Monster Culture Seven Theses Analysis

Society judges on looks, therefore, society described him as a monster. Monster is defined as an imaginary creature, typically large, ugly, and frightening and serves as a caveat (Dictionary.com). Mary Shelley uses the term monster when referring to the creation when she wants to demonstrate the differences between Victor and the creation. This monster, in such sense, might indicate a better version of humanity. However, the monster demonstrates that he can also be empathetic, as spoken about

However, through examining the ancient sources of The Epic of Gilgamesh translated by Danny P. Jackson and Edith Hamilton’s compilation of myths in Mythology, and the modern sources of the book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak and the films of King Kong directed by various people, an analysis can be made of how monsters have changed from the past to the present

Rhetorical Analysis of “Monsters and the Moral Imagination” Many people believe monsters are imaginary creatures that are seen in movies or even for others, it could be a serial killer that was heard about on the news. Stephen T. Asma wrote “Monsters and the Moral Imagination” which “first appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education in October 2009” (Hoffman 61). Asma, who is a professor of philosophy, examines how different individual’s perceptions of a monster can be different depending on the era or even events happening around them. In “Monsters and the Moral Imagination,” Stephen T. Asma wrote a nonfiction, persuasive article for an educated and possibly specialized audience to examine how the idea of monsters have changed over time, what could be the motivation to create them, or even how life experiences could change an individual’s perceptions.

In the epic poem, Beowulf, there are clear distinctions between an epic hero and a monster. Beowulf is the prime example of a epic hero possessing characteristics such as superior strength, courage, and loyalty. On the other hand, Grendel and Grendel’s mother are characteristized as evil and immoral based off of their actions. These characteristics are presented throughout the poem, and monsters are given grotesque, hideous appearances to further prove that they are evil. After Beowulf kills Grendel, Grendel’s mother reaction revealed how the full presentation of a character can allow readers to react differently than before and even sympathized with them.

Monsters come in many forms. Monsters could be what people sees as villains in movies, scary Halloween pictures or simply the “creatures of the night. The word “monster” became a way of explaining the seemingly inexplicable. People create and ascribe meaning to monsters, endowing them with characteristics derived from their most deep-seated fears and taboos. In David Mill’s story, Derealization, the monster motif is used to encompass a bigger idea that the monsters that the readers are afraid are the ones that actually lies within their true

He tells Walton about his lonely existence, and always desire for friendship and love; however, he finds nothing except to leave him a disgust and alienation of everyone. Additionally, in this quote, the Monster has compared himself to Satan and then concludes that he is more wretched than Devil, which can be seen that he alludes again to Paradies Lost, one of his most loved artistic works. And at the end of this sentence, he says that “I am alone.” Even though this brief is unclear, we can easily feel that Victor's death had an effect on the Monster, who had reached the desperate depths of

I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart” (42). Shelley uses the words “horror” and “disgust” to express Frankenstein’s regret. At first, Victor “desired” to make the monster with extreme “ardour,” or passion, which consumed him and damaged his “health.” The damage inflicted to Frankenstein is both physical and mental, as his physical “health” is diminished and the “dream vanished,” causing “disgust to fill his heart,” a fact which is only actually true in Victor’s

In Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner fear of death and specifically the unknown dictates many of the characters’ actions. Jeffery Jerome Cohen’s Monster Culture gives seven theses as to why society creates the monstrous and its functions in our society. The replicants portray a monstrous entity, feared and targeted. They function as a reflection of the society. Tyrell states the replicants are “more human than human” (Scott).

Katie Gallagher Adam Wadenius Film 120 23 September 2015 Don’t Judge a Book By Its’ Cover: A Comparison of the Internal Monster vs. the External Monster

Sticks and strangling will break bones, but words will leave irreparable emotional scars. In Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s epistolary novel, Frankenstein, the estranged Victor Frankenstein deprives his re-animated ‘creature’ of a name. The cruel manner Victor treats his “Adam” (Shelley 119) by withholding a name pushes the Creature further away from the belonging he so desperately seeks (148). As atrocities occur at the ashen hands of the Creature, names like “monster”(118) and “wretched devil”(118) bombard him from those he would seek refuge with . Nameless, the Creature is dehumanized and consequences of a negative perception, internally and from society, persist.

What makes the creature in Frankenstein a monster is that he is both a scientific creation and his physical features and his actions of murder deviate from society’s expectations. Throughout the novel Frankenstein’s creation is never given a real name. Instead, society names the creature by his physical features. In the novel he is called; a “demoniacal corpse, wretch, daemon, devil, monster, ogre, the being and creature” (36, 68, 102, 164, 165). Besides not having a name, Frankenstein’s creature is also described using the terms deformity and monster.

Described in Cohen’s essay, is the extensive insight into how monsters are defined. He says that these monsters are defined by seven different aspects having to do with their appearance, character, or representation. Cohen’s first point is that monsters are always representations or symbols of a particular culture. They are made to life because of emotions or environment in that culture. He states, “The monster is born only at this metaphoric crossroads, as an embodiment of certain cultural moment--- of a time, a feeling, and a face” (Cohen).

In most of the epic stories like Beowulf, the main character is presented to readers. How he thinks and how he faces the antagonist is the focal point. However, modern authors and directors replace this traditional method with its opposite. We start to see the stories through the eyes of evil characters. For example, In a version of Beowu lf by John Gardner, Grendel tells the story and many missing points are clarified such as why Grendel is immune to weapons, why he attacks to the mead-hall and what he thinks during all that bloodshed.

Many times throughout western literature, monsters are portrayed as a threat to the existence of humanity. In Grendel by John Gardner and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, this idea is skewed by the actions of their respective monsters. Both of these novels captivate the reader by having a monster narrate the story, which is uncommon in many works of literature. Although in Frankenstein the reader only witnesses the monster as a narrator once, it has a profound impact on the overall storyline of the book. In Grendel, the book is entirely narrated by Grendel, so the reader adapts to the idea of the main character being a monster.

Many authors convey powerful, civil messages through novels. Walter Dean Myers does that through his novel, Monster. Monster is a story about young sixteen-year-old, Steve Harmon, who is on trial for being an accessory in a murder-robbery. The novel is written in a first person “movie style” that encompasses all of his emotions in a scene by scene setting. Myers brings out a theme of racism through multiple scenes in the novel.