Monsters
The word “monster” can have many very different meanings. It can refer to the classical beasts found in myths and fairy tales. It can indicate the creatures portrayed in movies and video games designed to scare audiences senseless. It can even be used to describe other human beings who have committed frightening acts, or nightmares we drudge up in our own minds. Personally, I have described monsters differently during varying sections of my life. However, overall, whenever I hear the word “monster” my mind tends to conjure up images of the supernatural before anything else. Ultimately, though, I do not believe it matters what form monsters take for each individual, but what the driving force behind experiences with them is: fear.
Fear of the unknown is prevalent amongst humans, and not without reason. If there is something we cannot understand well enough to explain, then how can we stand against it if it proves to be dangerous? From an early age we experience this fear, as we know next to nothing about the world. That branch scratching at the window is terrifying, and that owl’s call is haunting, so the mind tries to come up with an explanation for both, sometimes resulting in the creation of a “monster.” That branch becomes an aggressive creature trying to claw its way into your room, and that owl’s sound seems like the miserable howls of a lost spirit. Even when we learn the true causes of our discomfort, in the dead of night, alone in a dark room, our mind plays tricks on us. It tells us that the noises are different from last time somehow, so they must be from some unknown entity, a potentially threatening one. This is what monsters are, the threats we make ourselves in order to explain or justify our unease at the thought of the unknown. Thus, many authors have explored the idea that monsters are just projections of the near-universal fear of death (Bizuleanu 210). People even fabricate restrictions for such beings in order to control the “unknown” further. Vampires cannot come in contact with sunlight or garlic, werewolves fear silver, and so on.
It is difficult to determine the existence of monsters in the real world, for, even the fabrications of the mind can seem all too real sometime. Unknown creatures, however, ones that have never been discovered by humans, could very well exist, though. There are areas deep in the sea, contained in deserts, and far off in space that could very well prove to be home to all kinds of never before seen beings. Supernatural beings, though, are another matter altogether. It seems unlikely that the monsters of a supernatural origin exist anywhere but in stories and dreams. However, it is also impossible to completely discount the potential existence of such creatures. After all, just because they often do not fit into current scientific constraints, that does not mean that they do not exist at all. There are people who staunchly deny or defend the existence of monsters, even if it seems impossible to know for sure.
In the end, each person has their own idea of what makes monsters real or not for them. Often, a personal experience or lack thereof is the deciding factor on whether or not they believe. In order to have some universal agreement on the existence of monsters, a real monster would have to be found, and even then people would try to fit it into their already existing view of the world and deny any “monster-like” qualities it possesses. There is certainly no way to prove monsters do not exist, because there will always be some explanation or excuse from believers as to why they can evade detection. In reality, it does not really matter if monsters are real, because, in the absence of some full-blown zombie apocalypse, everyone will continue to have differing opinions on the subject, and even in a zombie apocalypse, there would undoubtedly be that one person still vehemently insisting that monsters do not exist. There are so many different definitions of “monster” and so few ways to go about proving their existence, so it is unlikely that we will ever be certain if monsters are real or not.
Sources
Bizuleanu, Dana. "The Monster's Myth: From Ideology To Herta Müller's Imaginary." Caietele Echinox 28.(2015): 208-217. Humanities International Complete. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
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