Free Monsters and American History Essay Sample
W. Scott Poole, the author of Monsters in America, states that monsters have complex and unspecific meanings for a long period in America history (xiv). Since monsters are hard to define, they can be reflected to many meanings, because there is no a clear definition. People then image different kinds of monsters in their minds. However, the imaginations of monsters are not just coming out from people’s minds for no reasons; many times the imaginations of monsters can be reflected to the real world problems of certain periods in American history. Therefore, studying the horror stories can help people understand the “real” history, because government can falsify the history textbooks, if they want to hide something, but it is hard to falsify the stories that are spread in people’s minds.
Americans are obsessed with monsters more than other countries in the world. In fact, Americans created many well known monsters. For example, Frankenstein, a well known scientist monster, was created in 1931, which represents the period of “a second scientific revolution” (82). The American sea serpent, another famous monster, was created in the early nineteenth century. It represents the change of geology and biology in the American history. These two monsters have one common factor, that is, they both represent the American history in some certain periods.
Monster stories help people discover the truth of the history. The governments always do not want their people know too much about their bad history, if they feel they did the wrong thing. However, monster stories can reveal the truth, because they were written in the certain periods, and they can reveal the fear from people’s minds from those periods. For instance, zombies may be reflected as the costs of wars; they imply the fear of wars from people.
People can use monster stories to justify the events in the American history. Poole says, “The tale of a white “Deer Woman,” first told in the early twentieth century, but portrayed as a part of colonial folklore, shows how white elite memory of colonial conquest could be transmuted by a monster tale” (33). The story of deer woman is mainly about a Native American that transforms into a deer and murders white men (33). The story reveals that white people worry about the Native Americans will revenge in the future, because they killed too many Native American people when occupied their land. Frankenstein can be viewed as another example. In the story of Frankenstein, he strikes back the doctor who wants to kill him. Frankenstein can represent slaves in the American history.
According to Killborn & Konrath (2010, Pp. 22), the study of horror and monsters writing is far much essential to the understanding of history. The historians are thus supposed to study the genre to ensure that they have the aspects essential to render explanations to the required issues and aspect of historical monsters. Horror is an ancient form, audience have time for sadistic stories, listening to what leaves them petrified witless. Horror enables the derivation of indispensable thrills through the triggering of adrenalin in the human body. Through horror and monster writing, such as the one by Poole cases of interest do trigger the levels of adrenalin in human bodies and do influence the derivation of the basic thrills and skills that are acquired. It is due to such a reason that it is advised to the historians to take time and study monster and horror based novels and writing. The argument in the study of horror stories portrayed that revulsion stories serve a moral purpose (Sarrantonio 2001, Pp. 67). The study has the capability to reinforce the societal rules and taboos and depicts the macabre fate of those who are transgressing and opt to go against. Due to such, it is advocated that historians are encouraged to take time and study horror and monster stories and works of fiction. Through such a study, historians will have the ability to explain why some of the happenings that are scary and are far much aged in practice.
Each cohort gets every kind of horror and monster stories deserve that.. The study of the genre is thus a fascinating perspective due to the changing nature of the monsters featured in these stories. The study by historians will thus result to the opening up of the ideas that are associated with the nature of monster stories and their purpose in the society. Horror or monster stories are at times set to give the ideas that are practiced by the powerful. For instance, a historian study of “Blade (1998),” which was not just a tale of vampirism, but a reflection of the powerful and yet the irresponsible societal elements would be really significant as far as the explanation of the powerful mishandling of the powerless is put on stake (King 2009, Pp. 12- 13). The study of monster movies would thus see the argumentation of the knack to echo down the hallway of the ostensibly impunitive behavior of the powerful.
In summary, according to Poole’s (2011), assertion, that historians ought to take monsters seriously, is practical and strong in every sense. The main motive is to ensure that the respective monster`s study does facilitate the development of the real understanding of the issues that surround the development of this writing genre. Taking much more time in the study of the horror stories will ensure that the scary concerns are wiped out and considerate issues made clearer towards the society empowerment and authentification. According to DeWitt (2010, p. 6), the study of horror stories dates back to so centuries back, but it has not been taken with the desirable seriousness. The discipline is considered to be real history in all aspects, but has been sidelined for a considerable time. Due to the old based writing on the same makes horror stories real history as they have the ability to depict what has been happening in the past and on historical grounds of their transgressors. History is a tool, which is used in the modern day regulations and teachings. Horror stories are relevant to the concerns of each and every aspect and their study will open room to many issues that are not yet understood by human beings yet really is based on their existence. Thus, the genre qualifies the classification of the real history.