Monster Culture Seven Theses Analysis

A Portrayal on Accidental Monsters In many folklore and legends, there are tellings of monsters. These monsters serve important roles to show what the culture, and its society is made of. When looking at monster it can be said that there are two different types : accidental and intentional. Different examples, such as, the Golem of Prague, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, Beowulf, by Seamus Heaney, and the Tempest, by William Shakespeare, are examples of being an accidental monsters.

Monsters are born in literature through their words, origins, thoughts, and actions. Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, as well as Burton Raffel’s Beowulf, contain such monsters that are large impediments to the hero’s quest. Also the expeditions or quests are affected in terms of intimidation by the monsters who are always overwhelming at first to the pessimistic eye such as how the Israelites viewed Goliath, the Philistine, when David went to fight him. A monster’s thoughts, origins, and words are often used to construct the description of monstrosity in literature and are very critical.

What makes a monster? In media, monsters are often portrayed as terrifying beings that wreak havoc wherever they go. In fact, the definition of monster is “a strange or horrible and often frightening creature” (“Monster”). However, monsters are not always so easy to identify – they exist in virtually every community in society. If to be strange or horrible is to be a monster, then, in a slightly more abstract line of thinking, humans can also be monsters.

L. Andrew Cooper and Brandy Ball Blake are analytical when explaining the origins of monsters and how every monster ever told in a tall tale or written in a novel, represents good or bad omens. All of the monsters described were analyzed in depth but left the door open to questions about how monsters have changed over the past hundred years. For example, monsters told in stories by the elderly hundreds of years ago were warnings about the dangers that could occur when tampering with nature or with gods. In Greek mythology, almost all stories that talked about mortals, demigods, and monsters, sent a message to the empire of Greece to respect and obey the gods in order for the god to have mercy on them. For example, the story of Arachne the weaver and Athena explained how challenging a god could end in a fatal decision.

To answer the question of “Who is the monster?” when talking about “War of the worlds” and “Monsters”, one must understand what a monster is. A monster is not simply a creature so ugly or monstrous it frightens people, it can also be defined as a person or thing who excites horror by wickedness or cruelty. This second definition establishes that we, humans, can be classed as a monster even if we do not fit the stereotypical description of what a monster looks like. This question is an important

Monsters will NEVER ever die: all cultures around the world have them and have had them since people first thought of them. Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Columbia College Chicago, Stephen T. Asma, in his essay, Monsters and the Moral Imagination, describes how we look at and are drawn to monsters. But not just monsters, murderers and psychopaths also. Monsters never age, ranging from the first civilization to now. In Asma's essay he asks, "Why do monsters exist?

Comparing society in Beowulf and society in Frankenstein is like comparing a simple farm to the processing plant; futuristic and totally dissimilar. Although, the core ‘monsters’ are unchanged; grotesque, horrifyingly pagan-esque beings of the dark that strike terror in to the hearts of even the stoutest of fighters and the sanest of men. In the Christian and Medieval world, monsters were human beings with an unnatural birth or a birth deformity (Stitt, 2003). The term ‘monster’ derives from the Latin term ‘monere’ which means ‘To warn’ or ‘to advise’ and ‘monstrum’ which is ‘a sign or portent that disrupts the natural order as evidence of divine displeasure’. The aspect of ‘Divine Displeasure’ is attributed almost perfectly to Grendel, the monster of Beowulf and the terror of Hrothgar.

Rhetorical Analysis of “Monsters and the Moral Imagination” Many people believe monsters are imaginary creatures that are seen in movies or even for others, it could be a serial killer that was heard about on the news. Stephen T. Asma wrote “Monsters and the Moral Imagination” which “first appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education in October 2009” (Hoffman 61). Asma, who is a professor of philosophy, examines how different individual’s perceptions of a monster can be different depending on the era or even events happening around them. In “Monsters and the Moral Imagination,” Stephen T. Asma wrote a nonfiction, persuasive article for an educated and possibly specialized audience to examine how the idea of monsters have changed over time, what could be the motivation to create them, or even how life experiences could change an individual’s perceptions.

Monster Culture (Seven Theses) is a theoretical work written by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen that explores this idea of monstrosity. A “monster” is an ever-present being that stands for nonconformity and elimination of social constructs. People who hold narrow viewpoints and prejudices deem a “monster” monstrous. Binti and Binti: Home highlights the reality of racism, the fear of the “other,” and the merging of

Monster Culture Jeffrey Jerome Cohen is the writer of “Monster Culture: Seven Theses.” He went to the University of Rochester and acquired a PhD in English and has been teaching at George Washington University since 1994. The intended audience of this essay is anybody interested in the monster culture. This essay came from Monster Theory: Reading Culture.

The novel “Frankenstein,” by Mary Shelley tells the story of a man named Victor Frankenstein, who decides to go against the laws of nature by bringing to life a being constructed with decaying body parts. Victor believes in natural philosophy and science, which leads him to the idea of creating this Creature. Although this novel can be interpreted in many ways, I believe that Mary Shelley is shining a light on the harmful and dangerous impacts that prejudice and assumptions can have on people who are considered different. Shelley may be suggesting that humanity is the true 'monster ' due to its socialized ideologies that make ambition, self-greed and rage fulfilling. Even to this day society is known to shun those who we do not see as equals.

These creatures can have their origin in the supernatural realm or come about through ominous scientific experiments, often times the two are very hard to differentiate(cf. Hurley 192). A popular reading of this trope is the notion of repressed anxieties and desires manifesting themselves in the form of monsters (cf. Dryden 20, cf. Halberstam 9).

The general theme of all humans are monsters is exhibited profusely through each of these pieces. Followed by personal experiences, and inference to summarize a devastating but a true issue in our world. Proven to subsist in the holocaust over eighty years ago, to our modern day society. As the human race living among monsters, these evils do not just reside within the criminals in the community, but each individual. The situation is just a matter of letting the monster escape and control mankind.

The monster was a troublemaker. Nobody liked him and he was always damaging everybody’s property. He shook the ground every time he walked. The people were terrified of him. They trembled when they saw him coming towards them.

With more broadcasting of evil each day, the question; “what makes a monster” is often asked. Monstrosity is the state or fact of being monstrous. Monstrous by definition can mean having a frightening opinion, extremely large, or a person who is outrageously evil. Many artists and journalist have tried to tackle the question, though two authors in particular stand out. In Frankenstein Mary Shelley uses the hideous looks of the monster along with the average looks of Victor to show her readers that monstrosity comes from within.