Monsters are symbols and representations of a culture. They exist because of certain places or feelings of a time period. Monsters are “an embodiment of a certain cultural moment”. Author of Grendel, John Gardner, and author of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, both create a monster to represent something larger than itself in order to have the reader reflect on their “fears, desires, anxiety, and fantasy” in society, which is explained in Jefferey Cohen's Monster Culture (Seven Theses). The latest trend in monster media, zombies, also fit into Cohen's theses on what a monster is.
Jeffery Cohen's first thesis states “the monster's body is a cultural body”. Monsters give meaning to culture. A monsters characteristics come from a culture's most deep-seated fears and fantasies. Monsters are metaphors and pure representative allegories. What a society chooses to make monstrous says a lot about that society’s people. Monsters help us express and find our darkest places, deepest fears, or creepiest thoughts. Monsters that scare us,vampires, zombies, witches, help us cope with what we dread most in life. Fear of the monstrous has brought communities and cultures together. Society is made up of different beliefs, ideas, and cultural actions. Within society there are always outcasts, people that do not fit into the norm or do not follow the status quo. Those people that do not fit in become monsters that are feared almost unanimously by the people who stick to the status quo.
As human nature, we tend to judge too much. We judge others by the color of their skin, their weight, if they have acne or not, and how they dress The Creature, from Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, is judged throughout the entire novel. He looks different,
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...r can not be satisfied. The zombie is a consumer. Zombies are most often used as a metaphor these days for uncontrollable consumerism that plagues our generation. We blindly buy without thinking, either because of a low price, lust, or simply we just want more. We are guilty of “Zombie Consumerism”. Zombie consumerism is evident in George Romeros' film, Dawn of the Dead. In this movie, a shopping mall is where the characters take refuge and becomes the setting in which the humans stay in the battle of the zombies. They gorge themselves in free food and are delighted about having almost everything at their fingertips all to themselves. It sound's perfect. They can consume anything they want and they will be okay, forever. It is ironic then when there is nothing left and they must find new sources of shelter and food and resources, or become the resources themselves.
In society, there have always been different roles in defining the boundaries between right and wrong; Monsters take a big part of that role. In Jeffrey Cohen’s “Monster Culture,” Cohen explains seven theses which provide a clearer explanation of how monsters take a part in establishing these boundaries. The oldest Anglo-Saxon story written- “Beowulf”- provides three different monsters which all connect to Cohen’s seven theses. In the older version, however, the monsters do not relate to humans in any way, except that they are enemies. The modern version of Beowulf portrays Grendel’s mother to still be evil but also have relations with the humans in the story.
Monsters are the physical embodiment of fear. Monsters are the physical embodiment due to a wide variety of reasons. The most important being: Monsters’ apparent invulnerability/incredible strength, represent the bad part of society, most often look ugly, represent evil/nightmares itself, are intelligent, and some deviate from the norms are the reasons why monsters are the physical embodiment of fear. Monsters’ incredible characteristics are what strike fear into the hearts of others. In many myths, monsters are a weakness to societies. For instance, the heroes of Rome fight these monsters in order to overcome them which is the symbolic overcoming of weakness by the community. The fear monsters represent is primarily human fear as monsters are generally on good terms with animals and human fear is far deeper than animal fear.
The monsters are specifically identified as something “other” outside of humanity. “The creature does not choose to be alienated. Rather it is, in fact, others who isolate it, because of its hideous appearance.” (Brannstrom 10-11) In spite of the obvious bias of this quotation, it draws towards an overarching idea. How the monsters are the dark side of man. That’s their narrative intent. Even in the creature’s case where he seems to be a Tabula Rasa onto which man creates violence; he is partly intended to show, “...alienation and how innocent victims are affected by it” (Brannstromm 3) Grendel is certainly meant to represent the darker thoughts of man, with Gardner insinuating that excessive, “nihilistic or existential thoughts caused the violence of Grendel.” (Merril 166) and his physical form is monstrous even more so than the creature’s. The reader is left in a situation where the acts of man on the two monsters aren’t unjustified, and the acts of the monsters as retribution aren’t unjustified. When man first met Grendel, they assumed he was dangerous and hurt him. When Frankenstein first saw his creation, he fled in
When people think of the word “monster,” their thoughts go straight to the scary mortals that frightened us as children. Whether it was the monster under our bed, the creature that hid in our closets, or the strange man that sat outside our windows watching our every move, we have all had a similar experience. People never give the culture behind that particular monster a second thought. They do not know that there is so much more to a monster than just fangs, claws, scary masks, etc. There is a culture behind each and everyone of them. By knowing and understanding who and how this monster exists, you learn about the culture that brought this monster to life. You learn about the monster's body and all the feelings it incorporates. I am going to be talking about a monster that caught my attention and that not many people are informed about, and that is the Lochness Monster.
Through the ages, history has created some of the most horrid creatures that haunt and rule the nightmares of the people. From Dracula to the Werewolf and Frankenstein, monsters have become a part of everyday life, evolving alongside of the rest of the world with each newly introduced monster being just a little worse than the next. Modern day times have created monsters so horrifying that they would make even those as famous as Dracula and Frankenstein squirm and shake with fear at just a rapid glimpse. Both Grendel and Frankenstein reflect the values and characteristics of their respective time period.
Cohen states that, "When the monsters come back, they bring a fuller knowledge of our place, but they bear self-knowledge, human knowledge—and a disclosure all the more sacred as it arises from the Outside" (Cohen 20). As the monsters evolve, their intelligence and knowledge levels begin to surpass those of the humans. The monsters begin to question the humanity of humans by asking them, "How do they perceive the world, and how have they misrepresented what they have attempted to place" (Cohen 20). The monsters bring awareness to concerns and issues that exist in society. In one way, monsters appear to have been created to aid the "real humans", but the humans feel so threatened by the monsters that they fail to realize the positive influence they bring to society. Due to the poor treatment the "Other" receive, Cohen demands humans, "To reevaluate our cultural assumptions about race, gender, sexuality, perception of difference, and our tolerance toward its expansions" (Cohen 20). Ideologies that disparage or discriminate, such as evil lies behind homosexuality or that women play an inferior role in society, must be abandoned and left in the past. These mindsets are unsupportable, and it is counterproductive and simply wrong for any group to exclude others merely because of their
A monster is, by definition, a creature that causes fear or physical harm. This term is applied to animals that evoke fear, human-animal hybrids, as well as people who do horrific or cruel things. In Monster of God Quammen talks about man-eaters and predators and how people interact with such monsters. In On Monsters, Asma discusses the psychology of humans becoming monsters and the creation of fictional monsters. Both Asma and Quammen agree that the role of monsters in our society is to humble humans, which Quammen shows through his discussion of monsters in religion, and Asma displays in the psychological reactions to monsters.
Monsters are some of the most commonly found characters throughout literature of the ages. They present a common antagonist for society to oppose and allow people to have hope that overcoming their obstacles is achievable. In general, when most people imagine monsters they dream up creatures that are ugly, vile, and purely wicked in their motives. This holds true in many cases, but is not the end-all be-all of who is considered to be a monster. In actuality, a monster is any being who differs from the normal appearance, behavior, or upholds different morals than is generally accepted by the public.
Have you ever wondered what a monster truly is? It is a label we give much aptitude. When we are young children we always fear the monsters that are coming to get us. We wonder about the monsters under our bed or in our closet. Then when we get older we just lose that fear. Without even a second regard that idea has just vaporized. Monsters become people in our eyes. The word becomes a label for people who do bete noire things. We see the wrongdoers as the monsters; murderers and kidnappers all are monsters to us. Even though we all have the same capability and keys laying deep without ourselves to be these so-called monsters.
The zombies in book satisfy the characteristics that define a horrific monster. An event that is associated with a monster caused great misfortune. The zombies are fearsome beings that want to bring harm and are fear into the lives of the fictional characters. The existence of the monsters would be incongruous with reality, but we let out minds escape. Brooks tries to teach us that we need also be smart when we are put in “fight or flight” situations because our decisions will determine our survival. In addition, zombies are made an allegory to many of the bad things of the world and human are in constant battle with them. In addition, the zombies symbolize a natural disaster, a threat that is uncontrollable and perpetual in our world. Zombies have become an intrinsic part of the World War Z and people must adapt and learn to survive despite their fears. Humans are at an all-out war with zombies and they cannot lose or they risk the eradication of the human
Monsters can come in various physical forms, but all monsters share the same evil mentality. A Monster is a being that harms and puts fear within people. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a prime example of how appearance does not determine whether a creature is a monster or not. In the story, Victor Frankenstein tries to change nature by creating a super human being. The being appears to be a monster. Victor becomes so obsessed with his creation and then rejects it. Victor is the real monster because of his desire for power, lack of respect for nature, and his stubbornness.
A monster can be characterized by an extreme deviation from the normal standards of society including an internal or external wickedness. In the case of Mary Shelley’s Creature, his appearance overwhelms those who lay eyes upon him. A mere glance can send a villager running for the hills. It was not until the Creature caught a glance of his own reflection that he understood why villagers were so afraid of him. The realization of his ghastly appearance began the monster’s journey into hopelessness. In Peter Brooks’ article he writes, “Self recognition as the ‘filthy type’ completes the mirror stage of the Monsters development.” (Brooks 377). Seeing oneself as ugly and slovenly can cast shadows on even the most compassionate of hearts.
Throughout the novel, Shelley investigates the idea of monstrosity. She makes the point that a monster does not have to be genuinely evil in order to be considered monstrous. Shelley presents two characteristics of mankind in order to prove her case. The first example is Frankenstein’s creation. Upon first being introduced to his creation, the reader initially labels him as a monster because of his physical appearance. He is portrayed as a man with “…yellow skin scarcely cover[ing] the work of muscles and arteries beneath…watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set…shrivelled complexion and straight black lips” (Shelley 58). Not only does the reader view him as...
While doing my research I have come to see that there are monsters that can be categorized into four groups . Each corresponds to the progress we have made and the scientific fears of unknown worlds. First, the The beast of nature this would include BigFoot, Godzilla, and the LochNess monster. These are sightings of monsters still trying to have their existence proven till this day. They have been seen in the woods, lakes and created from natural disasters. Second the monster of science like Frankenstein for example, or the Transformers franchise is from technology an evolving science. Third, the monster the walks among us whom is generated by their own oppressed minds. This would be serial killers and a Mr. Hyde to our Dr. Jekyll, this monster is much like the extreme perpetrators I talked about previously. Fourth, the complex monster, like Dracula. Steven C. Herbert claims that Dracula "comes out of a pagan world and offers an alternative to ordinary Christianity with his promise of a blood feast that will confer immortality. He represents the fear
Frankenstein shows that what looks like a monster in appearance my not be and what looks normal on appearance may be a monster. While a scary ugly creature may look like a monster a true monster is formed from within and is scene through actions. Along with this knowledge is power and power has the ability to make monsters. The pursuit to know more is a never ending road that leads to lies, secretes, and monstrosity. “How much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow,” while knowledge is boundless and beautiful an excess of anything can create a monster.