The Meaning of Monsters
Monsters in literature have been evident since people have had religion in their lives in my opinion. We can examine this by looking at history, religion, culture and comparing it to a modern work like Coraline, by Neil Gaiman.
In the past and present times, religion has always had a strong division of good and evil. The good is always honest, pure, courageous, and naive while the evil has a dark, deceitful, dishonest, and trickster side. When we look at the character Coraline in the book Coraline, we can observe all these good things in her and the evil “other” side shows the opposite. Religion always sets a tone for the “unknown,” whether it be good or bad which can cause our imaginations to run wild. Going all the way back to mythology, gods and goddesses had specific powers set to them and there were good and bad differences among them. We can say that example was played out in Coraline, with her normal side; regular parents and neighbors, and the other side; her other (evil) parents and neighbors. The concept of the other parents looking like her real parents but not actually, gives them the trickster aspect of evil. In the end of the story, Coraline realizes that the other mother actually looks nothing like her real mother. Another example of trickery in Coraline would be when the other mother shows Coraline a image of her real parents in the mirror displaying that they are much happier without her even though deep down Coraline knows this is not true. Again, this can be traced back to religion when we think of the story of Creation, and how the serpent tricked Eve into eating the apple. In most literature, even in the Bible, I have noticed two things: a fight between good and evil, and good always seeming to prevail. When we read a story or watched a movie and good does not overcome evil, it ends up leaving me unsettled because essentially, we all want a hero to come out on top.
Culturally, we like to have a fantasy side that shows evil as some kind of monster. I think we do this because we have a fear of the unknown and if we see something like a shadow moving, we automatically assume that there must be a monster hiding in our closet. We assign these shadows as monsters and we create works like Coraline that give a “fake” truth to things we cannot explain. Otherwise, what could it possibly be? Our fantasies mixed in with religious beliefs, dreams, fears, and a splash of the occult cause us to write great stories about monsters. In the end of Coraline, she becomes free of the other mother and realizes that the other mother’s hand is still following her. It reminded me of the Addam’s Family character “Thing,” who was not a bad hand at all. On the same note, it makes you wonder where in our history or religion that a mythical hand might have came from? Another idea of this hand is in the cult classic 1980s horror flick The Evil Dead. They all can apparently see (the hands), and want to do harm (except for “Thing,” because the Addam’s Family was a comedy) to whomever got it removed. What I find interesting about all monsters in our literature is that most of them get recycled and repeated. How many werewolf and vampire movies, stories, television shows have been created? I realize that the story lines are different, however, the same monsters seem to be brought to light. Again, I believe this comes from history, religion, and culture which cause us to believe some of these monsters actually exist.
Personally, I enjoy supernatural stories the best. I feel like it is a way for my mind to let go of concrete thinking, and enjoy the depths of something from another world that may or may not exist - and a way to scare yourself! Monsters may have not actual basis for validity however, ghost, apparitions, and/or spirits are a constant question in our lives. I like the fact that Coraline contained those elements with the three ghosts behind the mirror which gave it a more realistic twist than just a made up monster on the other side. Rationally, the idea of ghosts being “real” depends on the person - but I do believe!!!!
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