Death is the road to awe. - The Fountain

[Letti]

The Fountain (2006)
directed by Darren Aronofsky

What can I write about this movie?
I haven't seen such a deep movie as this one for long. Your mind must work really hard to understand the symbols you meet all the time while you are watching it.
And even if you can't catch everything you are just sitting there in front of the TV and you feel your soul is somewhere else... you can feel the tree under your palm and the heat of the dying start on your face.

trailer (sadly it doesn't give back much from the movie)
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM_NF8ZpqyE&feature=related"]YouTube - The Fountain Trailer[/ame]

[Lily-sai]

I so agree with Letti. I hadn't even heard about this movie, I just accidentally bumped into it one day and was deeply fascinated by its cover. And what a movie it was! I could barely breathe after it was finished, tears in my eyes. I think I need to see it again. And again. I can't quite analyze it yet, because I haven't had a chance to talk about it with people who love it as well, so it's too deep inside me yet. But here.. You people are!

[Letti]

I had the chance to talk about it a lot but the more you talk about it the more questions you have in your head and the more feelings you have in your heart.

[Letti]

I wrote this somewhere else after I had watched the movie. It sumps up my thoughts and my feelings.

whole movie theory

The Fountain
(just my two cents)

So the way I see it this movie is not about the past or the future (however its symbols might come from there) but the present. The very present of the two people who love each other a lot and are fighting with cancer and their sorrow very hard.
What's the hardest thing we need to accept and process. If you ask me it's death.

We have 3 story lines in the movie but in my opinion just one of them is the reality. When we can see Izzi and Tom in the present. The other two are just fantasies with full of symbols of the wars of these people's souls. That's how they try to accept the nonacceptance.

The way they try to handle the situation is very different and similar at the same time.
* Izzi is writing a book... the main characters are symbolizing her and her love, Tom and their fight with death.
The Spanish Queen is herself who asks her true-hearted conquistador to find a tree far away in the land of Maya that can give forever life to everyone.
She can't write the last chapter because of 3 reasons.
- She doesn't really know how to finish it. The topic is not easy at all. She feels it but she can't write it down.
She talks about it to Tom as well:

Izzi: Remember Moses Morales?
Tom Verde: Who?
Izzi: The Mayan guide I told you about.
Tom Verde: From your trip.
Izzi: Yeah. The last night I was with him, he told me about his father, who had died. Well Moses wouldn't believe it.
Tom Verde: Izzi...
Izzi: [embraces Tom] No, no. Listen, listen. He said that if they dug his father's body up, it would be gone. They planted a seed over his grave. The seed became a tree. Moses said his father became a part of that tree. He grew into the wood, into the bloom. And when a sparrow ate the tree's fruit, his father flew with the birds. He said... death was his father's road to awe. That's what he called it. The road to awe. Now, I've been trying to write the last chapter and I haven't been able to get that out of my head!
Tom Verde: Why are you telling me this?
Izzi: I'm not afraid anymore, Tommy.

- She doesn't finish it because actually she wants Tom to finish it. Because it would mean that Tom could understand death, too. The essence of it. She would like to share this knowledge with him. Izzi is not afraid of death anymore because she feels she could understand it at last but she sees that Tom is still fighting with it with deep sorrow.
- And we know that she can't finish it because she dies.

* Tom is having a fantasy world... (No, I don't think it's the future and I will try to write down why.) The world we see could be from the future but there are many things that make me believe that it's just the other side of the same mirror.
He is traveling in a magical bubble with the tree (it's Izzi) to a dying start. (I must mention that I feel Izzi is the real dying star.)
First of all the difference. Izzi is trying to understand and accept death while Tom is frighting and trying to beat it.
The similarity is clear. Both of them create a fantasy world in their mind where they can hide from the shockingly dark world and where they can fight face to face with the idea of death.
But why do I say it's not the future? There are some major and minor signs that make me think so.
- The things that happen in the present happen in this fantasy world as well immediately. When Izzi dies so does the tree. It's the same with the voices.
- We can see this "world" when Tom is alone... when he is sleeping... he is working in his office... when he has the chance to fly deep into himself..
- The tree has hair... okay, we can think that it's the future and Tom is flying in a bubble to a dying sun with this tree but trees have no hair. But this one does. Like Izzi on her neck..
And there are more symbols that can't work in the future theory.
- We can hear "Finish it..." coming from the background from the beginning of the movie and we can think: "Hey, Izzi says it later so it can't be Tom's fantasy" BUT I believe Tom hears it even before Izzi asks him to finish her book because he thinks and feels that Izzi asks him to finish his word - with other words Izzi asks him again and again to find something that can save her.
And that's what Tom feels. He feels he hasn't got enough time he needs to finish it in time that's why he is not with his love who is fighting and suffering (and writing her book) at home by herself. Tom can hear Izzi's words in his mind... I wish he had known that his love wants only one thing... to be with him.
- And the biggest one is the end of the film I will write about a bit later.

I know these things might not convince others but for me this story can be a nice circle if we think this way and this is the only way I can think about it.
Can we call that the future just because we can't understand it? The real mysteries are not in the future but in the soul.

*end*

[Lily-sai]

In fact, I think I will watch it again today, if I've got time. Will be back here after that.

[Letti]

In fact, I think I will watch it again today, if I've got time. Will be back here after that.

I cannot wait.

[turtlex]

Are you referring to the Darren Aronofsky?

( there are a couple of different "the fountain" listed on IMDB )

[Lily-sai]

Letti, you've now made me weep. 'Death is the road to awe', that gets me every time. And you wrote so beautifully, that was a truly great analysis. Made me think and will watch Fountain with your words in my mind.

[Letti]

Are you referring to the Darren Aronofsky?

( there are a couple of different "the fountain" listed on IMDB )

Yes, I am. *goes to add more information to the first post*

[turtlex]

Thankee, big-big, beautiful.

I love Aronofsky so will check it out.

( Pi is one of my all time favorite movies )

[Kidd Ikarus]

Awesome awesome movie. I didn't understand everything the first time I watched it but I couldn't get the movie out of my head for weeks. Finally I just decided to buy the DVD and after that I think I watched it 3 times in a row. Everything about it is incredible. The story, the imagery, the music, the symbolism. I know it didn't get the greatest reviews, but Darren Aronovsky really out-did himself with The Fountain.

And the composer, Clint Mansell . . . his music is just fascinating. I feel like if they ever did a Dark Tower movie/series, i think some of his works would translate very well into it.

[Letti]

Its music is beyond words, too... it has that type of music that's not music anymore... but much more. It's like fresh air to your ears and your soul. And when you are listening to it you don't know why you feel like crying.. because it's sad OR because it's so beautiful. Or maybe both?
Okay, I guess I get way too romantic when it's about the Fountain.

my favourite:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5ZkzsBNZ78&feature=PlayList&p=9B5EF67F578 7C003&index=5"]YouTube - The Fountain Soundtrack - 04 Stay With Me[/ame]

[Kidd Ikarus]

Its music is beyond words, too... it has that type of music that's not music anymore... but much more. It's like fresh air to your ears and your soul. And when you are listening to it you don't know why you feel like crying.. because it's sad OR because it's so beautiful. Or maybe both?
Okay, I guess I get way too romantic when it's about the Fountain.

Exactly. I couldn't have said it better myself. The full version of "Death is the Road to Awe" the is featured at the end/climax of the film is like . . . when you listen to it, it's almost as if you are experiencing the life cycle through song. I don't know if that makes any sense . . . But it's incredible.

[Heather19]

I love Darren Aronofsky's films, so I'm kinda ashamed to admit that I haven't seen this one yet. It's been on my list for awhile now, I'll have to bump it to the top so I can come back and chat about it. I've heard nothing but good things about it.

Letti, is there where you new theme is from?

[Melike]

I am so happy to see this thread here, thank you Letti. Though we have discussed is before, it is a pleasure to talk about it again.

Thankee, big-big, beautiful.

I love Aronofsky so will check it out.

( Pi is one of my all time favorite movies )

Pi is another awesome movie. But I think you will love this one, too.

Its music is beyond words, too... it has that type of music that's not music anymore... but much more. It's like fresh air to your ears and your soul. And when you are listening to it you don't know why you feel like crying.. because it's sad OR because it's so beautiful. Or maybe both?
Okay, I guess I get way too romantic when it's about the Fountain.

Exactly. I couldn't have said it better myself. The full version of "Death is the Road to Awe" the is featured at the end/climax of the film is like . . . when you listen to it, it's almost as if you are experiencing the life cycle through song. I don't know if that makes any sense . . . But it's incredible.

I listened the soundrack at least a hundred times, and I still love it. Death Is The Road To Awe, Death is a Disease, Xibalba... *...sigh...*

I wrote this somewhere else after I had watched the movie. It sumps up my thoughts and my feelings.

whole movie theory

The Fountain
(just my two cents)

So the way I see it this movie is not about the past or the future (however its symbols might come from there) but the present. The very present of the two people who love each other a lot and are fighting with cancer and their sorrow very hard.
What's the hardest thing we need to accept and process. If you ask me it's death.

We have 3 story lines in the movie but in my opinion just one of them is the reality. When we can see Izzi and Tom in the present. The other two are just fantasies with full of symbols of the wars of these people's souls. That's how they try to accept the nonacceptance.

The way they try to handle the situation is very different and similar at the same time.
* Izzi is writing a book... the main characters are symbolizing her and her love, Tom and their fight with death.
The Spanish Queen is herself who asks her true-hearted conquistador to find a tree far away in the land of Maya that can give forever life to everyone.
She can't write the last chapter because of 3 reasons.
- She doesn't really know how to finish it. The topic is not easy at all. She feels it but she can't write it down.
She talks about it to Tom as well:

Izzi: Remember Moses Morales?
Tom Verde: Who?
Izzi: The Mayan guide I told you about.
Tom Verde: From your trip.
Izzi: Yeah. The last night I was with him, he told me about his father, who had died. Well Moses wouldn't believe it.
Tom Verde: Izzi...
Izzi: [embraces Tom] No, no. Listen, listen. He said that if they dug his father's body up, it would be gone. They planted a seed over his grave. The seed became a tree. Moses said his father became a part of that tree. He grew into the wood, into the bloom. And when a sparrow ate the tree's fruit, his father flew with the birds. He said... death was his father's road to awe. That's what he called it. The road to awe. Now, I've been trying to write the last chapter and I haven't been able to get that out of my head!
Tom Verde: Why are you telling me this?
Izzi: I'm not afraid anymore, Tommy.

- She doesn't finish it because actually she wants Tom to finish it. Because it would mean that Tom could understand death, too. The essence of it. She would like to share this knowledge with him. Izzi is not afraid of death anymore because she feels she could understand it at last but she sees that Tom is still fighting with it with deep sorrow.
- And we know that she can't finish it because she dies.

* Tom is having a fantasy world... (No, I don't think it's the future and I will try to write down why.) The world we see could be from the future but there are many things that make me believe that it's just the other side of the same mirror.
He is traveling in a magical bubble with the tree (it's Izzi) to a dying start. (I must mention that I feel Izzi is the real dying star.)
First of all the difference. Izzi is trying to understand and accept death while Tom is frighting and trying to beat it.
The similarity is clear. Both of them create a fantasy world in their mind where they can hide from the shockingly dark world and where they can fight face to face with the idea of death.
But why do I say it's not the future? There are some major and minor signs that make me think so.
- The things that happen in the present happen in this fantasy world as well immediately. When Izzi dies so does the tree. It's the same with the voices.
- We can see this "world" when Tom is alone... when he is sleeping... he is working in his office... when he has the chance to fly deep into himself..
- The tree has hair... okay, we can think that it's the future and Tom is flying in a bubble to a dying sun with this tree but trees have no hair. But this one does. Like Izzi on her neck..
And there are more symbols that can't work in the future theory.
- We can hear "Finish it..." coming from the background from the beginning of the movie and we can think: "Hey, Izzi says it later so it can't be Tom's fantasy" BUT I believe Tom hears it even before Izzi asks him to finish her book because he thinks and feels that Izzi asks him to finish his word - with other words Izzi asks him again and again to find something that can save her.
And that's what Tom feels. He feels he hasn't got enough time he needs to finish it in time that's why he is not with his love who is fighting and suffering (and writing her book) at home by herself. Tom can hear Izzi's words in his mind... I wish he had known that his love wants only one thing... to be with him.
- And the biggest one is the end of the film I will write about a bit later.

I know these things might not convince others but for me this story can be a nice circle if we think this way and this is the only way I can think about it.
Can we call that the future just because we can't understand it? The real mysteries are not in the future but in the soul.

*end*

I love your theory Letti. Though I like to believe past, present and future theory.

My favortie quote from the movie is the words of Grand Inquisitor Silecio, who represents the disease of Izzi:
''Our bodies are prisons for our souls. Our skin and blood, the iron bars of our confinement. But fear not. All flesh decays. Death turns all to ash. And thus, death frees every soul.''

[Letti]

Letti, is there where you new theme is from?

Yes, absolutely.

I am so happy to see this thread here, thank you Letti. Though we have discussed is before, it is a pleasure to talk about it again.

Thankee, big-big, beautiful.

I love Aronofsky so will check it out.

( Pi is one of my all time favorite movies )

Pi is another awesome movie. But I think you will love this one, too.

Its music is beyond words, too... it has that type of music that's not music anymore... but much more. It's like fresh air to your ears and your soul. And when you are listening to it you don't know why you feel like crying.. because it's sad OR because it's so beautiful. Or maybe both?
Okay, I guess I get way too romantic when it's about the Fountain.

1. Exactly. I couldn't have said it better myself. The full version of "Death is the Road to Awe" the is featured at the end/climax of the film is like . . . when you listen to it, it's almost as if you are experiencing the life cycle through song. I don't know if that makes any sense . . . But it's incredible.

I listened the soundrack at least a hundred times, and I still love it. Death Is The Road To Awe, Death is a Disease, Xibalba... *...sigh...*

I wrote this somewhere else after I had watched the movie. It sumps up my thoughts and my feelings.

whole movie theory

The Fountain
(just my two cents)

So the way I see it this movie is not about the past or the future (however its symbols might come from there) but the present. The very present of the two people who love each other a lot and are fighting with cancer and their sorrow very hard.
What's the hardest thing we need to accept and process. If you ask me it's death.

We have 3 story lines in the movie but in my opinion just one of them is the reality. When we can see Izzi and Tom in the present. The other two are just fantasies with full of symbols of the wars of these people's souls. That's how they try to accept the nonacceptance.

The way they try to handle the situation is very different and similar at the same time.
* Izzi is writing a book... the main characters are symbolizing her and her love, Tom and their fight with death.
The Spanish Queen is herself who asks her true-hearted conquistador to find a tree far away in the land of Maya that can give forever life to everyone.
She can't write the last chapter because of 3 reasons.
- She doesn't really know how to finish it. The topic is not easy at all. She feels it but she can't write it down.
She talks about it to Tom as well:

Izzi: Remember Moses Morales?
Tom Verde: Who?
Izzi: The Mayan guide I told you about.
Tom Verde: From your trip.
Izzi: Yeah. The last night I was with him, he told me about his father, who had died. Well Moses wouldn't believe it.
Tom Verde: Izzi...
Izzi: [embraces Tom] No, no. Listen, listen. He said that if they dug his father's body up, it would be gone. They planted a seed over his grave. The seed became a tree. Moses said his father became a part of that tree. He grew into the wood, into the bloom. And when a sparrow ate the tree's fruit, his father flew with the birds. He said... death was his father's road to awe. That's what he called it. The road to awe. Now, I've been trying to write the last chapter and I haven't been able to get that out of my head!
Tom Verde: Why are you telling me this?
Izzi: I'm not afraid anymore, Tommy.

- She doesn't finish it because actually she wants Tom to finish it. Because it would mean that Tom could understand death, too. The essence of it. She would like to share this knowledge with him. Izzi is not afraid of death anymore because she feels she could understand it at last but she sees that Tom is still fighting with it with deep sorrow.
- And we know that she can't finish it because she dies.

* Tom is having a fantasy world... (No, I don't think it's the future and I will try to write down why.) The world we see could be from the future but there are many things that make me believe that it's just the other side of the same mirror.
He is traveling in a magical bubble with the tree (it's Izzi) to a dying start. (I must mention that I feel Izzi is the real dying star.)
First of all the difference. Izzi is trying to understand and accept death while Tom is frighting and trying to beat it.
The similarity is clear. Both of them create a fantasy world in their mind where they can hide from the shockingly dark world and where they can fight face to face with the idea of death.
But why do I say it's not the future? There are some major and minor signs that make me think so.
- The things that happen in the present happen in this fantasy world as well immediately. When Izzi dies so does the tree. It's the same with the voices.
- We can see this "world" when Tom is alone... when he is sleeping... he is working in his office... when he has the chance to fly deep into himself..
- The tree has hair... okay, we can think that it's the future and Tom is flying in a bubble to a dying sun with this tree but trees have no hair. But this one does. Like Izzi on her neck..
And there are more symbols that can't work in the future theory.
- We can hear "Finish it..." coming from the background from the beginning of the movie and we can think: "Hey, Izzi says it later so it can't be Tom's fantasy" BUT I believe Tom hears it even before Izzi asks him to finish her book because he thinks and feels that Izzi asks him to finish his word - with other words Izzi asks him again and again to find something that can save her.
And that's what Tom feels. He feels he hasn't got enough time he needs to finish it in time that's why he is not with his love who is fighting and suffering (and writing her book) at home by herself. Tom can hear Izzi's words in his mind... I wish he had known that his love wants only one thing... to be with him.
- And the biggest one is the end of the film I will write about a bit later.

I know these things might not convince others but for me this story can be a nice circle if we think this way and this is the only way I can think about it.
Can we call that the future just because we can't understand it? The real mysteries are not in the future but in the soul.

*end*

I love your theory Letti. Though I like to believe past, present and future theory.

2. My favorite quote from the movie is the words of Grand Inquisitor Silecio, who represents the disease of Izzi:
''Our bodies are prisons for our souls. Our skin and blood, the iron bars of our confinement. But fear not. All flesh decays. Death turns all to ash. And thus, death frees every soul.''

1. There is just one problem with this beautiful music. They always make me feel so... melancholic. I feel as if the world was on my shoulders or I don't know how to put it into words. It's a heavy music for my soul.

2. One of my favourites, too. However this movie is full of incredibly good and deep quotes.

[Melike]

I understand you well. Actually I can't stand to listen kind of music that makes me feel melancholic.
This soundtrack makes me think of bigger things than self-concept. Makes me feel my awareness about the world out of the borders of my being, is decreased.
Just like, all the musical notes in it telling important things, different stories each time.
Shortly, it makes me feel so happy and light.

[Heather19]

Well I watched the film last night. The film was visually beautiful, and I absolutely loved the score. It fit so perfectly with the mood of the film.
I have to say however, that at first I was so completely confused, I hadn't the slightest idea what was going on. But once the story picked up, it started to make more sense. I think I'll need to rewatch it a few times to fully understand it though.

Letti, I'm really liking your theory. I didn't really believe the past to be real, just Izzi's way of coming to terms with death. And likewise, couldn't the so called future scenes be Tom learning to deal with death?

What are your thoughts on the scene where we see the conquistador finally find the Tree of Life. He cuts himself and puts the sap of the tree on it to heal himself thus becoming part of the tree.

I don't know, I think I still need to think about it some more.

[Letti]

I am sooo happy watched it.
When I come back in the afternoon I'll write down what I think about that part.

[Kidd Ikarus]

What are your thoughts on the scene where we see the conquistador finally find the Tree of Life. He cuts himself and puts the sap of the tree on it to heal himself thus becoming part of the tree.

I don't know, I think I still need to think about it some more.

That was the only part that kind of . . . 'irked' me. I didn't understand it at all my first watch . . . And I still don't think I grasp the full meaning of that scene. I know it has to do with the legend of the guy who sacrificed himself and his body became the earth and the stars, blah, blah, blah . . . But when it happened to Tomas, it just seemed kind of weird.

[Melike]

What are your thoughts on the scene where we see the conquistador finally find the Tree of Life. He cuts himself and puts the sap of the tree on it to heal himself thus becoming part of the tree.

I don't know, I think I still need to think about it some more.

That was the only part that kind of . . . 'irked' me. I didn't understand it at all my first watch . . . And I still don't think I grasp the full meaning of that scene. I know it has to do with the legend of the guy who sacrificed himself and his body became the earth and the stars, blah, blah, blah . . . But when it happened to Tomas, it just seemed kind of weird.

That is why I don't like to put the story on some logical basics.

Here is what I've written before, while discussing this movie with Letti. (Sorry I hate this copy-paste thing but it is a complicated subject, so gathering the ideas again and again, is harder.)

The wedding ring:

In the past,he loses it when he found the tree of life.After he applied the sap on his injury,he takes the ring out from his pocket and prepares to wear it,flowers grow out from his injury so he panics because of the pain and drops the ring into the grass.
(Then he becomes the grass&flowers...)

In the present,he takes off it before the surgery to Donovan,the monkey they used for experiments,while he's cleaning his hands.

He finds it,in the future part of the time-line.That fits the moment he realises what he has to do,and leave the tree-buble with a seperated little bubble,taking a position of a person meditating.He wears it before explosion.I think here the ring is another flashback-image that comes to him when he is lightened by understanding of acceptance.Because he realises that he loses the ring when -simply- trying to deny the death.

(Izzi as Queen Isabella gives him the ring and says something closer to this: ''You shall wear it when you find Eden, and when you return, I shall be your Eve.'' In the future,in the seperated bubble,when he is close to death,close to heart of Xibalba the ring appears.
Finding Eden(tree of life),is eternal life;he shall wear the ring.
Reaching nebula's core,means death;he wears the ring.
Finding life is finding death.)

What happened to the ring in the present part of the story? I can't remember this.

[Kidd Ikarus]

In your quote, that's pretty much it . . . In the present, when he takes it off before surgery, that is the only time you see it in the hands of Tommy until Xibalba, when Tom the Explorer finds it in the grass.

After the surgery, the ring is gone. He looks for it and another doctor walks into the room and asks what he is doing. He replies, simply, "Looking for my ring. I left it right here and now it's gone."

[Melike]

Ok. I remember now. Thanks.

[Letti]

About the ending:
We all have too many fantasies. We think the big world works the way we think it does - but it's not true. We are way too little.
How do we imagine living forever? We drink from the special tree... we find the hidden fountain... we meet the fairy and we wish... we find a lamp with a genie inside... and after we have wished we can stay alive forever in our fragile human body and we can enjoy the infinity.
But things don't work like this.
The legend was right. The one who drinks from the Tree of Life can live forever... but of course not in his human body. That's impossible. Our body is not capable to live forever. Tom's body had to become part of something much bigger to be able to live/exist forever.
(There are some special pine trees that can live for more than 4000 years. It's true. Once a researcher found a tree that was more than 4500 years old. Living 4000 years is still not living forever so...)
Tom's body became the part of the Tree of Life. For my part I think all those plants around the Tree belonged to it.

Izzi had understood it earlier.

Izzi: Remember Moses Morales?
Tom Verde: Who?
Izzi: The Mayan guide I told you about.
Tom Verde: From your trip.
Izzi: Yeah. The last night I was with him, he told me about his father, who had died. Well Moses wouldn't believe it.
Tom Verde: Izzi...
Izzi: [embraces Tom] No, no. Listen, listen. He said that if they dug his father's body up, it would be gone. They planted a seed over his grave. The seed became a tree. Moses said his father became a part of that tree. He grew into the wood, into the bloom. And when a sparrow ate the tree's fruit, his father flew with the birds. He said... death was his father's road to awe. That's what he called it. The road to awe. Now, I've been trying to write the last chapter and I haven't been able to get that out of my head!
Tom Verde: Why are you telling me this?
Izzi: I'm not afraid anymore, Tommy.

That's why she wanted Tom to finish the book. There was only one way to finish her story and Izzi was sure Tom would try his best to do it. (And he did it. He finished it and he found the only right endong.) She wanted him to understand the essence of life:
We must lose everything... to get everything. Death is the road to awe.


(of course, just my two cents)

[Kidd Ikarus]

About the ending:

Izzi had understood it earlier.

Izzi: Remember Moses Morales?
Tom Verde: Who?
Izzi: The Mayan guide I told you about.
Tom Verde: From your trip.
Izzi: Yeah. The last night I was with him, he told me about his father, who had died. Well Moses wouldn't believe it.
Tom Verde: Izzi...
Izzi: [embraces Tom] No, no. Listen, listen. He said that if they dug his father's body up, it would be gone. They planted a seed over his grave. The seed became a tree. Moses said his father became a part of that tree. He grew into the wood, into the bloom. And when a sparrow ate the tree's fruit, his father flew with the birds. He said... death was his father's road to awe. That's what he called it. The road to awe. Now, I've been trying to write the last chapter and I haven't been able to get that out of my head!
Tom Verde: Why are you telling me this?
Izzi: I'm not afraid anymore, Tommy.

That's why she wanted Tom to finish the book. There was only one way to finish her story and Izzi was sure Tom would try his best to do it. (And he did it. He finished it and he found the only right endong.) She wanted him to understand the essence of life:
We must lose everything... to get everything. Death is the road to awe.


(of course, just my two cents)

Yes. And that is major in showing Izzy's connection to Tom the Explorer's tree, especially after he plants the seed at her grave.