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My contention (once I got past my teenage years) was that the Wheel of Pain, in the original Conan the Barbarian movie, was supposed to be alegorical...a symbol of Conan's difficult upbringing as a slave. Most people, however, seem to view it as literal...that he had to push this wheel around for ~10 years...presumably as a grain mill.

Is there some kind of source, either in movie or outside of the movie, that could explain this more definitively? Answers claiming "it's totally such-and-such" without supporting evidence are okay (though more than one answer of the same kind should be avoided in lieu of voting up a pre-existing one) and no answer without some kind of support will be marked as accepted.

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I always think "man, this damn thing everyday for such a long time!". I actually never thought that it could be alegorical, as it is even depicted (if I remember correctly) and the whole movie is very straight to the point. But interresting question actually. – Christian Rau Dec 9 '11 at 23:06
After some research this seems indeed to be an everlasting discussion. It seems John Milius said he wrote it as a "symbol of the fruitless toil of life and at first did not designate a purpose for it". But then again, was it a real wheel that also symbolizes something or was it a symbolic wheel? – Christian Rau Dec 10 '11 at 1:19
Hmm...seems they got that from the commentary. I should see if I can try that for a source... – Beska Dec 10 '11 at 18:32
I thought it was meant to explain how he was so strong, as I recall there was a donkey/Ox helping him, at the start, but at the end he is by himself. – AidanO Jan 23 '12 at 16:07

1 Answer

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I always took this to be literal. Kind of like 'The Three Stooges meet Hercules', where he was chained to the galley and built up his muscles. Although in this case it was much more realistic as the made him switch sides so as to develop on both sides of his body. Conan may have pushed the wheel the other way, although they didn't show that in the movie.

From wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conan_the_Barbarian_(1982_film)

Conan is chained to a large mill, the Wheel of Pain. Years of pushing the huge grindstone build up his muscles.

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