Rick Riordan, in his novel “The Lightning Thief”, states that “The real world is where the monsters are.” Monsters don’t need to be extraterrestrial; monsters can be found anywhere and everywhere. A person can be monsterized due to misunderstanding, social isolation, or the extreme desire to be popular. In “Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter”, Tom Franklin unmasks the real monsters in Chabot, Mississippi. It isn’t Larry Ott but rather Carl, Cecil, Silas, and Wallace who are the real monsters in the novel.
The story of deception begins at Larry’s house itself. Larry’s father, Carl, is neither a good husband nor a good father. He had an affair with their maid and a baby from her. The discovery of a picture of a “black woman with baby Larry in her lap at the bottom of an old shoe box in Larry’s house” (Franklin 100) reveals the mystery of that maid being associated with Carl and Larry being Silas’ half brother. The fact that Larry used to be “whipped with a belt” (Franklin 51) demonstrates his ugliness towards his son. Besides, he is also responsible for Silas to be deprived of love from his father.
Likewise, the other monster in the novel would be Cecil Walker. He was more of a monster than a stepdad to Cindy, for he used to be brutal and violent towards her. Once, at a New Year’s party, he throws a rocket bottle towards her which explodes against her back. In addition, he would not miss any chance to abuse her sexually, when alone or in presence of somebody else, such as attempting to pull her towel when she came out of shower.
“He does that kind of shit all the time”, she’d said. “Trying to see me without my clothes, come stumbling in the bathroom with his thing in his hand. Does when he’s drunk, acts like he don’t remember when he...
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...rror books and guns and possession of a monster mask. After his date with Cindy, Larry, a common boy, from a low-middle class white family, is not common anymore; he is infamous as “Scary Larry” in the town and is always the first one to be suspected in case of any crime.
Concluding, what we see is not always the truth. It takes a lot of effort to recognize the ‘real’ monster that is masked behind an innocent face. A criminal mind does not differentiate between the right and wrong; it does not respect any relation- blood or friendship. A whisper of suspicion screams more loudly than any words of praise in one’s life. In the novel, the blind society that has monsterized innocent Larry has also let the true monsters live fearlessly and with dignity in the same town.
Reference
Franklin, Tom. Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter. New York: William Morrow, 2010. Print.
“She still today never told me she loved me…never… never in her life … it’s too hard to explain,” says Anthony Sowell as he mentions his mother while he is being interrogated by Cleveland Homicide Detective (Sberna). The classic neighbor that every family wishes to have, friendly, helpful and caring was holding back numerous secrets. In Anthony Sowell’s actions of the rape, beatings and murder of 11 innocent women, he demonstrates the qualities of a human monster while showing how nurture creates a personality as well as proving that humans are capable of creation more fear than those who are written about in fiction.
An important motif that the author returns to at the end of the book is blindness. Beginning with the blindfolds in the battle royal, then to the blindness of the pastor, Ellison highlights how their physical blindness is also figurative. The black men who fought in the royal were blind and failed to see the white men were taking advantage of them. By the end of the book, the narrator recognizes that “the true darkness lies in [his] mind”(579) but fails to see that had he made other choices, he would never have wound up where he is at the end of the novel. He spends the last moments of the book underground,
Throughout history we see monsters taking many different shapes and sizes. Whether it be a ghoul in the midst of a cold nightly stroll or a mass genocide, monsters are lurking everywhere and our perception of what monsters truly are, is enhancing their growth as a force with which to be reckoned. Fear of the unknown is seen throughout time, but as humans progress we are finding that things we once were afraid of we are less frightening than they once were. Monsters can evoke fear in their targeted victims rather than physically harm their victims. For instance, every year a new horror film is released with the next scary beast, but why do we call something a monster even if we know it is not real? Even certain people and creatures are classified as monsters, but are they really monsters, or do their actions speak of monstrous doings? In his article and book chapter Monsters and the Moral Imagination and chapter 5 of On Monsters, Stephen Asma suggests that monstrosity, as we know it, is on the rise as humans progress, and how we perceive monsters can often define monstrosities in itself, providing evidence as to why monster cultures are on the rise, and showing how human progress has evolved our perception of how we think on the topic that is monsters.
The story shows prejudice of people. Like “Lusus Naturae”, the family treats her like a monster which starts from the stereotyping of appearance. Actually the behavior and mind of the family are cruel like a monster nature although their figures are not a monster. People should be concerned more on inner sight as compared to visible sight. Also, the appearance should not be a reason to discriminate human
Characteristics of evil, which are representative of the beast, can only be controlled through the fear of the laws of which society mandates. The absence of the enforcement of laws permits and therefore encourages the presence of barbarism, which the boys refer to as the beast. This beast, shown in the boys, is a form of savagery that they display throughout the entire novel, and through the exposure of their savagery, their true evil nature is revealed. These savage dark impulses of human nature present in everyone is commonly found in modern society. Only through the existence of regulations can this beast be controlled by the fear of the people living in society themselves.
In the drama “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” By Rod Serling The events and/or character actions advance the plot by...The events the author made in the story were really good. First, the power went off in Maple Street. Then Pete Van Horn went to go find out if the same thing happened to another street. Then Jimmy runs in and says that it’s monsters because the same thing happened in a comic book he read. When Pete Van Horn came back he ended up getting shot because everyone was shook up when they saw him walking slowly back to them. Finally, at the end you could see the aliens leaving and talking about how it was all a test.
Monsters are one of the most difficult things to define. They lack a black and white definition and as result they are open to many interpretations. Monsters are capable of imposing fear on certain groups of people, but not on others. In his story, “Beautiful Monsters,” Eric Puchner creates a scenario where unlikely groups of people are considered monsters. Similarly, Jonathan Swift’s satirical essay, “A Modest Proposal,” creates a variety of different monsters in one troubled society. Both pieces of literature, however, are not simply just descriptions of different monsters; instead their underlying themes serve as a message about how monstrosity is defined. Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” clearly supports Puchner’s message that monstrosity is a matter of perspective by exploiting the differences in society and how different people living in those societies are viewed.
Ressler, R. K. & Shachtman, T. (1997). I have lived in the monster. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
conducts monstrous acts, the reader still views him as a victim of circumstance in a society that
In today’s society, people are more concerned with their own “little world,” rather than looking at the extensive perspective of life. One reason why people can sometimes be classified as being “blind” is because people fear the unknown, and rejects the unfamiliar. Many people are not comfortable with stepping out of their shell and exploring their surroundings, let alone trying to look through the eyes of the segregated minority. In the novel Blindness, Jose Saramago metaphorically uses the word “blindness” as a term meaning, the truth that we cannot bear to see. To avoid the outside world, many people tend to shelter themselves from the obvious reality, and tend to focus of their “own” meaning of reality.
...ces and the reactions he chose to have. The book serves as a moral, if the monster had been given proper attention and guidance he could have been accepted and become ‘good’ but since society chose to outcast him and treat him cruelly, he mimicked those behaviors and likewise in turn treated humanity with cruelty. The development of the monster was extensive in the emotional, psychological and intellectual areas, the dualism of his personality gives him a double-identity which leaves us to question whether he truly became like Adam or Satan.
Left on his own to strike out in the world the monster soon experienced the prejudices of those he came meet. Prejudices based upon his frightful, or unusual, appearance and his inability to communicate initially. I quickly had empathy for the abandoned creature, despite the descriptions of his gruesome appearance, and felt mixed emotions about his actions towards others in the story. Were the violent actions of the monster towards others spawned from their violent rejection of ...
The narrator wrestles with conflicting feelings of responsibility to the old man and feelings of ridding his life of the man's "Evil Eye" (34). Although afflicted with overriding fear and derangement, the narrator still acts with quasi-allegiance toward the old man; however, his kindness may stem more from protecting himself from suspicion of watching the old man every night than from genuine compassion for the old man.
The Monster’s confusion about the world and his inability to understand why he cannot simply be accepted in society drives his actions. Dutoit elaborates on the not so apparent truth that The Monster goes to great lengths to assimilate by acquiring language, understanding mannerisms and participating in customs. The Monster grows fond of a family, at first he watches them carefully, paying close attention to the details of their life and even steals food, unaware of their poverty. Supporting evidence which allows for the conclusion that he is innately good and simply longing for domesticity is shown by The Monsters willingness to help the family with chores, in secret of course. Nevertheless, he is universally shunned by everyone he encounters, except for the old blind man who was willing to have a social connection with him, until his family returned home and in fear rebelled against The Monster. This constant exile only leads to a greater alienation from the social world he deeply longs to be a part of. Unfortunately, due to his outward appearance, his good intentions are ill received by the people he