Re: monsters [17/17]
anonymous
April 30 2011, 20:37:19 UTC
Conversely, Arthur Kirkland is as much historical fact as his companion is, and equally as human. He has lived to see himself grow from a semi-insignificant damp island off the coast of Continental Europe, to a glorified Empire, vast and sprawling, to fall again, nearly pointless in modern life. He has seen war and war and war again; it is not surprising that the author of Monsters decides to make his secret so potent to his character. From inter-kingdom battles of Anglo-Saxon England to the Hundred Years’ War to the Crimean War and the Great War, even to the War in Afghanistan, Kirkland is a warrior. The definition of the term transforms over time, but it is still the same; there is an essence to Kirkland’s being that is ultimately chivalrous and violent, like the knights of his legends. It is understandable then, that Kirkland is so guarded. Jones betrayed him in the past, fought him afterwards, and has never been particularly keen on helping him. British propaganda roped the American population into sympathy during both World Wars. However, the beauty of Monsters is not its study or expression of history, but its evaluation of human nature and mortality. The author approaches the characters as humans, not as countries, and invests in them characteristics of mortals. Jones, as noted above, does not change with his generations, holding on to the horrors of his past and letting them grow, silent, in his brain. Similarly, Kirkland has made enemies of nearly every nation on the planet; his friends are few. As Jones begins to abuse him, Kirkland recedes into himself, the beaten warrior of his mind as a country wanting to protect himself. However, the romantic of his heart will not allow him to stand against Jones, despite the beating. He will not ask for help. He will not deny him. The perversion of Jones’ situation is contagious and contaminates Kirkland, not through irregular disability or conscious will, but through natural, human flaw. They are old, having seen more war and devastation than any man to live. Kirkland, even more so than Jones. He is, in a postmodern world, useless, a token of a lost society and grandeur. He no longer dominates world politics or economics; England, as a nation, asked America to transfer the international currency of the pound for the dollar after its economic annihilation during World War Two. Kirkland is not weak, nor perverted; he is old and tired, observing his world corrode into a posthumous swamp of industrial decay, poverty, and unhealthy depression. He is, though immortal and an anthropomorphism of his nation, human. His secret, his love of Jones, destroys him as it crushes him under Jones’ psychotic paranoia. Eventually, his loss of the secret consumes him; as Jones changes, he is lost in a phantom existence. There is nothing left for Kirkland, even the obsessive security Jones bestowed upon him.
Re: monsters [17/17]
anonymous
April 30 2011, 20:38:05 UTC
Ultimately, Kirkland and Jones are both victims and both antagonists. They contribute equally to their own destruction and the destruction of their partner. Jones’ recovery displays the world’s attitude toward the abusive relationship; while he is labelled ‘disturbed,’ Kirkland is left unattended to further develop his Stockholm Syndrome and love into a subtle hysteria. Neither approach is sound. The traditional role of victim and oppressor is not applicable to modern psychiatric patients, and it is especially invalid in the case of these unique individuals. They are human in soul and heart yet experience something so different from our lives, it is impossible for us to truly comprehend it. We can only take pieces of their tragic suffering and wonder what it is to understand the ultimate failure of humanity and its eternal suffering. I leave you with the final section of T. S. Eliot’s The Hollow Men, a metaphysical poem that’s nature is to be misunderstood.
Here we go round the prickly pear Prickly pear prickly pear Here we go round the prickly pear At five o’clock in the morning.
Between the idea And the reality Between the motion And the act Falls the Shadow For Thine is the Kingdom
Between the conception And the creation Between the emotion And the response Falls the Shadow Life is very long
Between the desire And the spasm Between the potency And the existence Between the essence And the descent Falls the Shadow For Thine is the Kingdom
For Thine is Life is For Thine is the
This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but a whimper.
Perhaps these tragic nations exist in that Shadow. However, as mortals in both soul and body, we will never truly know.
Re: monsters [17/17]
anonymous
September 6 2011, 19:56:34 UTC
The anon who wrote about Arthur being 'twisted' above, dropping by after months.
You expressed it a lot better than I did. I don't believe Arthur is fundamentally 'twisted'. Like you've written, he's old, seen too much, made too many enemies, tired...all you've written.
I've enjoyed reading your essay :)
Wishing we can read more gems like this in the fandom!
Reply
Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o’clock in the morning.
Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Life is very long
Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
Perhaps these tragic nations exist in that Shadow. However, as mortals in both soul and body, we will never truly know.
-- Oops. I wrote an essay.
Reply
You expressed it a lot better than I did. I don't believe Arthur is fundamentally 'twisted'. Like you've written, he's old, seen too much, made too many enemies, tired...all you've written.
I've enjoyed reading your essay :)
Wishing we can read more gems like this in the fandom!
Reply
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