The use of monsters in literature not only speaks to our own deep-rooted personal fears, but they also embody the current state of our society as a whole. One of the best explanations of our usage of monsters as tools to reflect a cultural movement, moment, or collective fear can be found within Jeffrey Jerome Cohen's Monster Culture (seven theses). One of Cohen's most notable ideas from this work is that "the monster's body is a cultural body." As Cohen states within his work, "The monster is born at this metaphoric crossroads, as an embodiment of a certain cultural moment--of a time, a feeling, and a place." Monsters quite literally represent the world around us, as they become living embodiments of our current crises.
A monster can take on the fear, anxiety, or desires of an entire society and can communicate them in a creative way that may be able to reach more people than your typical news story. Literature and art are ways for us to express our concerns, fears, and desires in a bold, unapologetic manner. For example, the current societal fascination with zombies speaks directly to our growing concerns over infectious diseases plaguing our world, as well as our ever-present fears of extreme disaster and devastation.
We may not even realize our own fears until they are presented to us, so monsters exist as a sort of "wake-up call" to us about what we are afraid of and thus, what changes we need to fight for within our society. Monsters help us better understand our fears, and through this heightened awareness, we can become more proactive about social and political change within our society.
If we were never afraid of anything, change would never occur. Writers such as Anne Rice utilized monsters to make a statement on sexuality and thus helped pave the way for social acceptance in what used to be a very closed-off society. In order to capture the attention of the public, we often need to shock them. This is where monsters come into play. Once the attention of the public is captured, change can finally begin to bloom.
Monsters will always form a large part of the lore and stories that we create. We may see monsters in our folklore, but the reason why lies within our minds. Psychology provides a few reasons why we keep coming back to stories that frighten yet intrigue us.
In his book Haunted: On Ghosts, Witches, Vampires, Zombies, and Other Monsters of the Natural and Supernatural Worlds, Leo Braudy explains that “we are drawn to see what we also dread to see.” His idea of why we are drawn to tell stories and make myths that deal with monsters is because we have an almost detrimental fixation on those things that we fear most. Even if something is a primal fear, we are drawn to see it because there is something deep within us that desires to confront those fears.
Carl Jung, a Swiss psychologist, explained that monsters represent the dark parts within us and that recognizing that darkness is the first step to mastering it. He called the darkness within the shadow and said,
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is an essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
Part of what might draw us to stories about monsters is that the monsters reflect the darkness within us—whether it be cruelty (vampires), mindlessness (zombies), or loss of control (werewolves)—every story fascinates us and draws us in because we see ourselves in them. The stories of monsters ring true because even if we don't meet a ghost or ghoul in real life, we know that we will have to contend with the darkness in ourselves and others because monsters are real. The monsters of lore are metaphors for those we face in real life.
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