Comment on No we can talk here
interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml 1 week agoThey all seem particularly salient metaphors, this can’t be some kind of mistake. Either the authors have incredible insights or these are some kind of ancestrally recurring patterns. At this point, vampires, ghouls and zombies have become part of our daily lives, they are absolutely everywhere
wolframhydroxide@sh.itjust.works 1 week ago
Yes, monster myths have always held the function of moral lessons for the many cultures that birthed them. The Wendigo is a moral metaphor for the taboo against eating human flesh, and the necessity of working together through harsh winters. The Vampire is a moral warning against demanding excess in all things carnal, monetary, and gluttonous, and for this reason it resonated with Victorian england. The zombie, however, was originally just someone who had been drugged into submission. The modern zombie does, however, make an excellent metaphor for herd mentality and over-consumption. We change our monsters (or make new ones) to fit the social mores and taboos of the culture of the time. There is a reason that many examples of “The Monster” in literature focus not on the actual villainy of the Monster, but on the villainy of the other humans in the story. Monsters are a mirror, held up to the face of the reader, demanding that we stare at the worst parts of what it is to be human.