( ____ \\__ __/( \ ( ____ \( ( /|\__ __/ | ( \/ ) ( | ( | ( \/| \ ( | ) ( | (_____ | | | | | (__ | \ | | | | (_____ ) | | | | | __) | (\ \) | | | ) | | | | | | ( | | \ | | | /\____) |___) (___| (____/\| (____/\| ) \ | | | \_______)\_______/(_______/(_______/|/ )_) )_( _________ _ _ _______ |\ /|\__ __/( \ ( \ / ___ ) | ) ( | ) ( | ( | ( \/ ) | | (___) | | | | | | | / ) | ___ | | | | | | | _/ / | ( ) | | | | | | | / _/ | ) ( |___) (___| (____/\| (____/\ ( (__/\ |/ \|\_______/(_______/(_______/ \_______/ ============================================================== A Plot Analysis by Vile1011 E-Mail: Vile1011@gmail.com AIM: Vile1011 Version 1.2, 7/31/06 Dedicated to the Silent Hill forums at http://www.silenthillforum.co.uk Special thanks to the translators of the Lost Memories guide at http://www.translatedmemories.com/, to Ryan and Lobsel_Vith for previewing this guide and for allowing me to use their findings, to Rachenar for his theory, to Moreau for direct translations from the Japanese script, and of course, Konami for making almost every game in my top 5. Copyright 2006: You have the right to copy this document to your heart's content. You just don't have the right to make any money from doing so. ////===== Table of Contents =====\\\\\ I. Preface Ia. Revision History II. Story Layer IIa. James and Mary IIb. The Appeal of Pyramid Head IIc. Maria IId. Laura III. Mind Layer IIIa. Painful Reminders IIIb. Pyramid Head IIIc. Maria IIId. Staring Into the Abyss*** IIIe. The Final Battle IV. Character Layer IVa. Seeds of Darkness IVb. Judgment IVc. The Tablets IVd. The Inner Child IVe. Reflections* V. Town Layer Va. The Monsters Vb. The Environment Vc. The Gods Vd. The Source Ve. Xuchilbara** Vf. World of the Gods VI. Closing VIa. FAQ * Contributed in part by Ryan (weltallxeno@hotmail.com) ** Contributed in part by Lobsel_Vith (goathy@hotmail.com) *** Contributed in part by Rachenar(blackem@hotmail.com) //////////////===== I. Preface =====\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Nearly all of those who prefer Silent Hill 2 over the other games in the series feel that way for one reason: the story. For me, the appeal of the story comes from its longevity; no matter how much you know, there are still enough unanswered questions to keep you combing through the script to find clues. Unlike convoluted scripts such as Metal Gear Solid 2, there is enough solid ground on which to build theories. This is why many fans have independently come to the same conclusion about the meanings of various things. Yet there is enough freedom to allow for entirely different, but equally coherent explanations. This is my interpretation of the story. While I made some effort to mark what parts were my own musings and what came from external sources, it wasn't always practical to do so. This isn't a formal thesis, though, so what damage could be done? The story of Silent Hill 2 also appeals to me because it exists on several layers, each of which slowly reveals itself as more clues are gained. In this plot guide, I will not simply list each character and monster and attempt to explain their significance. This has been done before, and done well. Instead, I will explore each layer, starting with the outermost and diving deeper. Not only is each layer a story unto itself, but each is simply a single element of the layer beneath it. The outermost layer is the Story Layer, which follows the journey of a man searching for his presumably deceased soul-mate. Underneath is the Mind layer, in which the story is reinterpreted as an internal battle within James's mind. This is merely one part of the Character layer, where James, Angela, and Eddies stories interweave into a single thread, which finally leads into the Town Layer, the supernatural backdrop on which all of the above layers are painted. /== Ia. Revision History ==\ Version 0. Document didn't exist. Version 1. Problems present in the previous version fixed. Version 1.1 Added contributions from Ryan + Lobsel_Vith - Added sections on the Otherworld and the Red God. Version 1.2 Added a theory by Rachenar //////////////===== II. Story Layer =====\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ When we first meet James, he is staring at his reflection in a mirror, wondering if this is all a dream. Indeed his situation sounds absurd: his wife Mary, who he knows to have died of a disease three years ago, has apparently written him a letter asking to meet him in the town of Silent Hill. It is a place of fond memories for the couple; James and Mary had vacationed there shortly before Mary fell ill to the life destroying disease. It is a symbol of the life he lost with the woman he shared his soul with. He has no doubt that Mary is dead, and he appears aware of how irrational it was to come to the town. Yet as soon as he asks himself "Why am I looking for her?" he silences it with another question, "Our special place, what could she mean?" a question that assumes Mary is alive. James wont let himself question his decision to come to the town. As we follow James through the misty, abandoned town, his story begins to unravel. It is suggested that he did not love his wife, and that his hands are not as clean as we are lead to believe. He sinks deeper and deeper into a world completely unlike our own, swarming with ghoulish creatures and recently executed corpses. This culminates in the revelation that James has, in fact, killed his wife and suppressed the memory of doing so. Upon learning the truth, he confronts his demons one last time before either succumbing to darkness or rising above it. It should not take many playthroughs to gather this much about Silent Hill 2's plot. This surface story, of a man searching for a love that was torn away from him, is merely a small component of the full plot. Since I expect any readers of this plot guide to be generally familiar with the event of the game, I will not devote as much time to exploring this layer. /== IIa. James and Mary ==\ It is established that Mary did not die three years ago, but quite recently. The Japanese script gives us an additional clue: the letter Mary wrote to Laura was written on the day of her 8th birthday. She had been alive for at most one week before SH2 begins. Mary’s disease has snuffed the joy of life out of her. James suffers too, not only from seeing the one he loves in pain, but also because his natural needs are no longer being fulfilled. Paradoxically, the love each feels for each other has caused frustration to build up, creating an anger between the both of them. Mary lashes out at James, who in turn refuses to visit her often. After three years, with the only thing to look forward to being death, Mary eventually comes to terms with her condition. She writes goodbye letters to Laura, an orphan she had befriended in the hospital, and James, who by now has not visited her in some time. Mary mentions Silent Hill in the opening of her letter, the last place in which she was happy. Thoughts of returning to the town have kept her sane, and she eventually grew to see the town as a paradise. Before the disease can claim her life, however, James intervenes. He smothers Mary to death with a pillow, to end the nightmare the two of them had endured for all of this time. /== IIb. The Appeal of Pyramid Head ==\ There is no denying the appeal of Pyramid Head. When someone can happily skewer exotic dancers, double rape and kill two other monsters, push people off rooftops, and still receive daily marriage proposals from dedicated Silent Hill fangirls, you know he must have something special. However, there are some who do not understand Pyramid Heads appeal. After all, he isn’t the only near-invincible villain who relentlessly pursues the protagonist of a horror story, nor is he even the most powerful. Fear, as well as intrigue, depends on a proper mixture of knowledge and uncertainty. Too much knowledge is the death of fear; once a villain is fully understood, it can no longer evoke the same horror as a villain whose next action is completely unpredictable. Therein lies the failings of most other villains in Pyramid Heads league; they are simply powerful creatures who pursue the protagonist, bent on killing them. The only uncertainty lies in when and how the creature will attack next. Pyramid Head can not be so easily classified. It becomes clear that he is not simply trying to kill James. At times he barely acknowledges him, and when they do fight, he simply leaves on his own accord after some time. This creates a sense that there is something more to his actions than the surface will tell. Leaving the battles also serves another purpose. It tells us that Pyramid Head is always in control of the situation, and we are simply playing by his rules. Whenever a protagonist escapes from a monster in a horror story, it counts as a failure on the monsters part. The creature then becomes less potent and less frightening. Pyramid Head is never once defeated by James, hence he becomes even more powerful in the player’s eyes with each successive meeting. Much of Pyramid Heads appeal stems from his design. The earliest conception of Pyramid Head was "a man without a face". After all, human empathy is built around facial recognition. A man without a face is a man who we can not read. Unfortunately, his first designs failed to invoke this sense of the unknown, because they were invariably just a man with a mask. He was not complete until he was given his eponymous pyramid helmet. His pyramid gives him something that other monsters don’t have, an identity. Other monsters may have fangs, horns, and claws, but we have seen so many creatures of this type that we tend to simply abstract them all into "big scary monster". Pyramid Head's form, on the other hand, is instantly recognizable. It is minimalistic, hence it is more easily remembered. /== IIc. Maria ==\ The complex interaction between James and Maria adds much to the story. On the one hand, James sees Maria as a burden, an obstacle on his path to find Mary. Yet, he acknowledges that his pursuit may be hopeless, and going home with Maria may be the best thing he could do. There are some who believe Maria represents the parts of Mary that James liked most, or wishes Mary had. Personally, I don’t find this to be entirely true; if James wanted a woman like Maria, he wouldn’t have married a woman like Mary. However, Maria does possess many of the qualities which Mary lost once she became ill. She is attractive, seductive, and dedicated to James. She is what James had been missing for the three years of Mary’s illness. Despite Maria’s obvious advances, she never manages to get anywhere with James. In fact James becomes visibly nervous whenever Maria becomes particularly flirtatious. This is not because James is unwilling or even afraid, but because he is uncertain about whether his pursuit of Mary will be fruitful. Maria dies and is reborn several times within the span of the story. However, her demeanor changes with each rebirth. When James meets Maria in the labyrinth, not only is she even more seductive than before, but she has also developed a split personality. She begins talking like Mary, even mentioning facts from her life that Maria should not have known. The last time James talks with Maria, she is open about James’s crime, and straightforward in her attempts to make him abandon the thought of Mary. All of this no doubt confuses poor James and the player alike! /== IId. Laura ==\ Laura seems to be a bit of an anomaly in the story. It is established that she does not see monsters, but it is still strange for a child her age to be wandering throughout an abandoned town without a hint of fear. Some believe that Laura exists in the real world, where Silent Hill is an ordinary American town. However, she does talk with James in public places, and people would probably take note of a little girl wandering all by herself talking to invisible people. Laura can also be seen using a flashlight in the hospital, suggesting the building is dark and abandoned to her eyes as well. Towards the end of the game, we learn not only that Laura stayed at the same hospital as Mary, but that she is an orphan as well. She mentions running away a lot, and coupled with her unusually independent personality, this hints that she never found a true mother figure to guide her through life. When she met Mary, however, she formed such a strong bond with her that Laura began to see Mary as the one who could fulfill such an important role. Mary writes Laura on the day of her 8th birthday, explaining that she is going away to "a quiet, beautiful place". Mary can not tell Laura that she is dying, either because she does not wish to break her heart, or because she doesn’t think Laura would be able to understand the gravity of the situation. Thus Laura believes that Mary is still alive. After reading the letter meant for James, she deduces that Mary is waiting in Silent Hill. Laura arrives at Silent Hill after being given a ride by Eddie (this is revealed by the developers, although it is never explained in the game). I believe that she sees the town as abandoned, although perhaps not foggy. This is suggested by the fact that she has to use a flashlight to navigate the hospital. She is willing to be in such a lonely environment, however, because of how important it is for her to find Mary. //////////////===== III. Mind Layer =====\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Had Silent Hill 2 possessed no depth beyond the Story Layer, it would still be a worthwhile game. Yet there is a lot missing; too much that simply doesn’t make sense if we take it at face value. Another layer of the story opens itself up to us when we ask this question: Who is the villain of Silent Hill 2? It is not common for a work of fiction, especially once based on horror and suspense, to lack a villain. Even if it isn’t another character, there must always be some force preventing the protagonist from achieving his or her goal. Pyramid Head appears to play the part, yet he doesn’t seem to do much to impede James’s progress. In fact he helps him advance at times. Although the monsters do attack James, their role in the story is largely peripheral and thus they do not fulfill the role of villain either. If a villain is the force preventing the protagonist from realizing a goal, then we can identify him by asking what James’s goal is. While we are lead to believe that James came to the town to find Mary, we later learn that this is not the case. Instead, the goal of James’s journey was to open his eyes up to the truth. What force has kept James deluded? That’s right, James himself. Thus the hero and villain of Silent Hill 2 are James...and James! The story of Silent Hill 2 is thus centered on an internal conflict between two parts of James’s mind, the repressor and the repressed. At the story’s opening, James has all but snuffed out three years of painful memories. Yet those memories did not vanish. They grew like a hidden cancer, torturing James and darkening his heart. At the game's opening, the repressed part of James’s mind no longer has the power to influence him. However, Silent Hill is able to give form to ones deepest thoughts. Nearly everything James sees; from the monsters to much of the scenery; is simply a manifestation of something James has kept hidden. Silent Hill immerses James in representations of these locked-away feelings. Although he is consciously unaware of their significance, they nonetheless are slowly chipping away at his denial. /== IIIa. Painful Reminders ==\ The story of Silent Hill 2 is like a fugue, with a main theme that is played in many different variations by many different voices. The theme in question is the act of killing Mary and the air of emotions surrounding it. It is James’s repressed mind who plays the instruments, forcing James to see again and again what he had done to Mary without being consciously aware of it. Consider the first time James meets a monster. The creature does nothing to hurt him at first, and does not appear to posses any means of inflicting harm. It even appears more worthy of pity than malice. Yet James immediately reaches for a plank with the intention of bashing the monsters brains out. Unless, of course, you are Gandhi and don’t hurt the monsters when you play. He has once again "solved" a problem through violence. It doesn’t end there, though. Look at the color of the Lying Figure, and of the Mannequin for that matter. Their sickly light-brown hues match with those of Mary’s hospital outfit, which itself matches her diseased skin. From a distance and in the same pose, Mary herself would not look much different from a Lying Figure. "I look like a monster!" indeed. The lying figures also attack by coughing, the importance of which will be explained shortly. The patient records in Brookhaven’s reception office serve as another mirror into James’s soul. Each patient has a condition which is plainly analogous to one of the three main characters. Joseph Barkin, in particular, is a patient who believes he killed his daughter and has been living with guilt since. A fourth record, written by a patient on the roof, reflects the sentiments of Mary during her final days. In fact, if one believes that Mary stayed at Brookhaven in the last week of her life, the diary could very well be hers. The article on Walter Sullivan seems somewhat out of place. What could a story about a murderous psychopath have to do with James? Sullivan is mentioned again in a bizarre radio game show directed at James, along with two other notable serial killers. His name makes a final appearance in the Abyss, where his tombstone is next to those of James, Angela, and Eddie. The message suddenly makes sense; James was initially shown just the article with no explanation, which lead him to judge Walter as a horrible criminal. The juxtaposed tombstones, then, send the message that James and Sullivan are of the same ilk! In reality, Sullivan is far worse, but the message of James being a murderer remains. Most people have caught that the many deaths of Maria are a clear example of the town making James relive his crime. However, it goes much deeper than that. The time Maria spends in Brookhaven is strongly analogous to Mary’s time in her hospital. In fact some people believe Mary herself stayed at Brookhaven during the last week of her life. The analogy starts when Maria becomes sick and has to lie down. This is clearly symbolic of Mary’s disease; Maria gives the same cough that we see Mary giving in the video. It is but the first signs of the three year illness. All of this time, James has seen Maria as a burden and thus leaves her alone, despite the obvious danger. This represents how he mostly abandoned Mary when he saw her as an obstacle to a happy life. When Maria and James meet again in the basement, Maria first responds angrily, but then switches tone and cries out for James to protect her and stay with her. This matches well with a conversation between James and Mary during her final days, in which she is first angry: "I don’t want any damn flowers! Get the hell out of here!" but later pleads for James not to leave her. All of this culminates in the murder of Maria, which is easily seen as representing Mary’s death. The song Magdalene perfectly illustrates how James feels at this time. It is melancholy, no doubt, but it is also entirely devoid of energy. It is lifeless, and hopeless, just as James feels. The movie version embellishes the song with strings and whatnot, and hence fails to be nearly as effective. /== IIIb. Pyramid Head ==\ Previously, I had claimed that uncertainty was a key ingredient of Pyramid Heads appeal. Many of the questions raised in the Story Layer become clearer when PH is viewed under the lens of the Mind Layer. We are given a major clue to Pyramid Heads purpose near the end of the game. "I was weak, that’s why I need you. Needed someone to punish me for my sins." Or in the Japanese script "I was weak, and so I desired your existence". Punishment and judgment, then, are the driving force behind Pyramid Head. We must remember, though, that punishment is not simply torture. Inflicting pain upon James would be useless if James did not know why he was being harmed. However, he could not simply be told from the start that he is being punished because he killed his wife. His denial is so strong at first that he would immediately reject it and sink further into darkness. Hence, Pyramid Head punishes James in more subtle and psychological ways. Pyramid Head reflects James darker desires. Seeing Pyramid Head rape and kill monsters is like looking at himself from the outside. The sexual frustration he held for those three years has been eating away at him, and Pyramid Head is quick to bring these feelings to the surface. PH's antagonism against Maria serves this end as well, but there is another reason why he repeatedly murders her. Pyramid Head and Maria are the most powerful manifestations of James’s repressed and repressor mind, and thus their battles are symbolic of James’s internal struggle. Pyramid Heads goal is to slowly open James’s eyes to the truth, so that he may be properly judged. Maria has the opposite goal: to make James abandon Mary and remain in denial. "All you care about is that dead wife of yours!", cries Maria after James doesn’t come to her rescue. This leads us to a curious conclusion; if the goal of Pyramid Head is to make James face up to what he’s done, then he is no longer an enemy but a hero! Pyramid Head's goal becomes complete after James sees the videotape. His repressed mind has gained enough strength to allow the truth in, and when James sees what he had done, he does not question it. He remembers the murder, and the pain caused by it. Shortly afterwards, he meets Pyramid Head again, who has somehow brought a copy of himself along for the job. Numerous theories exist as to why there are suddenly two of them. A common theory is that the second one represents his guilt for killing Eddie, although I don’t believe James feels nearly as much remorse for that act. One should note that the image of the two Pyramid Heads to either side of a hanged Maria reflects a crude drawing on the Prison’s scaffold. After testing James one last time, the Pyramid Heads end the battle by impaling themselves. James has seen the truth, and suffered accordingly, and hence the role of Pyramid Head is complete. Having lost the desire to be punished, James is able to leave the triangle headed executioners behind as he ascends to face the avatar of his delusion: Maria. /== IIIc. Maria ==\ Just as Pyramid Head was borne of James’s unconscious desire for punishment, Maria was borne of James’s conscious desire for physical intimacy. She is a creation of his repressor mind, designed to make James stray from his path so that he will remain deluded. However, she also becomes a tool of the repressed mind as well, which uses her to remind James of his crime. Maria’s first life is the one most people refer to when talking about her. In this life, she is not aware of her role in James’s journey. This is proven by the Born from a Wish scenario, in which we see Maria acting independently of James, oblivious of her purpose. Silent Hill 3 even suggests that Maria was a real person, who’s memory was erased and form changed to better reflect Mary’s. Part of James created Maria and imbibed her with some of Mary’s qualities. The intent was to create something which could lure James away from his quest to find Mary. However, by making her so much like Mary, James’s repressed mind was able to use her to remind him of his crime. Poor Maria, of course, is unaware of the two rival puppetmasters controlling her. Maria’s ignorance does not carry over into her next life though. When James meets her again in the Labyrinth, she has taken on a new persona. At first, she no longer speaks in her seductive tone, and even recalls memories of Mary. An instant later, however, Maria-the-seductress is back and ready for her "hero" to to save her. She tells James "I’m here for you", beckoning for him to "come and get me." This scene was mentioned by the developers as one of the key elements of the plot. It is, indeed, the tipping point in the battle between the repressor and the repressed. When Maria is speaking as Mary, she gives James a clue by mentioning the videotape at the hotel. This would suggest that she is trying to lead James toward discovering the truth. When Maria’s original personality takes over, she attempts the opposite goal by asking James to save her instead of looking for Mary. Her promise of "I’m here for you" seems to be her way of saying "You can have me instead of Mary". Hence, this scene is another war between the two sides of James’s mind. By this time in the game his delusions have begun to unwind, especially after hearing that Mary was friends with Laura a year ago. His repressed mind is making itself be heard; for a brief moment it was able to speak to James through Maria. Hence, she behaved like Mary, had her thoughts, and lead James towards learning the truth. His repressor mind, however, regained control, and the Maria of old was back. Maria’s final speaking appearance (her short-lived performance as a human shish-kebob notwithstanding) is the most different of all. While her dialogue differs slightly depending on the ending (except for one in which the woman James meets claims to be Mary), she pretty much says the same thing in all of them: Mary is dead, it was your fault, but I’m better than her and you can have me instead. She mentions Mary’s death, reflecting James’s recently restored knowledge, and also becomes much more direct. This shows that James’s repressor mind has weakened, and is now acting in desperation in order to keep James under control. When it realizes that converting James is hopeless, his repressor mind takes on a demonic form and attempts to destroy him. Killing this final monster is symbolic of James purging those harmful thoughts from his mind and restoring him to his real self. The exception to this is the Maria ending. The woman James meets looks identical to the "Maria" of the other endings, but claims to be Mary. The truth of this is debatable, but James speaks to "Mary" in the other endings as well. Whether this is Mary’s ghost, or simply James’s memories of Mary is uncertain. I, however, believe the woman James meets in the Maria ending is still Maria. This is the ending in which James’s repressor mind wins, even after James learns the truth. Because Maria claims to be Mary, but then becomes a demon and attacks James, this final fight could instead be symbolic of James severing his bond with Mary once and for all. The victory is short-lived though; Maria gives a familiar cough at the last minute, signifying that James’s punishment is not yet done. /== IIId. Staring into the Abyss ==\ James's repressed mind and repressor mind are locked in a bitter duel over one thing: the truth. The repressed mind is attempting to make James aware of his crime, while his repressor mind wishes to comfort him with delusions. It is for this reason that the so-called "Abyss" is of critical importance to the battle for James's soul. We learn of the Abyss from the hospital director's memos. It is a place where hidden, painful truths may be revealed. One may only learn these truths, however, if they are willing to have them laid bare for all to see. In other words, by keeping the truth hidden from others, one keeps the truth hidden from himself as well. Hence, "He who is not bold enough to be stared at from across the Abyss is not bold enough to stare into it himself." Simply getting James to enter the Abyss is a significant victory for the repressed mind. Yet at the point in the story where James enters the Historic Society, he is still deeply in denial. His repressed mind has the strength still to keep his eyes shut. The following is a theory by Rachenar(blackem@hotmail.com), concerning James's journey through this realm. On James' first trip to the Abyss, via the Historical Society, there are three instances where James is faced with a choice between truth and delusion. All three times, James chooses delusion. 1. James chooses to go after Maria, because she is "what James wants her to be". In other words, a delusion. 2. Angela asks James about Mary's death, and James mentions the illness. Angela then explicitly tells James that he killed her, and that he found Maria as a replacement, and our friend James denies it all. 3. Eddie says "This town called you, too. You and me are the same. We’re not like other people. Don’t you know that?!" Obviously, James doesn't. He's still refusing to face the truth, or simply unaware of it. Thus after these three trials, James was deemed "not bold enough to be stared at from across the abyss", so he could no longer "stare into it himself". James leaves the Abyss right after killing Eddie and returns to his vision of the misty world of Silent Hill. However, James sees Silent Hill at that point the same way he saw it 3 years ago. Then there's the third memo, a section of which reads: "A part of that abyss is in the old society." It would appear that the HS is a universal access to the Abyss to whomever has reason to visit it, but also that there are different ways one can access it. Upon learning the truth after viewing the video, James becomes "bold enough to be stared at from across the Abyss" as he no longer denies the truth. Thus he returns to it upon leaving room 312, because for James, another part of the Abyss was in the hotel. Proof that James has returned to the Abyss: The warping hallways and James' visit to what most likely is a flaming staircase in Angela's house; in other words, the lack of physical consistency that occurs after James has viewed the tape. Now let's return to the HOLE memo. It would appear that the person who wrote it saw a hole in Neely's bar (a delusion due to drinking problems, perhaps?), learned the truth by "marching forward", and upon his return, the hole was gone. Similarly, if James returned to the HS after finishing his business in the hotel, he would no longer see a hole either, because he no longer has reason to access the Abyss. /== IIIe. The Final Battle ==\ As we can see, James was bold enough to enter the Abyss, but not bold enough to stare into it. While his denial has been slowly cracking, his desire to suppress those painful memories is still strong. In fact, his delusions become even more severe after first leaving the Abyss. Before his initial descent into the Abyss, nearly all of the manifestations conjured up from his pysche seemed to reflect his crime and the emotions he held during Mary's three year hospitalization. Even the overall theme of the environment coincided with his feelings about Mary; the town is decayed and lifeless, yet was once beautiful and serene. However, the atmosphere of the hotel departs significantly from the previous theme of decay. In stark contrast to the apartment building and hospital, the hotel is in near pristine condition. The manifestations no longer hint at Mary's death but instead lead James to believe that she is actually waiting for him in room 302. It seems as if his repressor mind has taken complete control over James's perception. His repressed mind is not yet defeated though. It is able to manifest a few small, but important artifacts. First and foremost, it bars the path to the third floor. It diverts his path to the first floor office, via an elevator which refuses to move due to a weight allowance limit. Since there were mentions of "the weight of one's crimes", this is likely an allusion to the burden of guilt James is carrying. The most important artifact created from James's repressed mind is the videotape. It is, in essence "the truth". Had James been shown this tape at any point prior to the hotel, it is likely that he would have cast it off a delusion. Now, his repressed mind hopes that James will listen to its cries. James's repressor mind has convinced him that not only did he not kill his wife, but that she is alive and waiting for him in Room 302. However, in doing so it has worked itself into a corner. If James walks into Room 302 and finds that Mary isn't there, he will be fully aware of her death. There is no longer the sense that she could be in some "other special place" as when James looked for her in Rosewater Park. By making him believe that he will see Mary again, James becomes vulnerable. When James walks into Room 302, its as if he had never left it. It is immaculately clean and illuminated by a heavenly light from outside. Yet Mary is not there. His repressor mind was unable to conjure up her image. His hopes crushed, James watches the videotape, and his delusions shatter. James does not question the tape, nor does he deny it. He admits to himself and to Laura that he killed Mary. Hence, he shows that he is able to "be stared at from across the abyss", as per Rachenar's theory. Yet his hope of seeing Mary is once again rekindled when he hears her voice on the radio. It is an act of desperation on the part of his repressor mind. Having lost the battle for the truth, there is only one thing left to fight for: will James resolve his guilt and release the burden, or cling onto it and drown in despair (and water)? Which side ultimately emerges victorious is up to the player's choices throughout the game. //////////////===== IV. Character Layer =====\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Many who have seen the story of Silent Hill 2 complain that Angela and Eddie are superfluous characters who add little to the plot. Perhaps this may be true in the Story and Mind Layers, where they are simply two people James meets along the way to find his wife. The story isn’t only about James, though. Each of the three main characters has endured analogous struggles, and seeing how the other two behave is like looking at one’s self through a distorted mirror. Many people believe that the towns purpose is simply to punish sinners. If you were to ask most fans why each of the three characters was called to the town, they would likely point out that each of them has committed murder. Yet neither James, Angela, nor Eddie is unambiguously evil. They are not drug pushers, corrupt CEOs, criminal overlords, or ruthless dictators. It is not their crimes which have sent them to Silent Hill, but the feelings of guilt they hold inside. Guilt is felt when one does something far outside what they accept as decent, thus guilt is the province of "good" people. Prior to their life changing killings, James, Angela, and Eddie were all good people who would not be expected to commit murder. James adored Mary and wished to spend his life with her. To murder his one true love would be absurd. Angela had well accepted her inferiority in the dominance hierarchy her family had placed her in. To murder her father would place her in control of the situation, which would be unheard of to her. Eddie was a total softie who always let people walk all over him, while doing nothing to stop it and everything to encourage it. In spite of this, years of tension drove each of the three to commit murder: James euthanizing his sick wife, Angela murdering her father, and Eddie killing a dog and wounding its owner. Each felt tremendous guilt over the act, but none were able to deal with it openly. Instead, each developed a defense mechanism centered on their key character flaws. /== IVa. Seeds of Darkness ==\ James always kept his feelings hidden, to the point where others (e.g. Laura) often thought lacked any. Thus, James’s defense was to suppress the memories of his actions, keeping them hidden to himself and everyone else. He became convinced that Mary died three years ago, and placed the blame on the disease rather than on himself. Angela has always had an inferiority complex. Whether it resulted from her abuse or factored in its origins, Angela has always seen herself at the bottom of the totem pole. Unable to deal with the lack of an abuser, Angela’s defense mechanism was to become her own aggressor. She abused herself psychologically in the ways that her father had once done. Eddie always had a persecution complex. It is highly unusual for people Eddies age to insult one another in a manner typical of young teens. Most of his abuse is either imagined or brought on by Eddie himself. Because he believes the world is laughing at him, his defense was to believe that they deserved death. Far from solving their problems, their defense mechanisms only worsened the situation. It is the ensuing "darkness in their hearts" that drove them to Silent Hill, not the murders themselves. Upon meeting each other, Angela and Eddie realized that they were in the same predicament as James (who in his denial could not see this fact). Rather than form any sort of solidarity, each berates the other for how they’ve dealt with their crime. James scolds Angela for wallowing self pity (which James is quite guilty of), and Eddie for acting on impulse (ditto). Meanwhile, Angela and Eddie scold James for his willful ignorance as to the purpose of their journeys, which too is hypocritical since they are delusional as well. /== IVb. Judgment ==\ Perceptions of judgment differ in each character. Angela and Eddie are inversely symmetrical in this regard, with James acting as the middle ground. For Angela, she openly judges herself, while most outsiders would not judge her at all. Eddie does not judge himself, but most outsiders would be quick to judge him. James lies in the middle; the ambiguity of his crime prevents anyone, including himself, from drawing clear judgment. Some believe he is undeniably guilty, some believe he has suffered enough. On the one hand, he murdered Mary to get her out of his life. Yet he only needed to do this because he loved Mary so much that he couldn’t bear to take another lover while she still drew breath. Mary’s conflicting sentiments about assisted suicide only increase the confusion. /== IVc. The Tablets ==\ During his time in the prison, James finds three tablets: the Tablet of the Oppressor, the Tablet of the Seductress, and the Tablet of the Gluttonous Pig. The meaning of these tablets was not immediately clear to me. Although there were numerous obvious matches for each tablet (Maria as the seductress, Eddie as the gluttonous pig, Pyramid Head or Angela’s father as the oppressor), there was no symmetry to the mappings. Supposedly, the developers have revealed that each tablet represents one of the three main characters: The Oppressor being James, the Angela the Seductress, and Eddie the Gluttonous Pig. While Eddies tablet seems appropriate, the other two don’t seem to match well at all. That is, until we realize that the tablets don’t represent each character as they are in reality, but instead represent each character as they see themselves. It is difficult to place the label of Seductress on the victim of abuse. Yet it is not uncommon for the consistently abused to begin to believe that they are at fault. Indeed, Angela seems to believe that she is deserving of abuse. "Mama said it best, I deserved what happened." It is even clearer in the Japanese script: "Mama knew I was that kind of person". At first, "Gluttonous Pig" seems to be an apt description of Eddie. Yet in making this judgment, we fall victim to his game. It is made clear that much, if not all, of the ridicule Eddie faces is created by Eddie himself. He is a man who is so deeply affected by how others perceive him that he believes all of the insults levied in his direction. Thus, throughout his life Eddie has crafted himself into the archetype of the fat, lazy slob. This has created an infinite feedback loop which ensures that Eddie will be laughed at his whole life. Eddie is also a glutton for ridicule, but this tablet seems to be referencing food more directly. The love James held for Mary was unquestionably pure. How then can we call him "The Oppressor?" A significant portion of the Silent Hill 2 fan base, however, does not see James as a loving husband, but instead as a sex starved maniac who only loved Mary in the carnal sense. To them, it is easy to see how James is an oppressor: he demanded sexual dominance over Mary, and when the disease took that luxury away from him, he killed her before the disease could in order to achieve dominance once again. There are numerous flaws with this reasoning, yet it is suggested that James himself has begun to believe it. Three years without intimacy has caused tremendous sexual frustration to accumulate within him. Yet this tension also brings him guilt, as it suggests that he only cares for sex. Feeding these thoughts, Laura, Maria, and Angela all assert that James did not love Mary. Maria herself is an embodiment of this very sentiment. If James left the town with Maria, it would prove that he did not love Mary for who she was, but only for sexual reasons. Two of the monsters directly convey this notion as well, the Mannequins and the Flesh Lips. Because they have legs but no body, the Mannequins portray sexuality without humanity. Thus, they represent the notion that James only cared for sex. The Flesh Lips is an even darker symbol. The Lost Memories book calls them "Lustful Lips", and indeed these "lips" are placed between the creatures dangling legs. This shows that they aren’t referring to the lips you kiss your kids goodnight with. Furthermore the lattice in which they hang represents a bed (I myself thought they were bed-ridden patients hanging from the ceiling at first), another reference to sexuality. However, the Flesh Lips is so horribly twisted beyond all recognition that it is impossible to feel any sexual attraction towards it (and by god seek help if you do). Thus, it represents the disgust James felt for Mary when he tried to view her in a sexual light. The disease had ruined her figure, thus creating a painful tension between the part of James who loved Mary and wanted intimacy with her, and James’s natural repulsion towards her sickly appearance. /== IVd. The Inner Child ==\ Laura is not the only young child roaming the streets of Silent Hill. Angela, Eddie, and to a lesser extent James all exhibit childlike tendencies. Yet far from being their innocent sides, these childish components of their personalities have allowed darkness to take hold of their hearts. A child is unaware of the world, dependant on adults, very sensitive to criticism from peers, and often powerless against those who may take advantage of them. The abuse levied onto Angela has stunted her emotional growth. She feels highly dependant on her family, despite their hostility towards her. She barely knows any world outside of her abusive home. She is unable to exert any power over another person, and as such apologizes to James numerous times for trivial things. Her voice and posture display a lack of maturity. Angela is aware of this however; after saying "I’m looking for my mama", she immediately corrects herself: "I mean my mother." Her inward childishness contrasts with her aged outward appearance. These two aspects of her being have pulled away so much that Angela has developed a split personality. Her older self has absorbed the cruelty of her father, prepared to perpetuate a cycle of domestic violence even after he is gone. Those who are made to feel weak and worthless will often mask their pain by abusing someone else in later years. Had Angela grown up to have a family of her own, she may have abused her own children just as her father had abused her. Angela’s violent temper toward James during the later parts of the game strongly suggests that this part of her has been growing. It is this side of Angela who scolds James for "saving" her from the Abstract Daddy. "Don’t order me around!" she yells. In this, she is attempting to compensate for her lack of power over her father by putting on a show of dominance over James. Yet this dominance is delusional and futile, and does little more than sink Angela Angela even further. Eddie too is a beacon of immaturity. His appearance and speech are highly child-like, such as the whiny "She said a fatso like me would just slow her down!". His account of the insults he has endured brings to mind a grade-school environment, which a man his age should be well away from by now. His conception of fairness is entirely juvenile as well; he believes that since people made fun of him, then he should be allowed to hurt or even kill them in return. James may appear to be the most collected and reasonable of the three main characters, but this is only a front. The childlike traits of James are mostly present in his dependence on Mary for happiness, as a child may depend on his mother. James is also known to take action to achieve a proximate goal without regards to the consequences, another childlike quality. A shining examples of this are when he reaches through a hole in a wall to get a key, even when he cant see what’s in there and even seems to get bitten once. The infamous and lauded toilet-bowl scene reflects this aspect of his personality as well. Not to mention James's reaction to Eddie's assertion that he will kill anyone who makes fun of him: "Eddie, have you gone nuts (you big fat stupid idiot)?". /== IVe. Reflections ==\ There are some who believe that Angela and Eddie are figments of James's imaginations. Their reasoning is that both of them reflect two different paths James could go through: he could continue to live in darkness and misery, leading up to suicide, or he could embrace the "murderer" label and feel no remorse for his actions. However, I see the mirror going three ways; not only do Angela and Eddie show two paths that James could take, but James also shows a path that Angela and Eddie could take: to deny their crime and convince themselves that it never happened. Traits of each character are reflected in each other character. Eddie and Angela are unbending in their decision to deal with their guilt through violence toward others and themselves. Only James is able to take differing paths, four different paths to be specific. The following is an account by forum user Ryan(weltallxeno@hotmail.com), explaining which characters are being reflected in James for each ending: As the title suggests, this is an another analysis of the endings, one that uses the characters as major reference points. I believe that the characters in the game, in addition to their own self-contained stories and importances, are also an array of attributes that symbolize the various paths James can take upon his journey. LEAVE = Laura The idea is pretty obvious, but there is more to it than just the idea that Laura leaves with James in the ending. Laura typifies the very essence of the Leave ending. In Leave, James never falters in his desire to find his wife, and is steadfast in his search to find her. He keeps Maria at arm's length, and doesn't waste too much time thinking of himself. Mary is the goal, therefore, she is the most important. In Leave, James finally has the opportunity to spend a last moment with Mary, to be able to say the things he didn't say before, the things he couldn't say or wouldn't say. He abases himself before her, and flings aside all vestiges of the delusion he used to hide himself from reality. Because he commits to this course of action out of a deep and abiding love, and because he forces himself to come to terms with his own troubled thoughts, voicing them out loud for her to hear, Mary forgives James and puts his mind to rest. When last we see James, he is walking through the cemetery towards the scenic turnout, and we see Laura following closely behind. As one of Mary's letters made clear, Mary wished to adopt Laura as her own daughter but could not. Though it is not stated for certain this is what happens, to me it is implied that James decides to do just that, both out of respect for his wife, and perhaps as a thanks to Laura herself... because out of every character, Laura is by far the most influential in aiming him towards this conclusion. Laura is in town for the same reason as James; she wishes to find Mary. She is, at first, uncertain of James' motives, for she believes James to be an uncaring, selfish lout (and at first he does little to correct her notions). She realizes that there is more to him than meets the eye eventually, and by the time both reach the Lakeview Hotel, Laura is more pleasant to James and openly assists him in their shared goal. But, she is not just a tool for James. She is there for her reasons as well, and would just as soon prefer James to not be an interference. Yet, it is her actions which guide him on the proper path, bringing him to the Hospital when no other course of action seems viable for James to reach the hotel. This sets in motion a chain of events that leads him where he wants to go, but in a most roundabout way. Indeed, she is completely indicative of the ending, because her goal completely typifies the context of Leave: Find Mary, and never falter while looking. She never does. Presumably, she finds Mary (because, otherwise, there would be no way she'd go along with James. Undoubtly, they had their own private moment too, where Mary told her things about James that made her overcome the incredible anger and hate she displays in room 312.) IN WATER = Angela Another really simple one, perhaps the simplest; for both come to a very similar end and parallel in other ways. Both James and Angela commit acts which are violent and deadly. Both can suitably justify their deeds if either desired to. The problem here is that neither wishes to justify. Justification would lead in a very different direction. Instead, both decide that instead of vindication, they deserve punishment instead. Both desire punishment, but neither possesses a full-blown deathwish until the end, when all hope is truly lost. Of all the supporting characters, Angela's ultimate purpose is the least clear, and this is because she has none at all. Like James, Angela does not desire her own death from the beginning (this is evident in the Blue Creek encounter, when Angela surrenders her knife to James. She pointedly states she is doing so to prevent unpleasant things, and considering her position when we find her in that room, the 'unpleasant thing' is very clearly suicide.) Perhaps she still holds hope for redemption of some kind, or perhaps she has just not resigned herself to the inevitable. Regardless, by the end, she has. Whether she dies on the stairs of fire are not clear, but certainly, no other end is likely. Either she will die or wander endlessly, dead in spirit and soul, if not in body. This is analogous to James in the same role. He does not begin with a deathwish. In fact, the thought never really seems to cross his mind. He will expressly deny thoughts of suicide when Angela makes a remark. But, in the end, he has his moment with Mary, in which he gets to clear his conscience. But, his eyes are opened to the truth, and even though his conscience is clear, all that does is expose him to the rest of the truth, about himself and his life. He loves Mary. Deeply. To the point where he decides that he cannot live without her. He surrenders notions of life and future. Possibly, it is a gambit, to see if he might find Mary in the afterlife, but the underlying fact is that he has given up on life, just as Angela has. It's not a desire to kill himself, but rather a lack of desire to continue living. MARIA = Eddie Now the territory is not so clear, and since I use Maria as an example for a different ending, you might just cry foul. But, the Maria ending really isn't about Maria, it's about James, as all endings are. In the Maria ending, James does falter in his search for Mary, and falters badly. Maria is a seductress, a lookalike of his wife designed by his repressor mind to cling to the delusion in which he spends much of the story. Maria's appearance and personality are contrasted to Mary in several key ways, yet retaining a painfully obvious familiarity. She is, perhaps, the ideal Mary, especially in contrast to her later days. She is attractive, energetic, provocative and, in some ways, as caring and empathetic as Mary. She is the Siren of his delusional mind, seeking to retain its existence. What Maria also signifies is James' surrender to his desires. This isn't just a carnal statement, though that is likely a part of it. Certainly, he desires sex. Most people do, and her appearance is a reflection of it. However, there's more to it than that. She is real, to James. She isn't Mary, but maybe she's close enough? Maybe, with Maria, James can have everything back that he lost with Mary's illness and death? Not just sex, but companionship, togetherness. An emotional bond. Love, even. A replacement for his wife, as close as one can get. Now, how does Eddie factor? Well, he has desires, too. His desire is vengeance. He views himself as the avenging angel, and considering his state of mind in the final encounter, it's not a new concept to him. For years he has desired to lash out against those he considers his tormentors, to visit upon them the suffering and pain he feels he has recieved. It is perhaps this thinking come to a head that results in his murder of a dog, and the subsequent maiming of its presumed owner. He has a taste of the Avenging Angel, but it's a bitter taste at first. His moment of dominance is fleeting, for the law will be far more dominant than he, or any of his oppressors. Thus, he escapes to Silent Hill, a place that shows him things that torment him as badly as anyone he has encountered in his life. What Silent Hill also offers is the chance to strike back at this percieved oppression, in the same manner as what brought him here. He kills those who laugh at him. Whether or not they actually do is irrelevant, because Eddie is going to assume the worst. It's a natural response for someone of his mindset. At first, his exercise of this control is unnatural to him and he is unsure of how to react. Except, this time, there is no law to fear, there is no stronger and more dominant force to stop him. He is the law now, and by the end, he is a man without mercy. He has surrendered to his delusional thinking, that everyone is out to get him. He has surrendered, but he's glad to have done it, because now, those thoughts of vengeance that have been brewing in him for his entire life are no longer an urge he needs to supress. He is allowed to do what he wants, and he is going to take it for everything it's worth. Like James, Eddie goes down the wrong path out of selfish desires and skewed priorities. Eddie's decision ultimately destroys him. James' do not, at least right away. The final scenes of the Maria ending very strongly imply that such a fate is all but inevitable, that he is doomed to repeat his tragedy, as Eddie did with his attack on the dog, and that the conclusion is going to be far from ideal. [my own take on this is both Maria and the people who taunt Eddie are creations meant to tempt those into darkness by preying on one of their weaknesses.] REBIRTH = Maria This one is actually more obvious than it looks, and it has less to do with Maria's character traits than her origins. The obvious connection is the concept of rebirth itself. Maria is reborn twice in the game after being quite noticeably dead. However, the strongest indicator is her origin story, "Born From a Wish" which is very heavy with references to the Rebirth Ending. She begins with no coherent memory or even a real identity. She knows her name, and has a grasp on her situation, but little else. Wandering around more or less aimlessly, she finds the spirit of Ernest Baldwin in his eponymous mansion. Searching this mansion leads her to discover the fate of Amy Baldwin, Ernest's daughter. Ernest decides that the only way he can find peace is to bring his daughter back to life, by performing a sacred ceremony using occult items. In actuality, Ernest is more symbolic than Maria for this purpose, but it is Maria who acts as a tool to further Ernest's wishes, rather than her own person. Through her journey we learn much about the Ceremony of Resurrection of the Dead, and the items required to perform it. This is very important for James, even though he himself is ignorant of Maria's experience. I believe "Born" is the vehicle to better explain the mysterious fourth ending, and Maria's character is the vessel through which we experience this. //////////////===== V. Town Layer =====\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Looking at the Character Layer told us why each characters sees what he or she does. The question now is, how do they see what they do? Who is pulling the strings; leading James, Angela and Eddie along a path of punishment? What interest do they have in exploiting their guilt? How can one person endure a swarm of monsters, only to find that a little girl has never caught glimpse of a single one? There is a simple explanation to all this: the entire story is in James’s head. Angela, Eddie, and Laura were merely part of this dream. Yet like the shower incident of Dallas, this explanation fails to satisfy the inquisitive audience. Are James, Angela, and Eddie just seeing things? Is James swinging a plank at the air and jumping off rooftops pretending to have been hit by Pyramid Head? Some believe that James is walking around in an ordinary, populated town, perceiving civilians as monsters. This is highly unlikely, however. I’m sure the townsfolk would be able to subdue James without much trouble. While this would explain why each character sees the world differently, it likely is not the whole story. The most significant problem with this theory is the hotel. It was destroyed by fire before James came to the town, yet its three floors are structurally intact when James visits. Furthermore, were given little evidence that people see any structural differences to their environments while their in the same place. As evidence for this, consider the fact that whenever James meets Angela or Eddie, there is something about the surroundings that is symbolic of their struggles. Perhaps the powers of Silent Hill have decorated the town with images meant to stir distress within the three, plotting unique pathways through the town for each so that they only meet each other when the time is right. /== Va. The Monsters ==\ Creatures, on the other hand, are clearly seen in different light. The faceless corpses that James comes across are seen by Eddie as ordinary people. Could it be that the same figures are encountered by both Eddie and James? If the two of them were to both look upon one of these creatures, would James see it as a monster while Eddie sees it as a person? Has Angela been seeing them as her family members? How is it that Laura can not see them at all? Angela’s two final scenes give us key insights into these questions. The scene depicting the Abstract Daddy is especially important because it is the only time in the game where two people see the same creature at once. To James, it is a terrible creature of great strength, while to Angela, it is her father. When James next meets her, Angela mistakes him for her mother. This is clearly not an easy mistake, so just what exactly going on? The key lies in what the Abstract Daddy represents. It is a clear symbol of Angela’s abuse; depicting a larger figure looming over a small one, atop a bed frame. At the same time, it is symbolic of James as well. The juxtaposition of sex and violence mirrors the sexual frustrations James felt which eventually lead him to to murder. Hence, at an abstract level, it speaks to both of them. In the Mind Layer, I mentioned that the town immerses James in his guilt. So too does it immerse the other characters in their pain. The powers of the town cause each of them to see what is in their own hearts rather than what is actually there. Perhaps it is the case that the Abstract Daddy has no true physical form. Instead, it is somewhat of a template; the essence of a certain emotion. Because it invokes the same feelings of fear and powerlessness that Angela had for her father, she sees it as her father. Another victim of abuse would see the creature as its aggressor. Perhaps Eddie would have seen it as someone who had not only been verbally abusive to him, but physically abusive as well. Why does James see it as a monster? We have already seen how the other monsters James faces are symbolic of his pain. Perhaps it is because of his denial that the monsters can only take abstract form, as opposed to the more direct shapes portrayed to Angela and Eddie. It may also be that James sees the Abstract Daddy in its true form, because he has not been a victim of abuse and thus can not make that emotional connection with it. Is this power to be seen differently a property of the monster itself? No, because James himself fills this role when Angela sees him for the last time. How could she possibly mistake James for her mother? When James "saved" Angela from the Abstract Daddy, she began to see him as a protector. For any child, the first person to be associated with such a role is the mother. While Angela’s mother clearly did little to stop the abuse (and was likely both of victim of it herself), the biological drive for children to seek their mothers for safety is hard to escape. When Angela saw James on the burning staircase, she saw her protector, instead of James himself. This also helps explain why Laura cant see the monsters; the emotions which each of them invoke are not present within Laura. They fail to make a connection with her psyche, and as such she sees them as nothing at all. It is possible that she sees them as ordinary people, but she never makes any reference to meeting anyone other than Eddie and James. If the monsters do have physical form (and I believe they do), they would have to actively avoid Laura. Perhaps her innocence is poison to them, because they have no power over her. This leads us to the question, what exactly is the Abstract Daddy, and for that matter all of the monsters? They do not act in ways typical of humans, so it is unlikely that they are ordinary people. Is it possible that they once were human, who have succumbed to the towns power, becoming embodiments of the emotions they died with? Vincent’s speech in SH3 seems to suggest this! /== Vb. The Environment ==\ The second piece of this puzzle is how the town itself appears to James, Angela, and Eddie. The environment seems to shape itself to reflect the darkness in the hearts of those called to the town. Unlike the monsters, these changes are objective; they are visible to anyone who happens to be in the same place. It is my belief that each character has a unique pathway through the town, separated by roadblocks and locked doors. They meet each other only when the controlling powers of the town will it so. When James meets Angela for the second time in the apartments, she is behind a white door. This door is unlike any other in the apartments, and what’s more it has the same appearance as the door to the Abstract Daddy’s room. Could it be that this is the same door to Angela’s room in her own home, duplicated by the powers of the town in order to constantly remind her of her past? White is also a symbol of purity, and as such may be deliberately mocking Angela’s abuse. The fiery staircase on which we meet Angela for the last time is much larger than normal stairs, representing how a child might perceive an ordinary staircase. Angela also claims to see fire everywhere, however she does not acknowledge it at all until the very end. Since we are to assume that all three characters have only been in Silent Hill for a matter of hours, not days, it is unlikely that Angela has simply become accustomed to them. It may be that Angela’s otherworld is based on fire, as opposed to the decay and darkness present in James’s conception of it. Eddie is also constantly surrounded by painful images from his past. James first meets Eddie next to a room full of football posters. The stereotypical football player is the antipode of Eddie, someone who is in shape, well liked by his peers, and brimming with confidence. We can see Eddie's contempt for football when he talks about the man he shot in the leg: "He’s going to have a hard time playing football on what’s left of that knee!" Furthermore, Eddie is always found in a place associated with food. He is seen with a pizza in the bowling alley (an anomaly in James’s perception of the town), then in a cafeteria, and finally in a walk-in freezer. This feeds Eddies image as a fat slob who who can not resist the temptation of food. /== Vc. The Gods ==\ We now come to the ultimate foundation of the story: what is primary source of influence in Silent Hill? Is the psyche the master, drawing upon the powers of the town to give form to ones delusions? Are sentient supernatural beings in control, who pry into the minds of the guilty to unearth their innermost thoughts? Perhaps it is both, but then what is the balance? Is that blasted dog behind it all? This issue does not appear to have a clear solution, and equally compelling theories can be built assuming a mind-centered view of the story or a god-centered view. Throughout this plot guide, I have made numerous references to the "power of the town". However, I never had the feeling that there was a puppetmaster in the heavens directing the show. The "gods" of the town do not seem to be the kind of god that the Western mind is accustomed to. Instead, I believe the power of the town is like clay; inherently formless, but able to be molded into any shape. It has no agenda, no will, no sentience. It just IS. Whatever this power may be, it has existed long before the English settled on its holy grounds. The settlers brought with them disease and death, which slowly corrupted the spiritual power of the town. This is what leads me toward the conclusion that the power of the town is not so much an authority figure as is the traditional concept of God. Instead it appears to reflect the sentiments of those who live near it. The Order speaks of many gods and angels, the Red God, the Yellow God, "The" God, Valtiel, Metatron, Samael, among others. What is the reality of these gods, though? The religious traditions of the Order are known to have been influenced by Christian teachings and the indigenous religions of the land. This makes it unlikely that the Orders teachings represent the spirit world as it actually is. Metatron and Sammeal in particular are the most likely candidates for entirely fictional beings, and this is even suggested in Silent Hill 3 where the Seal of Metatron is shown to be a useless trinket. /== Vd. The Source ==\ Why do the powers of the town deliver judgment to those with darkness in their hearts? What benefit do they gain from leading the guilty on a path of pain? Some believe that the gods feed off of negative emotions. However, I do not see emotions as a commodity. Furthermore, the plights of James, Angela, and Eddie would be but a light snack in comparison to the horrors the town has experienced before. Here, I see another benefit of an an interpretation of the gods as formless and malleable. Prisons and prison camps have adorned much of Silent Hills history. After an epidemic ravaged the land, the English settlers gave up on establishing a settlement there. Instead, the land was used as a penal colony. Later, during the civil war, the area was used to hold prisoners of war. This prison camp then evolved into Toluca Prison. In these times, judgment was passed on the suspected, and justice was delivered to the guilty. Yet there was no sense that this "justice" was based on what is right and fair. This was a perverted form of judgment, one which served to give power to the accusers instead of dealing justice to those who were wronged. The innocent and guilty were judged alike, bringing more death upon the land. It is in this era that Pyramid Head's inspirations, clad in the traditional garb of Valtiel, decided who should live and who should die. This overwhelming sense of judgment and punishment became etched into the spiritual fabric of Silent Hill. The towns desire to continue judging the guilty coupled with the subconscious desires of James, Angela and Eddie to be judged. A bond was formed between the mind and the powers of the town, and each drew from one another to meet its end. /== Ve. Xuchilbara ==\ Lobsel_Vith(the forum user, not the god. Lobsel Vith the god never returns my e-mails) takes a more god-centered view of the story than I do. Nevertheless, many of her findings should not be ignored; whatever reality the "gods" of Silent Hill have, they do play a significant role in the series. This section includes information she has found about the Red God, Xuchilbara. Gods do not take center stage in SH2, unlike its predecessor and successor. However, the Red God, Xuchilbara, is mentioned in an artifact James can find: the Crimson Tome: Speak. I am the Crimson One. The lies and the mist are not they but I. You all know that I am One. Yes, and the One is I. Believers hearken to me! Twenty score men and seven thousand beasts. Heed my words and speaketh them to all, that they shall ever be obeyed even under the light of the proud and merciless sun. I shall bring down bitter vengeance upon thee and thou shalt suffer my eternal wrath. The beauty of the withering flower and the last struggles of the dying man, they are my blessings. Thou shalt ever call upon me and all that is me in the place that is silent. Oh, proud fragrance of life which flies towards the heart. Oh Cup which brims with the whitest of wine, it is in thee that all begins. The Crimson Ceremony seems to suggest that the Red God is the source of the delusions shown to James, Angela, and Eddie. The "mist" likely refers to the pervasive fog, who's presence signifies that we are in the Red God's domain. The poem also mentions decay and judgement, which are vital elements of the story's plot. Perhaps most importantly, it also mentions "the last struggles of the dying man". This suggests that Xuchilbara's domain is the place where life and death meet. Perhaps it is for this reason that he(or she?) is considered the God of Rebirth. /== Vf. World of the Gods ==\ So how does the Red God fit into an interpretation of the story that sees the gods as formless? I do not wish to rescind my statement that there are no puppet-masters guiding James, nor do I wish to ignore the gods altogether. The Crimson Ceremony suggests that the events experienced by James are nothing new; the town has been creating delusions long before he ever knew about it. There is another element of the story which I have not addressed proper: the Otherworld. The popular belief is that the Otherworld is another dimension in which the Gods have more influence. Some even see the foggy world as its own dimension, existing atop an ordinary, populated resort town. However, there are problems with this naive interpretation. For one, the otherworld is not an entirely different space, but rather a perversion of the existing environment. This is also true of the foggy realm, but on a smaller scale. However, towards the end of the game, we see an Otherworld that is entirely divorced from reality. In fact, this is true of each game in the Silent Hill series. Considering each of these worlds its own dimension requires believing in a myriad of unique realms. As a strong advocate of Occam's Razor, I don't take well to theories like these. Instead, I believe there are only two distinct worlds: the ordinary, human realm, and the world of the gods. The god's realm, however, is not physical. Space and time have no meaning, and there is no conception of "objects". It is an entirely metaphysical realm, hence it's pure form is unknowable by humans, who are so dependant on labels to classify their world. The human world and the god world are seperated by more than distance or time. However, in the area of Silent Hill, the worlds seem "closer" than elsewhere. The worlds bleed into eachother, creating a hybrid realm that bridges the two realities together. As evidence for the notion that the god's world is not material, consider the gradual loss of the rules of time and space as James descends further into the town. At first, James sees the town as relatively unchanged, save for the series staple fog. There are a handful of artifacts created from James's pysche, but they are merely decorations. Monsters aside, there is little about this environment that could not exist in the real world. Midway through the game, however, James slips into the nightmarish Otherworld. The ability of the town to alter James's surroundings increases dramatically in this realm, yet it is still close enough to the human world that it retains its basic shape. In the basement, however, the laws of space are temporarily disregarded. Beneath the ground, where the basement should be, lies a long and winding hallway that was never a part of the real hospital. The elevator at its end turns out to be the real basement elevator, which returns James to the first floor. The laws of space are also seen decaying when James reads the memos from the hospital director. At first, they seem like ordinary memos, the likes of which James has seen throughout his journey. In his first memo, he mentions that "the truth can only be learned by marching foward" and leads James towards a letter placed on a house's doorstep. Yet when James finds the letter, it immediately continues the narrative of the previous memo, and more disturbingly it mentions James directly. It is similair to the Stanley memos in Silent Hill 3 and may hint at an active world beneath the protagonist's eyes. The laws of space and time are completely thrown out the window once James reaches the Historical Society. Here, there is no longer any coherence to the environment. It is not simply a repainting of an existing structure, but the disorganized fragments of several places throughout the town's history cobbled together. The prison's of the town's past have resurfaced, along with remants of the Wiltse Coal Mines, bleeding into the historical society such that it is not clear where one begins and the other ends. It is also here that James is forced to jump down a series of holes. Had the laws of space been preserved, James would be clutching his knee and screaming like a preteen at an N'Sync concert after falling down the first one. Yet he falls through several with no ill effect. Furthermore, one of the holes is actually an ordinary prison hallway oriented vertically! The Labryinth is even worse. It almost seems as if its twisted hallways are being constructed as James walks through them. After facing the mind-bending terrors of the Labyrinth, the laws of space are once again slapped in the face as James finds himself at ground level once again, not anywhere near as deep or as far as his previous journey would have indicated. James crosses Toluca Lake en route to the Lakeview Hotel. As stated earlier, the Hotel was destroyed by fire sometime between the time of his vacation and the time of the story. Thus, the hotel James sees is not simply the real hotel with an altered appearance. Rather, it seems to have been built entirely out of James's memories. The poor laws of time and space which have endured such a beating throughout the story are given one final knockout punch after James watches the videotape. The "alternate" Hotel he finds himself in is completely unlike the alternate hospital. Going through one door leads one across the entire buildling, hallways that could not exist in reality wrap around the premise, doors lead to one place the first time James enters them only to lead to somewhere entirely different the next time, and a winding metallic staircase leads to a wire mesh floor surrounded by the hotel's outer shell. This slow descent from a mostly normal world to a completely nightmarish algamation of reality and delusion is also seen in SH3 (and presumably in SH1 although I've never played it). As one gets closer to the "gods", the laws of time and space disintegrate. As corporeal entities, the protagonists could never completely reach the god's world without leaving their physical bodies behind, and it is not clear precisely how close any of them ever got. Within their own realm, the gods are shapeless and timeless. Yet in this state the powers of the town are unable to effect the human world. Yet just as James descends from the human world to the god world, so too do the gods ascend from their realm into the human world, becoming more corporeal in the process. In the REAL real world, our ancestors attributed the forces of nature to gods, giving a name and a likeness to phenomena they could not understand. So too may be the basis of the "gods" of Silent Hill. The inhabitants learned of the spirit's powers, giving names to particular aspects. Most relevant to SH2 is the aforementioned Red God, a name given to the town's power to give life to delusion. In the process, however, this "label" became an entity unto itself, thus creating an avatar of the town's power worshipped by the Cult. The gods of the town, then, are the interface between the entirely immaterial spirit world and the entirely material human world. Yet just as the human protagonists become weaker as they get closer to the god's world, the gods too become weaker when they enter the human realm. As distinct and physical beings, they are unable to cause much harm and are defeated with ordinary weapons. //////////////===== VI. Closing =====\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ /== VIa. Frequently asked questions ==\ Nobody has read this yet, so how could there be any questions about it, much less frequently asked ones?