Fear is more than just a blend of mysterious emotions and feelings. Throughout history however, humanity has considered the sentiment of fear to be concept solely based on horrific and traumatic events. While this may be true to some extent, fear can be represented as the moment where an individual becomes aware of their conscience and suddenly becomes scared of becoming their worst nightmare. This perception filled with anxiety embodies the process by which frightening experiences promptly become familiar and recognizable. This idea is known as the uncanny. The uncanny according to Sigmund Freud is “that class of the frightening which leads us back to what is known of old and long familiar. This notion represents the mark of the return of …show more content…
This theory entails aspects of ego, self-observation and self-criticism which goal is to prove how the mind creates a reality of multiple identities. These multiple selves that can potentially cause a person to see themselves as a different being consumed in fear and ultimately turn them into that evil entity. In the stories titled “Berenice” by Edgar Allen Poe and “The Hollow Man” by Norman Patridge, we can observe how the theory of the double is enhanced by the main characters being the sight of the uncanny. The theory of the double is clearly exemplified through the lifestyles of both Berenice and Egaeus. For example, Egaeus describes them by stating “I living within my own heart, and addicted body and soul to the most intense and painful meditation --she roaming carelessly through life with no thought of the shadows in her path, or the silent flight of the raven-winged hours” (Poe, p. 28). This description showcases the uncanniness of Berenices early life. She was a person full of joy without any worries about death and all of a sudden, her life transformed into a living nightmare. Egaeus described her downfall by saying “the spirit of change swept, over her, pervading her mind, her habits, and her character, and, in a manner the most subtle and terrible, disturbing even the identity of her person” (Poe, p. 28). The deterioration of Berenice’s life and body due to her disease portrays Egaeus fear of ending up life his wife. The double in this case is the process of death by which Berenice is going through and the uncanniness can be considered the remembrance of a joyful life and how death can slowly suck the joy out of
Fear resides within all of our souls and our minds in different forms wether it be mind, body, or spirit. Fear can be brought upon by actions, words or ever our mere imagination. Of course as one being younger your imagination can bring along fear that is non existent but, to one it may seem so vivid and tangible. In this Novel by William Golding we come to grasps with many different forms of fear being from the beast, the loss of humanity, and the fear of realization.
Fear is an everyday emotion that the human race must face, and it can bring out the best and worst of us, but its how we choose to deal with it that truly defines us.
Have you ever experienced that feeling when your heart beat goes into hyper drive, your palms start to perspire, and your muscles tense up? Fear is an emotion that everyone has succumbed to at least once in their lifetime. Our fears are like our shadows, for they follow us around to wherever we may go. They are lingering in the back of our minds from the moment we wake up in the morning until our heads hit the pillow at night. Fears are so powerful, however, that they can even crawl into our dreams and manifest into other beings. We, as humans, like to put names or concepts to either faces or objects; we like to possess the ability to visualize what something or someone looks like. As a result, our fears are personified into monsters. Prolific essayist, Chuck Klosterman, points out how “Frankenstein’s monster illustrated our trepidation about untethered science” and “Godzilla was spawned from the fear of the atomic age.” In Klosterman’s article, “My Zombie, Myself: Why Modern Life Feels Rather Undead,” he tackles the
One of the most complex emotions in existence, fear is the primary emotion that triggers any kind of change, as it is capable of linking with any existing emotion to create entirely different lives upon lives. For any change that happens, fear is always present to turn the tide whichever way it pleases.
Fear motivates many people to act upon matters, right or wrong. This emotion has been important in many events in both works of literature, and in the real world. It has forced military geniuses into retreat, and influenced them to plan another method of attack. Fear can be both a positive and a negative acting force in one’s life, a quality that can motivate one to success as well as to downfall.
In the case of Poe’s narrator, he showed symptom of paranoia He believed that his old room mate’s eye was evil.” One of his eyes resemble...
Have you ever had something ever get to you or make you you scared? That is called fear and tons an tons of people have different fears. Fear is an emotion that makes you feel afraid or something is frighten. Some fears many include spiders, clowns and even death. ‘’Fear Prompts Teens To Act Impulsively’’ by Laura Sanders, ‘’Stress for Success’’ by Alison Pearce, and ‘’And Uncomfortable Bed’’ By Guy Maupassant all explain the idea of fear.
In Shirley Jackson's novel "The Haunting of Hill House", there are numerous traces of the representation of the uncanny which was suggested by Sigmund Freud. In the story, the Hill House itself is an uncanny figure to the central protagonist, Eleanor, as it features as her mother which has an ambivalent nature as the meaning of the German word of `uncanny' itself. Moreover, the house also acts as a mirror reflecting her own image so that she can see herself by looking at the house, thus the house is actually an allegory of Eleanor's psychological condition and she is literally consumed by it in the end as the boundary between her and the house collapses. Besides, another protagonist, Theodora, is a double of Eleanor as she figures her opposite side which is her denied self and self-destructiveness while she also expresses the repressed feelings of Eleanor. These examples match with the concept of the uncanny which stresses on the uncanny effect of the `Doubling' and `Infantile complexes' . (Alison 32)
Fear can be caused by many different things and can be a result of different situations. “Fear is a primary emotion. It is an evolved and adaptive physiological response that occurs automatically in response to particular
It is difficult to have an effective approach to what uncanny actually means. Even in Freud's essay "The Uncanny" from Art and Literature, the reader can discover different views and opinions about the meaning of this term. Besides the feelings of fear and disorientation which are produced by something that is currently happening, Freud emphases the idea that men are able to detect the sober truth about the facts; that is to say that the uncanny is not something intellectually uncertain as Jentsch states, "[. . .] The better orientated in an environment readers are, the less readily they get the impression of something uncanny in regard to objects and events in it" (341). Freud does not state that men are able to explain everything strange that can occur; it is that remaining part that falls into discussion whether the matter of facts are mere coincidence or not. It is this part of human life that results frightening, because sometimes, there are so many explanations for one event that doubts are difficult to be clarified.
A Wrinkle in Time: Two Critical Approaches In his essay entitled, “The Uncanny,” Freud begins his definition with an explanation of the German word heimlich, which most often means ‘homely’ or familiar’ but has another, less common meaning of ‘hidden’ or deceitful’ (595). Freud connects this word with its two not quite opposite meanings with the notion of the uncanny, loosely defining it as something which is appears familiar but is understood to be hiding something (596). In A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, the planet of Camazotz, where the evil IT rules, is characterized by a pervading sense of the uncanny from the very beginning.
Fear, what is it? If you google it it says that it means:” an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.” We’ve all gone through fear one way or another, because it’s human nature; a survival instinct. But in modern day life, we have certain comfortability set into place so that these fears don’t come out of hand and become all you think about.
At first glance, Edgar Allan Poe's literary works solely anchor the supernatural in the real world to shock and entertain. After all, isn't that what horror is meant to do? Obviously, there are no deeper meanings hidden among all the unease and spookiness. People are just supposed to feel scared, right? However, through the philosophy of horror framework that Eugene Thacker develops in Tentacles Longer Than Night, I argue that Edgar Allan Poe forces his readers to walk the line between the uncanny and the marvelous in order to embody the consuming power of emotions in "The Tell-Tale Heart."
This paper is focused on how fear as a subject is being perceived by many as a dominant and primitive human emotion. An uncontrollable energy that’s exists and created within every individual, which is directed towards an object or a given situation that does not present an actual danger. The individual then analyzes that the fear is contradictory and thus cannot help the reaction. Gradually, the phobia aims to build up and aggravate as the fear of fear response takes hold. Eventually they distinguish their fear responses as negative, and go out of their way to avoid those reactions. ‘Fear is derived as a basic feeling and therefore created by us – it is not something we have, but something we do. The principle of fear is to keep us safe.’
In this essay I intend to discuss the the significance and development of the theme of the double in two stories written by one of the most well know American writers, Edgar Allan Poe. The two short stories I will be discussing are “William Wilson” and “The Fall of the House of Usher”. Throughout many of Poes’ stories we see a recurring theme in the form of the double, this theme is best shown in the stories “William Wilson” and “The Fall of the House of Usher”.