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fandomhigh2010-01-18 05:33 am
chosehumanity) wrote in fandomhigh2010-01-18 05:33 am
Entry tags:
Horror 101, Monday
Mitchell looked more than a bit less pale today; he had a flush in his cheeks and his motions were fluid, less prone to the occasional shake. At the same time, he was also quieter than usual, a little subdued, and, if you knew how to look for it, guilty. Still, he was standing at the front of the class today, serious, and ready to dive in.
"We're going to start talking about individual monsters and what they mean," he said. "We're going to start with-- werewolves. Lycanthropes. The wolfman." He took a breath. "The idea of werewolves dates back to some of our oldest fears. The idea of losing control, of becoming something other than ourselves, of killing without our own consent. From the outside, it's the fear of monsters in those around ourselves. Lycaon in Greek mythology became what he was because he ate human flesh, because he committed a foul act against nature."
He searched the class with his eyes. "So some considered it a divine punishment. Christian mythology, too, talks about God bearing down his wrath on those who commit evil, turning them into wolves, doomed to suffer and to live with impossible urges." A pause. "Of course, a man called Thiess once claimed that he and his friends were werewolves, sent down by God to strike down evil demons. If nothing else, the mythology of these kinds of creatures is distorted and twisted. Would it be a voluntary acceptance of a devil's favour? Or something involuntary, bestowed on us from up above? Is it just as simple as slipping on a piece of wolfskin? The Hungarians even thought that abusing young children would lead to them becoming werewolves."
"So there isn't a single interpretation of this monster that holds true across the world," he said, "But it all comes back to this fear of the savage in ourselves, of that driven, monstrous thing that simply wants. If you ask a scholar now, they might tell you these ideas were formed because of wolf attacks, but I doubt it's anything that... stark."
He nodded towards the viewing screen at the back. "That brings us to modern times," he said, "We've solidified an idea of the werewolf in the backs of our minds now. Turning only during the full moon, men who had this foisted on them through another werewolf's claw. Silver. Howling up at the moon. If that's the true picture of the werewolf, the Christians might have it right after all."
He shook his head. "Think about it: doomed to head out at every full moon, to sit there and wait for the change to come. Consider the physical changes it would take: A wolf's heart is about two-thirds the size of a human's. But can organs shrink without stopping? In other words, the man might have a heart attack. All of the internal organs are smaller, so while he's having his heart attack, he might be having liver and kidney failure too. And a wolf's vocal chords are far different from our own, so if he goes silent..." Mitchell paused, tapping his fingers against the back of his couch. "In a situation like that? Anyone would die of shock. But if the werewolf is real, that means that all these changes won't kill him. That's the thing about werewolf... lore that I find most remarkable."
"A curse like that would drag him through the fire and keep him alive and even conscious to endure every second. Maybe the Christians would be right after all. Nothing like that could just evolve. If we ever find such a thing as a werewolf, if anyone ever believed there was such a thing, it wouldn't be hard to imagine that they saw in it the finger print of God. It's an idea, isn't it? An impossible lethal curse spread by tooth and claw, victim begets victim begets victim. It sounds so cruel, it's..." Perfect.
Mitchell shook his head. "Anyway," he said, shifting his tone, "So much about werewolf myth. We'll be watching the Man Wolf today, and after that, I want you all to pair up. What is the werewolf to you? Why does the monster scare you? Why doesn't it? Do you think it might exist?" He chewed on his lip. "And what's your inner wolf, you think? That place that is so intense, so driven and savage that it rules out all else."
It was possible that last question was a little more rhetorical than the rest.
[[wait for the ocd up! ]]
"We're going to start talking about individual monsters and what they mean," he said. "We're going to start with-- werewolves. Lycanthropes. The wolfman." He took a breath. "The idea of werewolves dates back to some of our oldest fears. The idea of losing control, of becoming something other than ourselves, of killing without our own consent. From the outside, it's the fear of monsters in those around ourselves. Lycaon in Greek mythology became what he was because he ate human flesh, because he committed a foul act against nature."
He searched the class with his eyes. "So some considered it a divine punishment. Christian mythology, too, talks about God bearing down his wrath on those who commit evil, turning them into wolves, doomed to suffer and to live with impossible urges." A pause. "Of course, a man called Thiess once claimed that he and his friends were werewolves, sent down by God to strike down evil demons. If nothing else, the mythology of these kinds of creatures is distorted and twisted. Would it be a voluntary acceptance of a devil's favour? Or something involuntary, bestowed on us from up above? Is it just as simple as slipping on a piece of wolfskin? The Hungarians even thought that abusing young children would lead to them becoming werewolves."
"So there isn't a single interpretation of this monster that holds true across the world," he said, "But it all comes back to this fear of the savage in ourselves, of that driven, monstrous thing that simply wants. If you ask a scholar now, they might tell you these ideas were formed because of wolf attacks, but I doubt it's anything that... stark."
He nodded towards the viewing screen at the back. "That brings us to modern times," he said, "We've solidified an idea of the werewolf in the backs of our minds now. Turning only during the full moon, men who had this foisted on them through another werewolf's claw. Silver. Howling up at the moon. If that's the true picture of the werewolf, the Christians might have it right after all."
He shook his head. "Think about it: doomed to head out at every full moon, to sit there and wait for the change to come. Consider the physical changes it would take: A wolf's heart is about two-thirds the size of a human's. But can organs shrink without stopping? In other words, the man might have a heart attack. All of the internal organs are smaller, so while he's having his heart attack, he might be having liver and kidney failure too. And a wolf's vocal chords are far different from our own, so if he goes silent..." Mitchell paused, tapping his fingers against the back of his couch. "In a situation like that? Anyone would die of shock. But if the werewolf is real, that means that all these changes won't kill him. That's the thing about werewolf... lore that I find most remarkable."
"A curse like that would drag him through the fire and keep him alive and even conscious to endure every second. Maybe the Christians would be right after all. Nothing like that could just evolve. If we ever find such a thing as a werewolf, if anyone ever believed there was such a thing, it wouldn't be hard to imagine that they saw in it the finger print of God. It's an idea, isn't it? An impossible lethal curse spread by tooth and claw, victim begets victim begets victim. It sounds so cruel, it's..." Perfect.
Mitchell shook his head. "Anyway," he said, shifting his tone, "So much about werewolf myth. We'll be watching the Man Wolf today, and after that, I want you all to pair up. What is the werewolf to you? Why does the monster scare you? Why doesn't it? Do you think it might exist?" He chewed on his lip. "And what's your inner wolf, you think? That place that is so intense, so driven and savage that it rules out all else."
It was possible that last question was a little more rhetorical than the rest.
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