Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is more than just a story about the development of the atomic bomb. The American epic follows J. Robert Oppenheimer through pivotal moments in his life.
Years after becoming known as the “Father of the Atomic Bomb,” Robert’s position as the leading expert in atomic energy is jeopardised when his security clearance is reviewed. So, how does Oppenheimer come to a close? What is the final act’s twist?
There’s a pivotal scene in which Robert meets Albert Einstein at Princeton in 1947, as seen through the eyes of Lewis Strauss. Einstein and Robert exchange a few words before Einstein walks away from Robert without saying anything to Strauss, who was the head of the Atomic Energy Commission at the time.
This appears to be a minor incident, but it has far-reaching consequences. Strauss takes Einstein’s lack of interest in him as a slight and believes Robert poisoned Einstein against him. This sets in motion a series of events motivated by vengeance.
While Robert fights to keep his security clearance, Strauss is having Senate hearings to secure his position in Eisenhower’s cabinet. Strauss eventually reveals, in a shocking twist, that he is the one responsible for Robert’s security clearance being called into question. Strauss is hell-bent on destroying Robert after the Einstein incident and a public humiliation at a hearing years before. He ultimately prevails because Robert’s security clearance is revoked. For all intents and purposes, Robert is silenced.
However, Strauss does not account for a single testimony given during his Senate hearings. Physicist David Hill speaks out against Strauss, and Strauss fails to get the votes he needs to join Eisenhower’s cabinet. (John F. Kennedy was one of the senators who voted against him.)
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Oppenheimer’s final scene transports us to 1947, when Robert and Einstein meet. Strauss’ name was never mentioned during their brief conversation. Robert and Einstein actually discussed a conversation they had years before. Robert had asked Einstein to look over calculations claiming that a nuclear explosion could set off a chain reaction that would ignite the atmosphere and destroy the world.
While those calculations were incorrect, Robert wonders if he still set off a chain reaction. Following the success of the Trinity test, the atomic bomb was used quickly in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, sparking an arms race. Robert has been thinking about whether or not his creation has made him the “destroyer of worlds” after all. This admission is what causes Einstein to leave.
Einstein, on the other hand, has some parting words for Robert. He implies that Robert will face consequences for his accomplishments, but that he will be rewarded in the end. “It won’t be for you,” he warns Robert. It will be in their honour.” When President Lyndon B. Johnson bestows an award on Robert, Einstein’s words reverberate in his mind.