed a funeral where he meets Maude, a 79-year-old woman who is crashing it herself. Maude, though old in age, has a light spirit and actually appears more youthful in how she carries herself. And even more juvenile in her actions, an example being her peeling out in her VW Beetle after the funeral. Though she is at the end of her life she is out to live it fully, that is what makes her different.

What is the meaning of Harold playing his banjo frolicking in the field at the end of the film?

Harold has been obsessed with death for many years. Everything he's done has been to get the attention and affection of his mother. But since meeting Maude she's taught him how to enjoy life for itself. That it is the greatest gift we have. Thus after his car drives off a cliff it appears Harold has killed himself. But we see him in the field playing his banjo and it is a metaphor for the old part of himself that sought out death has itself died and he is entering the land of the living where life is a song we all must learn to play for ourselves.