The final scene in Planet of the Apes does come as a shock for most people. It is at that moment that Taylor realizes that he has been on Earth this whole time. Here, he spent all this time thinking that he had discovered another planet when he has never even left home. I think that this scene shows that the American identity can be buried and not respected even when there is a transgressive character, like Taylor, present in the film. Taylor wants to break free from society, in this case rules set down by apes. He has violated the commands of the apes numerous times. Even trangressive characters can have a hard time changing an aspect of American culture. I mean Taylor has this huge challenge ahead of him, the betterment of all humans. A strong parallel can be drawn to what African-Americans needed to accomplish in America during the Civil Rights Movement. Americans tried to erase their history and make them subhuman just as the apes do with the humans. The last scene is just so pessimistic. It is looking really bleak for humans at that moment. As Taylor and Nova leave the apes, the two of them are so minuscule against the landscape. It shows that compared to Earth people are insignificant. The landscape is also so rugged and dangerous looking. It shows that Taylor and Nova have no idea what lies ahead of them. They have broken every rule and now must live off the radar. At one point, the camera zooms in on the water receding out to the vast ocean. All Taylor’s hopes of discovering a new wonderful planet have been pulled out to sea. His hopes are just as transitory as something built in the sand. Taylor’s last and probably most emotional lines in the whole film are; “Oh my god. I’m back. I’m home. All the time… finally really did it. You maniacs blew it up. God dam you! God dam you all to hell”! He is just so full of emotion that he cannot even form whole sentences to express how he really feels. Just think about everything that the Statute of Liberty represents. We are very proud of our freedoms in this country. The fact that someone is capable of destroying this symbol of freedom shows how far from free Americans and all humans have become. Taylor fought off so many apes and survived to this point, but what did he accomplish? He will probably just spend the rest of his days living out in the Forbidden Zone. There would need to be hundred, thousands of humans willing to break from the ape society in order to actually accomplish anything. As we know with slavery, this can take hundreds of years. The one hope that people are left with is that Taylor might find other people like him living in this Forbidden Zone. Also, I feel like there are some parallels drawn between Taylor and Nova and Mary and Joseph. Taylor and Nova are dressed in poor clothing riding on a horse as fugitives. It is somewhat similar to Joseph and Mary going to give birth to Jesus. So, perhaps, the two of them will produce a child who will save the humans from destruction. So, I think the film is trying to say that American identity can be easily taken over and unless there are a lot of transgressive Americans willing to take back their culture, it will slowly diminish into nothing. Luckily, there is the hope that Taylor will help the Americans eventually.