The Uncanny Valley
At its finest, horror is seductive. Some of the best works of horror are those which test the limitations of degrees of wrongness and still manage to keep audiences enticed. Like Clive Barker’s “In the Hills, the Cities”, a story following a gay couple, Mick and Judd, celebrating their honeymoon in Yugoslavia during a decade of celebration in the nearby cities of Popolac and Podujevo. Only this celebration involves a ritual where the thirty thousand citizens of each city are bound together to create two giant creatures. This story captures the essence of horror by both repulsing its readers and leaving their minds unsettled. I argue that Barker’s “In the Hills, the Cities” is best illustrated as a work of horror through Julia Kristeva 's’ notion …show more content…
Lastly is Masahiro Mori’s “ The Uncanny Valley” (1970) which is only applicable when analyzing the creation of Popolac and Podujevo can only be utilized to understand the uncanny effect of their material properties and physical attributes but nothing beyond that. In his article, Mori argues that robot designers should stray from particular attributes unless they want to risk falling into the uncanny valley. These attributes rely on factors such as familiarity, human likeness, and motion (or lack thereof). Overall, Mori’s theory is relevant when we consider the construction of Popolac and Podujevo and how both their designs break the rules set by Mori. If we were to apply Popolac and Podujevo within Mori’s measures, both giants would be guaranteed to fall into the uncanny valley because of their violation of Mori’s rules on skin color, eyes, and movement. Barker’s giants are not only skin colored, but they are also made of humans and made to resemble a human (despite its odd proportions). The only distinguishing variable between them is movement, unlike Popolac, Podujevo is unstable and moves unnaturally and as a result Podujevo would most likely be lower in the valley. In any case, I argue that beyond establishing these attributes and being able to identify their “uncanniness” on a scale, Mori does not help audiences expand on the nuances presented by Barker’s horrifying
The Devil In The White City Character Analysis
581 Words | 3 PagesThroughout the course of his The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson describes Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair through the eyes of two different main characters: Herman Webster Mudgett—a psychopathic serial killer who builds his famous “death castle” on the outskirts of the fairgrounds, and Daniel Burnham—the director of works for the World’s Columbian Exposition. Larson employs the use of many contrasting themes within his writing including success and failure, but perhaps most importantly, murder and beauty. In order to emphasize said themes, Larson juxtaposes the accounts of his two main characters: Mudgett and Burnham. There is no doubt that the manner in which Larson portrays Mudgett is sketchy at best. Rather than introducing him with a concise description, Larson familiarizes the reader with Mudgett over the course of several chapters.
Burnham In Eric Larson's The Devil In The White City
933 Words | 4 PagesSociety is a structure that besieges every individual. Its daunting presence is inescapable. In Eric Larson’s novel, The Devil In The White City, the stories of two strangers living in close proximity to each other are presented. Both men had goals they dedicated themselves to and challenges they had to conquer, yet the two couldn’t be more disparate. The first man, Burnham was the head architect of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and the second, H.H. Holmes, was an atrocious serial killer.
How Does Bradbury Use Imagery In Fahrenheit 451
1730 Words | 7 PagesDuring 1962, in his late years as an author, Bradbury published a semi-autobiographical classic Something Wicked This Way Comes that epitomizes the modern horror story. Two boys, William Halloway and James Nightshade suddenly encounter a new carnival in their town. Realizing that this new carnival was very mysterious, they started to investigate it. Upon disclosing the frightening secrets of the carnival, the boys start their scary adventure, and discover how to get rid of the creepy carnival. Through their snooping they learned that dance and laughter eliminates the carnival from their town.
Symbolism In P. D. Cacek's The Grave
815 Words | 4 PagesThe horror story is a uniquely interactive genre. Its main objective is to make the reader feel something, whether that be fear, anxiety, suspense, or any combination thereof. These feelings are evoked with the use of a monster, depending on the story it can be an external source, like a vampire or werewolf, or it could be something inside one of the characters, something in their psyche. In her story, “The Grave”, P.D.Cacek utilizes the literary elements of symbolism, imagery, and point of view.
The Devil In The White City Figurative Language
702 Words | 3 PagesThe juxtaposition of two opposing stories is enough to get anyone’s head spinning. Comparing the glamorous production of the Chicago World Fair to the ominous destruction and killing caused by H.H. Holmes in the background is all the more interesting. Erik Larson’s 2003 nonfiction novel does just that. One would never think to relate murder to art until after reading this book. In The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson uses figurative language, imagery, and juxtaposition to create a vivid illustration of the contrast between good and evil in Chicago in 1893.
Maggie Nelson's 'Great To Watch'
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The Devil In The White City Analysis
1287 Words | 6 PagesAmerican journalist and author Erik Larson’s nonfiction novel The Devil In the White City establishes a theme of perception that is prevalent throughout the text. Larson’s use of this theme is intended for the reader to see that the way things are perceived by an audience is not necessarily the way they truly are; many times the characters in this novel will see something that the narrator will later prove inaccurate. He imposes a strong contrast between what is seen and what is there to convey the concept that things within this novel can have a completely different meaning than what they appear to, paralleling the theme of good vs. bad. The similar motifs that are portrayed within the text bring together one idea that the character’s perception of danger is skewed within the setting and timeframe of this novel.
Chicago World Fair
786 Words | 4 PagesA beautiful portrait of the fair is built with Larson’s detailed depictions of “the buildings, waterways, and scenery” (Larson 274) within this spectacle. The clear pictures painted in the reader’s mind transports them to this wonder-filled attraction. However, more disturbing images are depicted in subtle ways, like the fact that Holmes “often smelled vaguely of chemicals” (Larson 46.) An image of horror conjures within the mind of the reader at this seemingly minuscule detail.
Im The King Of The Castle Analysis
832 Words | 4 PagesHow does Hill create a powerfully dramatic sense of fear and tension in this extract? In Susan Hill 's book "I 'm the King of the Castle", some of the main themes are tension and fear. Hill uses many literary techniques to create a heinous and dramatic atmosphere (following the theme of gothic literature), while still keeping a sense of dark excitement. Kingshaw 's fears and feelings are conveyed using a selection of linguistic techniques, letting the reader see deep into his thoughts.
Psychological Themes In Alfred Hitchcock's Horror Film Psycho
774 Words | 4 PagesHowever, film critic, Robin Wood, argues that ‘since Psycho, the Hollywood cinema has implicitly recognised horror as both American and familial’ he then goes on to connect this with Psycho by claiming that it is an “innovative and influential film because it supposedly presents its horror not as the produce of forces outside American society, bit a product of the patriarchal family which is the fundamental institution of American society” he goes on to discuss how our civilisation either represses or oppresses (Skal, 1994). Woods claim then suggests that in Psycho, it is the repressions and tensions within the normal American family which produces the monster, not some alien force which was seen and suggested throughout the 1950 horror films. At the beginning of the 60’s, feminisation was regarded as castration not humanization. In “Psycho” (1960) it is claimed that the film presents conservative “moral lessons about gender roles of that the strong male is healthy and normal and the sensitive male is a disturbed figure who suffers from gener confusion” (Skal, 1994). In this section of this chapter I will look closely at how “Psycho” (1960) has layers of non-hetro-conforming and gender-non conforming themes through the use of Norman Bates whose gender identitiy is portrayed as being somewhere between male and female
Weather In Susan Hill's The Woman In Black
1000 Words | 4 PagesIn the first chapter the narrator states ‘My spirits have for many years now been excessively affected by the ways of the weather’ (2). The Woman in Black is a 1983 horror novella by Susan Hill, written in the style of a traditional Gothic novel. The plot is about a mysterious spectre that haunts a small English town, Crythin Gifford, heralding the death of children. In The Woman in Black weather is an important aspect which influences the narrator’s actions and the atmosphere of the story. In both negative and positive connotation, Arthur Kipps is mainly affected by the change of weather.
Fear In H. P. Lovecraft's The Colour Out Of Space
1497 Words | 6 PagesFear plays a big part in everyone’s lives. While not everyone will admit it, everyone is scared of something. There is a lot that isn’t known about the world and everything in it. For some this is a tool that can be used to develop horror in literature as well as many other things. “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.
A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Robot Invasion
616 Words | 3 PagesThroughout history, the human has always envisioned living a lifestyle where chores were considered as a part of the past. With the development of humanoids and androids robots in the 1950’s, chores were really becoming part of the past. Therefore, because robots were able to adapt and meet the needs and wants of humans. As a result, we started to see an increase in both the use and production of robots in factories and households. In the article “The Robot Invasion” the author Charlie Gills, is really able to convey the relevance and effectiveness of a robot through the use of the tone, purpose, and credibility.
Sexual Anxieties In Bram Stoker's Dracula
650 Words | 3 PagesThis unsettling evokes some of the key features of the Gothic, such as the use of phantasmagoria, transgression, and excesses, all of which disturbed the reader by surrounding them with dark reflections of a reality portrayed through fiction. Pacts with the devil to obtain one’s desires, monks and aristocrats who revel in luxury — even if this means they must stain their hands with blood —, vampires and mad scientists: all corrupt one’s morals, all corrupt the false appearance of serenity. Likewise, the female vampires who torment Jonathan Harker disturb the harmony of the domestic sphere and unsettle the delicate balance between the private and the public domain. These vampiric women are marked by heightened sensuality and tacked to other fatal women that permeate art and European literature at the end of the nineteenth century. In this novel, fear and desire are often confused, a clue modern anxieties surrounding desire toward sensuous but degrading bodies.
The Woman In Black Gothic Analysis
690 Words | 3 PagesThe London fog, the town of Crythin Gifford, and the park scene all gives the novella a very gothic atmosphere. The novella, especially gives a feeling of dread and mystery with the atmosphere. “The Woman in Black” by Susan Hill is a haunting story that leaves the reader searching for more answers, maybe even more than
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