Donnie chose his death in order to preserve a certain reality. A semiotic analysis of certain components of this film could focus in on particular characters, relationships, or sequences of events. The character of Frank is a rabbit that talks to Donnie in his sleep. Several levels of this character could be interpreted in different ways. Visually, the image of a rabbit may be interpreted as an oracle, a being of good luck. Rabbits are also often associated with Easter, and therefore spring and rebirth. This theme of rebirth ties in with how Frank essentially provided Donnie with the choice to either die or not die. Choosing not to die involved eventually have his teacher fired, a local motivational speaker arrested and necessitate in a sequence of events that his mother die in a plane crash, and also have his girlfriend Gretchen be killed. Choosing to die meant preserving a reality including the employment...

The character of Frank may also be interpreted as a symbol of a collectively conscious fate, in which all of us are guided by some unseen force to execute our lives so that certain predetermined events occur in perfect correspondence with each other.
Donnie's relationship with Gretchen in the film is very simple and straight forward. This relationship grounds Donnie in the conventional reality, and provides balance between the parallel universes he is able to tap into. Balance between good and evil, dark and light is symbolized through out the film through sequences of events. Examples of these sequences are when Donnie's teacher fight for creative freedom (good) results in her termination by the school (evil), and when Donnie's act of vandalism involving burning down the motivational speaker's house (evil) results in the discovery of the child pornography ring (good).

Components of the film such as "Sparklemotion," political references to Dukakis and Bush, as well as dinner time discussions regarding gender equality serve as symbols of distraction from the truth of our lives. Beyond this reality focused on these everyday distractions there exists a place within everyone where our ultimate purpose lies, and choosing to accept human mortality without fear (symbolized by the final scene of Donnie laughing to himself) guides us directly on the path of our purpose.

References

Chandler, D. (2005). Introduction. Semiotics for Beginners. Retrieved 6/15/2007 at http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem01.html.

No Author Given (2000). Film Semiotics: A Multi-Linguistic Analysis. Retrieved 6/15/2007 at http://www.sebsteph.com/Professional/sebsportfolio/journals/film_semiotics.htm.