Silent Hill Analysis

At one point, the characters of Silent Hill effectively end up questioning both the nature and presence of the monsters. Upon Harry’s arrival at the examination room of the Alchemilla Hospital in SH1, Dr. Michael Kaufman wonders about the Flying Reptile that had made its way inside and that he has just killed. He says: “Something’s gone seriously wrong. Did you see those monsters? Have you ever seen such aberrations? Ever even heard of such things? You and I both know, creatures like that don’t exist!” In SH2, James often makes quick references to the monsters and even asks Eddie, during their first encounter, if he was a “friend with that red, pyramid thing.” Sick on the floor, Eddie answers that he doesn’t know what James is talking about, but says, “I did see some weird-lookin’ monsters. They scared the hell outta me.” The monsters are repulsive and generate nonempathetic emotions. Because their abnormality is linked to our human nature, they are in a good position to kindle our imaginative speculations. As Vorobej observes, “The true object of fascination in horror isourselves, and the human condition in general. Battling monsters is a highly veiled odyssey of self-exploration. A monster’s description must be significantly inchoate if each of us is to imprint his or her personal psychic concerns on the fiction” (1997, 239). The imprint has a particular overtone in SH3 during a chat between Heather and Vincent, a priest of the Order, in the church’s library: vincent: You’re the worst person in this room. You come here and enjoy spilling their blood and listening to them cry out. You feel excited when you step on them, snuffing out their lives. heather: Are you talking about the monsters? vincent: Monsters … ? They look like monsters to you? (Heather grumbles.) Don’t worry, it’s just a joke.
The characters in Silent Hill certainly see the monsters from their own emotional and moral viewpoints.[14] The scenario writer Hiroyuki Owaku has commented, “Some