Why Monsters Matter Summary

In this reading, Cohen proposes a sketch of a new modus legendi, meaning, “a method of reading cultures from the monsters they engender.”(Monsters page 11) He also says that he’s going to break some rules from recent cultural studies. Now, Cohen offers seven theses towards understanding cultures through monsters by their character, appearance and representation, such as: Vampires, the Alien, Frankenstein, Werewolves, Grendel, the Boogey man, and etc.

Lastly, the tale of Frankenstein can be observed in depth to prove a point. Some cultures used the idea of Frankenstein to signify that in the future, we humans would be our own monsters since we create them. Others use the tale as a way of detesting against the living things that don’t adhere to our norms. Anything that goes against our mind’s norms tends to present fear and anxiety in our feelings. This is the sole basis as to what monsters are made from.

Monster exists long time ago and they are everywhere. However, there are different types of monster, some that are good and some that are bad. Many people that watched monster films get the desire of being one of the monsters that appears in the film. This essay will argue the different aspects and effects that monsters have in a person. I will use two article that will help explain the differences aspects and actions of the monster. One of the articles is “Here Be Monsters” by Ted Genoways, second article is “Fear of the Monster is Really a Kind of Desired” by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen. “Monster can function as an alter ego, as an alluring projection of (an Other) self” (Cohen, 190). Furthermore, this essay will show some fallacies that the author

When people hear the word monster, they usually picture in their minds images of vampires, zombies, demons, ghouls, or other physical supernatural beings. However, today's society contains its own modern monsters contained in minds of people or in systems in society, as opposed to some type of physical entity. Examples for modern monsters of today can be pressure and apathy, but caring too much has more effect and negative results rather than apathy’s effect of caring too little.

“As monstrous races faded from popularity, the increased focus on unnatural or monstrous individuals added new interest in the long-standing philosophical and theological debates about whether or not monsters could be human and where monsters fit within God’s ordered universe […] philosophers and theologians in both the medieval period and the Renaissance often interpreted these monstrous individuals as carrying a specific meaning for the community into which they were born (Wright 6).”

In the article “Monsters and the Moral Imagination,” Stephen Asma, a professor of Philosophy and Distinguished Scholar at Columbia College Chicago, argues that the existence of monsters have a purpose in our lives. It is not only to reveal our deepest fears, but to question our moral instincts. Being attacked by fictional monsters seems impractical, however, chaos and disasters do happen and exist in the real world. The creation of monsters is due to our reaction of our fears and the inability to control the world we live in.

“Fear and euphoria are dominant forces, and fear is many multiples the size of euphoria” - Alan Greenspan. New York author, Alan Greenspan, here is explaining that the threat fear presents is really no different than the state of intensity caused by euphoria. In Andrew J. Hoffman’s anthology, Monsters, there is substantial evidence that both fear and euphoria are inflicted upon men, by female monsters. The two threats men typically face against women are temptation and emasculation. Thus, in mythology and folklore, female monsters exemplify the impulse of desire (sexually) for men, and male weakness. These are creature that are lusted after and yet, still feared because of their power. Men find female monsters both fearsome and euphoric and will always threaten their dominance and control.

Monsters and the Moral Imagination by Stephen T. Asma is an exploration into why, as of recent, society has become so fascinated with monsters. Asma considers a vast amount of reasons why this surge in interest could have come along, such as; “social anxiety in the post-9/11 decade, or the conflict in Iraq” (Asma). Another possibility is even the fall of the economy that occured around December 2007.

The more we begin to understand a monstrosity, the less we fear the monster itself, however, we fear the actions of the creature itself. Perhaps it is this fear that draws us closer to the unknown and the monsters thrive upon this fear we have. Asma discusses how this fear allows for individuals to play out scenarios in their minds; we then use the events to ultimately ask ourselves, “what will I do in a situation like that (Asma)?” Dating back to the early days of Christ in a biblical era, we see monsters have always been on the rise.

What defines a monster? Is it their grotesque, unnatural appearance that separates them from the rest of mankind, or is it their lack of remorse and compassion that makes them different? The word monster conjures up figures from gothic horror of exotic peoples with horrifyingly exaggerated features, and the kinds of impossible delusive beasts inhabiting the pages of medieval bestiaries. Well at first I thought exactly that. When I used to hear the word “monster”, my mind immediately pictured the petrifying beast that took residence under my bed for a substantial portion of my childhood. It had demonic beating red eyes, razor sharp teeth that glistened with fresh blood and amphibian like scales covering every inch of its enormous body. However, as I got older, I started to realize that there was no such thing as monsters and that it was all just a figment of my imagination. Accordingly, the fear of the monster under my bed slowly dissipated. Nevertheless, it wasn’t until after reading a quote by my favorite author, Steven King, that I was finally able to fully comprehend what the true definition of the word “monster” really was. “Monsters are real, ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes they win”. It had taken me awhile to truly grasp what King had meant, but then it clicked. Everyone has a monster inside them, dormant or not. That monster is the voice we hear in the back of our heads, urging us to cheat or to steal, and in some instances, worse. That monster

The argument in the paragraphs is what make a monster a monster and what makes a human a human. In the article it talks about how the humans treat the monster badly which end up with the monsters creating disaster, if the monsters are being treated cruel does that make the humans monsters and the monsters humans?

A little girl screams in fear for her parents as she envisions a green, three-eyed monster lurking under her bed, waiting to get her until she finally closes her eyes. A little boy scares fellow trick-or-treaters as he’s dressed as a vampire for Halloween brandishing his pointy teeth with blood dripping out of his mouth. Both of these examples of monsters focus on the physicality of a creature and undermine the weight which the word ‘monster’ actually carries. In Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest, and in Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, there are characters that perfectly fit the description of a tangible monster. However, monsters are more than their somatic features. Monsters are created within based on circumstances, decisions that are

Monsters were perceived as fictional in earlier reality. Throughout the modern times, monsters unanimously appear in “the real world.” They can act as Angela Carter’s “The Fall River Axe Murders,” Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” and Don Moser’s “The Piped Piper of Tucson” all have parts relating to reality. When Oates composed her story, she used real events as a basis, from which, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” gained strong elements of mystery and suspense. On the other hand, Moser’s story and Carter’s are completely nonfiction, not really gaining or losing anything. They look as if they are in competition with Oates story in a sense of determination of whether fiction appears to be more forthcoming

For many when they think monsters they think of killers, rapist, or thieves but sometimes monster can come in the form of something a little less intimidating but still have the potentiality to eradicate and damage a society. One must realize the sometimes monsters are not that thing in your closet or under your bed or in a scary movie, but they are the ones that we see every day in every magazine, blog, and commercial. They are the ones with the biggest platform to potentially help society but instead decide to fill it with negativity and lies. Lastly one must identify these monsters and not help to promote or desire to be like them but instead dismantle their control and influence over society.

The monsters of today are not literal monsters. They aren’t dragons, vampires, or werewolves; they don’t creep, or crawl, or howl in the night. Today’s biggest monsters are not even tangible things. The monsters that we face today are the things we become when we allow the worst in us to gain control, the manifestations of the most appalling side of humanity.