The Seven Theses of “The Monster”

The word “monster” comes from the Latin word monstrum which means something that reveals or warns. A monster exemplifies a particular cultural moment between which there is a difference between when it is conceived and the time it reveals itself to society. It represents a combination of desire, fear and anxiety, all of which are revealed at this singular cultural moment.

Thesis II: The Monster Always Escapes

       No matter how hard society may try to exterminate monsters, this is never achieved. Whenever attempts are made to destroy the monster, it disappears to another place whereat it recreates itself through assuming another form. In order to fully understand monsters, one needs to appreciate the systems that create them fully. These include social, cultural and historical aspects, all of which are closely intertwined. Cohen alludes to the vampire, which, even though it may be “killed” at some point, it returns in another form, with different clothing. It fits into that particular moment in which it returns.

Thesis III: The Monster is the Harbinger of Category Crisis

       In reference to Thesis II, monsters escape because they are difficult to fit into any acceptable categories (Cohen 6). The monster threatens to break the barriers of definition, where the existing systems in society leave them hanging on the peripheries of norms.

Thesis IV: The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference

       The best description of a monster is the “outsider”. Due to society’s inability to fit them into any particular categories, they exhibit differences in regards to cultural, racial, political, sexual and economic norms. Cohen provides the examples of Muslims at the time of Crusades and Native Americans in the Manifest Destiny period. The monster’s differences with society are in themselves monstrous.

Thesis V: The Monster Polices the Borders of the Possible

       The very existence of the monster sets the borders which society must not cross. The borders in this sense may be intellectual, sexual or geographical. An attempt by someone to step outside these borders would be tantamount to becoming monstrous themselves (Cohen 12). In essence, the monster is an existing contradiction. A certain element in their being tells the story of how the monster grew to their present condition, while another aspect elucidates their role in society – perhaps to warn others not to break the rules, which would create the monsters in them.

Thesis VI: Fear of the Monster is Really a Kind of Desire

       While the monster represents the fear of becoming ostracized from the larger society, there is a simultaneous desire of people to explore it, the dangers notwithstanding. Certain parts of the world, such as Africa, Scandinavia and South America represent this monstrosity in their non-conformity statuses. However, they provide the possibilities of exploring sexual fantasies. Monsters naturally worries and fascinates society at the same time (Cohen 18).

Thesis VII: The Monster Stands at the Threshold of Becoming

       Although society goes to great lengths to push monsters out of their geographical and normal discourse, they do return. When they do so, they usually have a fuller knowledge both of themselves and of society (Cohen 20). They understand the history of the place from which they were chased better, more so because their knowledge is now influenced from the “Outside” from which they return.