A monster is, by definition, a creature that causes fear or physical harm. This term is applied to animals that evoke fear, human-animal hybrids, as well as people who do horrific or cruel things. In Monster of God Quammen talks about man-eaters and predators and how people interact with such monsters. In On Monsters, Asma discusses the psychology of humans becoming monsters and the creation of fictional monsters. Both Asma and Quammen agree that the role of monsters in our society is to humble humans, which Quammen shows through his discussion of monsters in religion, and Asma displays in the psychological reactions to monsters.
More often than not, monsters are fantastical and appear in folklore, religion, and other stories. Asma examines
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This creates beings that people can openly hate and use to prove their points. When a monster cannot be beat, it shows the limits of man effectively humbling them. On the flip side when the monster is defeated, it serves to inflate man's ego, and asserts his dominance and power over nature. Quammen discusses the power man asserts over predators through showing the slow extinction of these man-eaters. When writing about the extinction of lions Quammen says “the real problems were on land, and the real sharks were humanity,” (Quammen, pg. 29). His view on humanity's treatment of these predators isn’t minced, and clearly Quammen is disgusted by the power man has asserted over these specific monsters. Asma writes “heroes overcome monsters as a mechanism by which we resolve our anxieties about injustices in the world,” (Asma, pg.198). Man views the conquering of monsters as justice, and restoring balance to the world. Such a view speaks to the mentality of mankind and how people rationalize their actions through the personification of monsters. Asma uses Freud to explain this phenomenon through the logic of projection. According to Freud, “phobias have the character of a projection in that they replace an internal instinctual danger by an external perceptual one,” (Asma, pg. 198). Essentially the internal conflicts man feels is projected onto predators such as the lion, to build them into a
In society, there have always been different roles in defining the boundaries between right and wrong; Monsters take a big part of that role. In Jeffrey Cohen’s “Monster Culture,” Cohen explains seven theses which provide a clearer explanation of how monsters take a part in establishing these boundaries. The oldest Anglo-Saxon story written- “Beowulf”- provides three different monsters which all connect to Cohen’s seven theses. In the older version, however, the monsters do not relate to humans in any way, except that they are enemies. The modern version of Beowulf portrays Grendel’s mother to still be evil but also have relations with the humans in the story.
Cohen, Jeffrey J. “Monster Culture (Seven Theses).” Monsters. Ed. Brandy Ball Blake and L. Andrew Cooper. Southlake, TX: Fountainhead Press, 2012. 11-33. Print.
Across different works like Virgil’s Aeneid and Aeschylus’ Eumenides, In these representations of monsters, the initial relationship between gods and monsters is simple: all monsters derived from the gods. However, as soon as distinguishing features set the monsters apart, they prove Clay’s point that monsters are seen as threats who need to be contained and whose powers need to be exploited by the gods. The close reading of both texts reveal the relationship between gods and monsters along with the power structures between
Ever thought of where monsters come from? Do they just appear in our world, or are they procreated by fellow monsters, maybe, created by humans and their desires. During the renaissance and romantic era, a belief roamed around consisting of the idea that any child not resembling their original procreators was considered deformed, therefore also considered a “monster.” Many factors were considered to affect a child’s resemblance to their progenitors, such as women imagination, and desires, absolutely crossing of the role of paternity in the creation process. Although she succeeds in providing many good examples of women’s imagination being a primal factor in procreation, Marie-Helene Huet, in her essay, “ Introduction To Monstrous Imagination,”
dictators or people who behave in a bad way. The idea of a monster is
Monsters and Men (Unit Paper). For ages, we have wondered what is the difference between monsters and men that make them who they are. What are the characteristics that define a monster? Typically it’s the bad guy, the person or thing that comes into the story just to cause a massacre or stand in the protagonist’s way.
Monsters are disturbing hybrids whose bodies do not want to be included in any systematic structuration. The monster is, therefore, dangerous. It always appears at times of crisis as kind of the third term that creates more problems. The power to avoid and undermine has run through the monsters blood since the classic times. The monster also resists any classification built on hierarchy or just binary opposition and instead demands a system that allows mixed response and resistance to integration. The geography of a monster is wide and always full of cultural debate that can never be
Monsters and the Moral Imagination, written by Stephen Asma, presents many possible outcomes as to why monsters are the rise. Mr. Asma discusses why monster portrayals could be on the rise in movies, books, and stories throughout his subsection Monsters are on the Rise. Perhaps the rise is due to traumatic events in recent history such as the holocaust or the terroristic attacks of 9/11 in
Jeffery Cohen's first thesis states “the monster's body is a cultural body”. Monsters give meaning to culture. A monsters characteristics come from a culture's most deep-seated fears and fantasies. Monsters are metaphors and pure representative allegories. What a society chooses to make monstrous says a lot about that society’s people. Monsters help us express and find our darkest places, deepest fears, or creepiest thoughts. Monsters that scare us,vampires, zombies, witches, help us cope with what we dread most in life. Fear of the monstrous has brought communities and cultures together. Society is made up of different beliefs, ideas, and cultural actions. Within society there are always outcasts, people that do not fit into the norm or do not follow the status quo. Those people that do not fit in become monsters that are feared almost unanimously by the people who stick to the status quo.
The term monster according to a layman’s definition is a creature that cannot be control and causes a lot of distractions, the intention of a monster is to put fear in others to fulfill their desires. Literary, monster in any given piece is when someone or creature is endowed with power
“Monsters, in the language of mythology, were beings of unnatural proportions or parts, usually regarded with terror, as possessing immense strength and ferocity, which they employed for the injury and annoyance of men”(Thomas Bulfinch). This quote defines a monster and describes them as unnatural and often feared by the people they terrorize. There are many different types of monsters and all monsters fight different heroes, but all their purpose is the same, to strike fear in the people surrounding them. In Greek mythology heroes are often sent to defeat these creatures that are thought to be unbeatable. Heroes are often sent to beat these monsters as a way to gain passage to a better life. The heroes who fight with the monsters often have some divinity in their background. While there is only one type of hero, who in the end always wins and overcome the odds, heroes such as Hercules, Oedipus and Bellerphon, but there are many different types of monsters to fight each hero, such as the Sphinx, the Centaurs and the Chimera.
Monsters can come in various physical forms, but all monsters share the same evil mentality. A Monster is a being that harms and puts fear within people. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a prime example of how appearance does not determine whether a creature is a monster or not. In the story, Victor Frankenstein tries to change nature by creating a super human being. The being appears to be a monster. Victor becomes so obsessed with his creation and then rejects it. Victor is the real monster because of his desire for power, lack of respect for nature, and his stubbornness.
Nowadays, people are still enticed by fear, they have a curiosity for the supernatural, evil and frightening. Although modern day society is supposedly politically correct, we are still an immoral society and many of us would treat a creature like Frankenstein’s creation or a vampire like Dracula like a monster. In this way, the novels still have social significance.
We live in a world where creatures have abilities that can blow our minds, however we are ignorant of this. We live in a world where a constant power struggle is occurring between these secret species, a struggle that most human beings have no inclination to. We live in a world where people who know the truth are sworn to secrecy, and those who proclaim this truth are considered crazy and locked away; to be sane is to be ignorant. Well, that is what I would love to be true. In actuality, I am fascinated with the topic of monsters; I love them all: lycanthropes, Frankenstein’s monster, witches, fae, necromancers, zombies, demons, mummies, and my favorite: vampires.
A monster is defined as an imaginary creature that is typically large, ugly, and frightening. By this definition, Victor’s creature who is depicted to be eight feet tall and hideous