American Horror Story aka FRANKENSTEIN (round 2)

Soooo it appears as if the current season of the phenomenal show American Horror Story (honestly everyone should watch......it may have some twisted themes but overall the show is a bon a fide thriller) just cannot seem to stay away from the underlying themes and messages that were once exploited throughout Mary Shelley's wondrous novel, Frankenstein. As the season continues to move on and various characters begin to develop internally and externally, situations keep popping up that are all too similar to the various escapades that happen within Frankenstein. An episode that vividly shows a similar relationship to the story of Victor Frankenstein's creature interaction with Mr. Delacey during one of his attempts to communicate with those around him is an episode named "The Axeman Cometh". During this episode, one of the witches of the coven, the "house mother", to be exact, becomes the victim of an act of violence and has acid thrown in her face, thus leading her to become blind. This tragic incident leads to her ironically gaining true sight; things she couldn’t see before about people’s true motives and previous actions suddenly become clear whenever she touches them in even the slightest way. For instance, this particular witches’ husband has been performing acts of adultery and murder behind his naive wife back; her mother is not one to become blind to his shady motives, however, the witch herself doesn't see past his lying exterior and goes on loving him without knowing of the unfair treatment she is actually receiving. Once the witch loses her literal sight and her husband attempts to interact with her while she is in the hospital, she gains true insight into the murderous/adulterous acts he has been engaging in and finally is able to grasp onto the characters true motives. As the episode continues, the witch begins to encounter various truths she couldn't acquire for herself before; the reasoning for a young witches suffering, the previous actions of the infamous "Axeman", and the revealing of her mother's previous murderous actions towards one of the Coven's young witches are finally brought to the characters attention. With all this being said, it's clear of the ways that those who are "lacking" sight are the ones who actually can see who a person truly is compared to others around them. In Frankenstein, Victor's creature has a brief encounter with Mr. DeLacey, a blind man who is the father of a kind, unwealthy family. Though his children and others in his community previously acted unkindly or fearful towards the lost, innocent creature, Mr. DeLacey, who is unable to actually catch a glimpse of this monstrous appearance, actually takes the time to listen to what the creature has to say and get to know him for who he is on the inside. The blind witch and Mr. DeLacey represent the harsh realities that have always appeared throughout society, and still do, in relation to the way people to tend to connect those who appear to be outsiders to this type of fearful unknown. The unknown can be scary, confusing even, and when someone doesn’t have full grasp on what’s going on around them or who they're interacting with, judgment tends to rise and emotions tends to overcome people and their coping abilities. The witch refused to accept what was right in front of her when she had sight because it was an unknown she feared and didn’t wish to see; her and Mr. DeLacey's blindness to the appearance of the unknown and first instinct of simply getting a feel for this new being or truth simply for what it was shows just how lacking sight can give someone the power to see what they need to see to accomplish greater things for themselves and others around them. Will society ever stop fearing the unknown? Or is the only way someone can really find a new truth to the life around them by losing their literal sight? Who knows. Times are changing, unknowns are continuing to rise, and if people want to survive and surround themselves with those with good intentions the negative first insight people have towards the world needs to be thrown aside so that the judgment free, motive catching form of sight we all need can be attained. Ya feel me?

Innocent Grendel vs. Experienced Grendel

So, the novel Grendel, by John Gardiner, was not what I expected it to be whatsoever. Grendel, the infamous brute like creature of the epic story Beowulf, was not only surprisingly human in the way he thought, functioned, and interacted with other animal like creatures around him but also miraculously influential when it came to the idea of how one's experience can impact their mental well being into becoming something completely different from their once completely innocent self; Grendel gains experience throughout this novel, and a lot of his internal shifts from a childlike, angsty being to a matured sinister, critical, and hopeless soul can be related to the poems "The Divine Image (Songs of Innocence)" and "The Human Abstract (Songs of Experience)", by William Blake. When we first meet Grendel he seems to be completely weighed down by his past experiences, even stating that "childhood feels great at first, before one happens to notice the terrible sameness, age after age" (Gardiner 9); Grendel stating this makes is very clear that he wasn’t always this way, and leads into the idea of him suddenly shifting inside "after his fall". Grendel's "fall" was enlightenment, and the burdens that came along with being completely aware of the world around him turned him into someone who criticized those who weren't aware not because he saw them as foolish and lost, but more so because he loathed the hope and positive outlook they had for the world. Grendel is almost sorrowful for his lacking of innocence, stating that "[he] used to take pride in that- the caution of owls when [his] shape loomed in, the alarm [he] stirred in the giant northern wolves. [He] was younger then. Still playing cat and mouse with the universe" (Gardiner 10). Grendel's playing of cat and mouse with the world around him was his time of innocence; his child like encounters that allowed him to explore the world around him while also hoping to one day become one with the society around him. Blake states in "The Divine Image", "to mercy, pity, peace, and love, all pray in their distress; an to these virtues of delight return their thankfulness" to describe the lacking of awareness those who haven't been through experiences process the world around them; everything is seen as whole, and nothing is seen as a root cause to problems that lie in every corner of society. The emotions of "mercy, pity, peace, and love" being stated as one whole personified being shows how when one lives a life of innocence they, they live a life of constant optimism; these separate factors that go into creating the whole that is society are not seen as different structures but instead as something that is one being that can be used for something to grow and prosper from. The outlook of those personified emotions being one related to Grendel before his enlightenment; before his experience his fall, Grendel saw the world as a whole factor into the future meaning of the universe. His strong faith in his innocent beliefs is what eventually lead to his harsh fall into reality after his enlightenment, and shows how one attempting to be the same free spirited soul after their fall is almost impossible to accomplish. Once Grendel becomes aware, he almost becomes one with "The Human Abstract"; Blake states within this specific poem “the raven his nest had made in its thickest shade" which correlates to Grendel's transition into his experienced self. Ravens symbolize shift, metamorphosis, and transitions which happen to be exactly the things people experience once they've experienced the world. Ravens are black, mysterious creatures that tend to lurk within the world around them, and once Grendel becomes experienced he does just that. Lurks around the common people. Mopes around with what seems to be a constant black cloud of unhappiness hovering around him. Criticizes the world he once loved. With all this being said, I ask you what does it all mean? Are these two works of literature attempting to tell readers that experience/enlightenment are bad and that the innocent stages in one’s life are what's needed if one wants happiness? Or that the experience one gains through life is positive becomes it allows them to become aware of the world around them in an attempt to make themselves stronger? Who knows, really? No one really does, and it’s for that reason alone that one must prepare themselves for what’s to come after their personal "fall". Ya feel me?