The Significance of Monsters in Literature
David Marshall
Contemporary readers can undervalue monsters as a device within literature. When asked whether there is any significance in having monsters in our literature, a focus group of readers gave responses that varied from “There is no significance at all… it’s for children” to “People just like to be scared.” While I disagree with these sentiments, I decided to dissect them. Monsters are more than mere bogeymen for children. This is not to say that there have not been poor conceptions of monsters or adaptations; however, there is a reason why, historically, humanity has been drawn to monsters. These monsters lurk within the hidden recesses of our minds and have psychological significance. I will showcase some well-known examples of monsters found in Classical, Gothic, and Contemporary literature to prove their significant value to the author and audience. This assessment may inspire writers in the successful crafting of their monsters.
Classical Literature: Using Monsters as a Symbolic Perversion of Values
Monsters can be an ornate argument to a culture, as seen in the battle between Polyphemus and Odysseus. The typical protagonist that Homer crafts tends to be, summarily, a man at war with the hostile world. In the Odyssey, Odysseus begins as a roaming pirate king; by the end, he is an impossible force of nature to overcome. But before that can happen, Odysseus must meet the cyclops Polyphemus. When Odysseus encounters the Cyclops in his time of need, the Cyclops grabs one of Odysseus’s men, bashes his body against the stone ground, and eats him. Upon seeing this, Odysseus and his remaining men cry out in terror. The contemporary reader may not flinch, as this behavior of Polyphemus is expected; however, it bears more importance to the ancient Greeks. One of the most significant virtues held by the Greeks is Xenia, which can be translated as “hospitality.” In ancient Greek culture, hospitality is a vital element of religious practice, and to refuse hospitality to another is to incur Zeus’s wrath. Cyclopes are the children of Poseidon and are referenced as cultivators with more awareness than regular beasts. Greek listeners would be mortified by Polyphemus’s violation of Xenia. Homer effectively uses his monster to showcase the perversion of Greek virtue. Odysseus can become an impossible force by facing nightmares throughout his journey. Odysseus then needs to become more powerful to subvert the perversion of hospitality.
When utilizing this approach, a writer may deconstruct a value of society, analyze its blind spots (the excluded, hypocrisy, or similar elements), and pair their monster with the value of society in a way that perverts the understanding of the value. The monster will be seen as a horrific antithesis to that value that a protagonist must overcome.
Gothic Literature: Using Monsters as an Obscure Reflection of the Self
A Freudian examination of monsters within literature lets us connect the paradoxical complexity of human living and conflict through surrealist aestheticism. Humanity has always feared monsters, for monsters manifest themselves in different ways. Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory is an excellent tool for deciphering the darkness is found in gothic literature. For example, one need only look at Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, The Modern Prometheus. Mary Shelley tells the narrative through the young Victor Frankenstein, a scientist who, in his fervent study of forbidden magic arts and sciences, becomes nearly mad in his pursuit to defy science and craft a man. Readers are privileged to know his inner thoughts due to the first-person narrative structure that Shelley employs. Victor is successful but is terrified by his creation, which he deems an abomination. The abandoned Creature is left to his own devices in a most cruel manner. Shelley explores a series of parallels made possible through Victor Frankenstein’s dialogues with The Creature. The parallels rest upon relationship: Frankenstein and God, Frankenstein to The Creature. Many arguments are introduced throughout this extraordinary novel. However, my focus resides on the inextricable relationship between “the creator” and “the created.” Shelley asks, “What does the creator owe the created?”
One cannot separate Christianity from this novel, for it is woven throughout. We have a character, Victor Frankenstein, who feels that the punishment of death delivered by God is too great a burden to bear and seeks to unshackle humanity from it. In the pursuit of power over death, Frankenstein births the Creature. Frankenstein abandons the infantile Creature, mortified by its external appearance, condemns it to a cruel life of rejection and solitude. The Creature becomes enraged, deciding to take vengeance on Frankenstein, bringing more death into the world—upending the goals of Frankenstein. What does Frankenstein owe the Creature? Ought Frankenstein to feel a paternal instinct as The Creature suggests? Is there a kindred spirit that ought to be shared between these two created beings? The story is ironic yet communicates inner truths contained in the consciences of Frankenstein and The Monster. A Freudian understanding of the text permits the reader to examine the near-perfect reflection between Frankenstein and the Creature.
For this technique, a writer must examine the societal structures superimposed upon the individual. For example, there are recurring themes of Christianity throughout the novel utilized between Victor Frankenstein and the Monster. Additionally, the Monster is said to have read Paradise Lost, which is his superimposed structure within his mind (even admitting that he does not know if he is Adam or Satan in the story). In this type of story, your protagonist is pitted against a monster of his own making. The two ought to be of a similar nature, interlocking in an arduous and volatile fight that will seek to determine what it truly means to be human. The answer does not come quickly, nor is it altogether clear, for humanity has been trying to answer that question for quite some time.
Contemporary Literature: A Monster of the Contemporary Mind
The Monster still appears in contemporary literature. The contemporary Monster is just as real as it was centuries ago; it is harder to spot sometimes. Throughout history, a drastic shift has occurred in how monsters are portrayed in literature, curving towards more realistic narratives. However, one cannot so easily eradicate fear in such a dangerous world, where threat gnaws away at the human subconscious. The short story “Woman Hollering Creek” is a narrative of a romantic immigrant woman named Cleófilas who endures abuse from her husband. The short story establishes that Cleófilas holds an unrealistic understanding of love from the soap operas and romance books she grew up with, causing her to believe that, eventually, the sun will rise on their relationship. These beliefs erode as the story continues. Cleófilas and her husband have a child, which makes her feel trapped. There is an eerie point in the story where Cleófilas sits on the bank of the river with her child in her arms, recounting the myth of La Llorona. Summarily, a version of the myth is of a woman who drowns her children so that her husband cannot find them, then drowns herself in her guilt. La Llorona must traverse the land in a type of purgatory until she finds her children she murdered. The positioning of Cleófilas’ recounting of the horrific tale makes the reader conclude that she has begun to fantasize about taking the life of her child in the same manner. Cleófilas is desperate; however, with the demanding structures that have her locked in her marriage, she fantasizes about keeping her children from the same fate (and perhaps giving herself a better chance at escape).
Cisneros utilizes the Monster in a way that combines the two techniques I previously discussed to provide a monster palatable to the contemporary reader. For a while, La Llorona is not a real monster in the story; Cisneros creates a shift in the stories Cleófilas tells herself, going from romantic stories of hope to horror folklore containing despair. The Monster that Cisneros creates resides in the imagination of Cleófilas, but that does not make La Llorona any less real. Cisneros’ insight acknowledges that sometimes, the social structures and media we consume can influence us in ways that imitate monsters or demons.
Takeaways
These are only some of the ways that one can utilize the Monster in literature. For there are many monsters that I did not cover and many stories left unsaid. However, by examining these particular monsters and how writers utilize them historically, an author can analyze how they might effectively craft monsters and metaphors of their own. Creating monsters requires sophistication that cannot be bought with mimicry. Sophistication arrives when one understands the larger psychological and social structures. Without the intricate interlaying of themes and other more profound concepts, the Monster has no teeth.
0 Comments