Monsters and Their Role in Society In the beginning, Adam and Eve were thrown out of the garden because a talking snake known as Lucifer told them to do very bad things. Lucifer is known as the King of Hell, or one of the first monsters. Ever since biblical times, monsters have been a big part in literature and in a way of shaping our society. In lieu of their textbook definition of “a threatening force”, monsters give people something to fear, becoming a form of antagonist for their stories. This usually results in people rounding up and facing a common foe together. What is commonly overlooked is the need for monsters in a modern world, and even before then. Despite the evil shadow they cast, monsters have their roles to play in stories, ones just as big if not equivalent to the protagonist themselves. Most people do not see that the term “monster” also applies to world of today, as the definition can be applied to things running rampant in the modern world. Truly, monsters are frightening even outside the lore, especially when the threat of one looms so nearby. To begin, monsters are a pivotal part in our society. They are the villain of a story, the support: otherwise, what driving force would the protagonist have? Imagine Beowulf without Grendel, or to use more modern examples, Superman without Lex Luthor. The story would be boring: there would be no climatic battle, where the forces of good conflict with the monster and they clash until one side emerges victorious. This is important especially in the politician career, because one must paint their enemy to look like a monster, a hideous man unworthy of the public’s support. Monster tales also offer a chance for society to reflect upon themselves and their innermost fears. According to Cajsa Baldini, a senior lecturer at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in Arizona State University, he would argue that “monsters in literature in general are almost always indicative of things we fear in a sort of collective sense,” (www.researchmatters.asu.edu). The modern world paints so many different things to look like monsters. Using a recent example, the recent outbreak of Ebola could be viewed as a monstrous attack, with the virus being the monster itself. It has the world standing together as one giant protagonist against one threat. In the past, monsters were used as a sort of scare tactic to keep kids from doing things they weren’t supposed to. These monsters, one of the most famous being known as the boogeyman, were made to keep kids in line and maintain order. Looking at the need monsters fulfill today, they have not strayed far. They are needed as the villains of a story to prove that the hero in it can maintain their own order. Following the importance of monsters in our society, monsters are also necessary for bringing people together. As mentioned in the last paragraph, usually a group of people will assemble and rally up against the monsters, such as The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Beowulf, or Marvel’s The Avengers, to use a recent example. Monsters are necessary to bring together a group of people that would otherwise be unknown to each other. In this aspect, monsters bring together people of different cultures, races, and personalities to form an unlikely but effective group. “Fear of the monstrous
