An Examination of Human Monstrosity in Fiction and Film of the United States

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones 5-1-2012 Monsters in our Midst: An Examination of Human Monstrosity in Fiction and Film of the United States Michelle Kay Hansen University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the American Literature Commons, and the Film and Media Studies Commons Repository Citation Hansen, Michelle Kay, "Monsters in our Midst: An Examination of Human Monstrosity in Fiction and Film of the United States" (2012). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 1572. http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/4332553 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. 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MONSTERS IN OUR MIDST: AN EXAMINATION OF HUMAN MONSTROSITY IN FICTION AND FILM OF THE UNITED STATES By Michelle Kay Hansen Bachelor of Arts in Humanities Brigham Young University 2004 Master of Arts in English University of Nevada, Las Vegas 2009 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy in English Department of English College of Liberal Arts The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 2012 Copyright by Michelle Kay Hansen, 2012 All Rights Reserved THE GRADUATE COLLEGE We recommend the dissertation prepared under our supervision by Michelle Kay Hansen entitled Monsters in Our Midst: An Examination of Human Monstrosity in Fiction and Film of the United States be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Department of English Vincent Perez, Ph.D., Committee Chair Claudia Keelan, M.F.A., Committee Member Donald Revell, Ph.D., Committee Member Elspeth Whitney, Ph.D., Graduate College Representative Ronald Smith, Ph. D., Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies and Dean of the Graduate College May 2012 ii ABSTRACT Monsters In Our Midst: An Examination of Human Monstrosity in Fiction and Film of the United States By Michelle Kay Hansen Dr. Vincent Perez, Committee Chair Professor of English University of Nevada, Las Vegas The chapters within this dissertation concentrate on textual analysis of literature and film in which monsters appear in various forms, and particularly how those monsters still coincide with Noel Carroll’s definition of “art-horror” in his book Philosophy of Horror, while proving that Carroll’s definition of monster – and any others who may attempt to limit the definition of monstrosity – is incomplete and much too restrictive. I will be concentrating on monstrosity as it appears in gothic and horror fiction, film, and other elements of popular culture in order to explore the concept of “the monstrous” on multiple levels. The first chapter will examine the monster which lies at the foundation of the Gothic/Horror genre: the monstrous house, or the haunted house. The chapter “The House Askew” examines both fiction and film of the United States in order to show how the human – not the house – is actually the one who is haunted within these stories. This begins from early U.S. Gothic texts, including Charles Brockden Brown’s Wieland, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables, Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher,” and H.P. Lovecraft’s “Pickman’s Model.” These texts all show that the haunting of the human stems from moral conventions set up through Puritan standards, and that the inhabitant must either face their “sins” and become expiated, or fall victim to their own iii disgraces. Following these texts, an examination of the films Signs, The Others, and 1408 again show that when ghostly manifestations occur in haunted houses, it is almost always directly due to the haunting pasts of the people who inhabit the house, rather than the past of the house itself. Finally, this chapter examines Danielewski’s postmodern masterpiece, House of Leaves. This text is the most compelling example of monstrosity because in this case, the book itself – and by association, academia – is what becomes the monster, which is even further proof that the definition of monster has been broadened. Next, the chapter “Terrifying, Horrifying, Disgusting Zombies” examines George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead and Max Brooks’ novel World War Z among other legends of zombies found in history and popular culture. The chapter also examines some of the cultural fears and taboos brought about in zombie fiction and the popular culture zombie craze – the fear of the horde, the fear of mass infection, and the taboo of cannibalism. The chapter “Don’t Be Fooled by the Handsome Fellow in the Mansion” takes an interest in the way the definition of vampire, and the myths surrounding vampires, have expanded through popular culture, especially through TV and film. It begins with an examination of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend which shows how the human, rather than the monsters, are really the antagonists within a post-apocalyptic society. It also discusses Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot as a metaphor for post-Vietnam America. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the vampire in popular culture. Because of texts like Twilight and television shows like HBO's True Blood, for example, vampires have been given a whole new life that is almost entirely human. The final chapter, “Anything Coming Back to Life Hurts” highlights the fact that in much African American literature, including Toni Morrison’s Beloved, the monstrous appears in the form of the human construct of slavery or iv of one’s relationship to the past. It reflects the particular connection between the Gothic tradition and the American past, beholding a darkly coded understanding of what lay beneath the American nation’s usually optimistic surface. That darker note concerns, in part, the legacy of slavery and racial discrimination. Morrison’s Gothicism and Horror expresses the atrocity of black experience in the South, in which the nightmare past is re-experienced through a “spiteful” haunted house and the revenant of a murdered child. Morrison utilizes three types of monsters in order to articulate these underlying cultural fears. Morrison and other African American authors prove that all hauntings are, in fact, due to one’s relationship to one’s own history, both personal and cultural. In the conclusion, I will be commenting on how I envision this project to proceed, the other monsters which were not included within this dissertation, and the general relevance of a study of the monstrous in scholarly circles. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my mom and dad, who love me and support me in spite of my affinity for the weird. I would also like to thank Justin, who loves me and supports me because of my affinity for the weird. Also, my thanks to Dr. Vincent Perez, Claudia Keelan, Dr. Don Revell, Dr. Elspeth Whitney, and Dr. Maile Chapman, whose time was graciously donated to this project. vi DEDICATION For my nearly-born daughter, who has taught me the true definition of the uncanny, and with whom I am currently approaching the abject. Thank you for being my internal motivation. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………… iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………………………………………………… vi DEDICATION…………………………………………………………………………… vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………… 1 CHAPTER 2 THE HOUSE ASKEW: THE HAUNTED HOUSE AS PERSONAL EXTRAPOLATION……………………………………………………… 23 The Monstrosity of Sin…………………………………………………………… 25 The Monster in the House………………………………………………………… 48 The Book Askew…………………………………………………………………. 54 CHAPTER 3 TERRIFYING, HORRIFYING, DISGUSTING ZOMBIES: WHAT WE FEAR IS OUR OWN MORTALITY……………………………………… 63 Romero's Night of the Living Dead……………………………………………….. 71 World War Z, the Environment, and the Taboo of Cannibalism…………………... 77 Zombies in U.S. Popular Culture…………………………………………………... 85 CHAPTER 4 DON'T BE FOOLED BY THE HANDSOME FELLOW IN THE MANSION: VAMPIRES AND HUMAN MONSTROSITY…………………………… 90 I Am Legend and the Monstrous Protagonist………………………………………. 93 'Salem's Lot, Vietnam, and Watergate…………………………………………….. 97 Twilight and Body Image Anxiety…………………………………………………. 106 HBO's True Blood: Vampires are People Too? …………………………………… 111 CHAPTER 5 "ANYTHING DEAD COMING BACK TO LIFE HURTS": THE MONSTROUS PAST IN AFRICAN AMERICAN GOTHIC FICTION…. 118 Toni Morrison's Beloved…………………………………………………………… 122 CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………….. 140 WORKS CITED AND CONSULTED…………………………………………………….. 145 CURRICULUM VITAE…………………………………………………………………… 153 viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The oft-debated question in gothic and horror studies, “What makes a monster?” is a key question because the definition of monstrosity is what many scholars will base their definition of “gothic” and “horror” upon. The more restrictive the definition of monster, the more confined one’s definition of gothic and horror becomes. I was first exposed to this debate through Noel Carroll’s The Philosophy

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