For my Halloween treat, here’s an interesting essay on “Monsters and the Moral Imagination.” Though the author, a philosophy professor, wasn’t thinking about crime fiction per se, what he says has a lot of bearing on the why of crime fiction – why do we want to read about bad people doing terrible things?
The uses of monsters vary widely. In our liberal culture, we dramatize the rage of the monstrous creature—and Frankenstein’s is a good example—then scold ourselves and our “intolerant society” for alienating the outcast in the first place. The liberal lesson of monsters is one of tolerance: We must overcome our innate scapegoating, our xenophobic tendencies….
Monsters can stand as symbols of human vulnerability and crisis, and as such they play imaginative foils for thinking about our own responses to menace. Part of our fascination with serial-killer monsters is that we (and our loved ones) are potentially vulnerable to sadistic violence—never mind that statistical probability renders such an attack almost laughable. Irrational fears are decidedly unfunny. We are vulnerable to both the inner and the outer forces. Monster stories and films only draw us in when we identify with the persons who are being chased, and we tacitly ask ourselves: Would I board up the windows to keep the zombies out or seek the open water? Would I go down to the basement after I hear the thump, and if so, would I bring the butcher knife or the fireplace poker? What will I do when I am vulnerable?
…the concept of monster cannot be erased from our language and thinking. It cannot be replaced by other more polite terms and concepts, because it still refers to something that has no satisfactory semantic substitute or refinement. The term’s imprecision, within parameters, is part of its usefulness. Terms like “monster” and “evil” have a lot of metaphysical residue on them, left over from the Western traditions. But even if we neuter the term from obscure theological questions about Cain, or metaphysical questions about demons, the language still successfully expresses a radical frustration over the inhumanity of some enemy. The meaning of “monster” is found in its context, in its use.
So this Halloween season, let us, by all means, enjoy our fright fest, but let’s not forget to take monsters seriously, too. I’ll be checking under my bed, as usual. But remember, things don’t strike fear in our hearts unless our hearts are already seriously committed to something (e.g., life, limb, children, ideologies, whatever). Ironically then, inhuman threats are great reminders of our own humanity. And for that we can all thank our zombies.
Hat tip to Steve Mosby’s blog; picture courtesy of autumn bliss via Flickr’ Creative Commons pool.
