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He is seen in the likeness above in a rare, 19th century woodcut. This
image was rumoured to have been
commissioned after a bout of unpleasantness
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:: Today's soundtrack: Nosferatu "Scary Monsters" ::
I recently re-read all of the Harry Potter books and it made me realize an odd trend in general literature. The imagery of the Dementors is that of a tall, seemingly gaunt figure clad entirely in a black cloak with its head an face completely obscured by the hood. Does this not remind you of something else, like say, The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in A Christmas Carol? Or possibly the ring wraiths in Lord of the Rings? Interesting coincidence, isn't it?
It made me wonder why this could be. Several novels, written decades apart, and yet the image of the most frightening creature in them is still basically the same. A dark, bony, hidden figure, and yet, we, the audience, all know that something horrible is concealed within...
I am also reminded of the portrayal of Death in the Ingmar Bergman film, The Seventh Seal, in which a knight plays chess with Death for his right to life (this was parodied in Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, as I'm sure most of you out there have seen that and not the former). Death was similarly depicted as the Dementors and ring wraiths, clad entirely in a nondescript black robe and as mysterious as he was terrifying in what he imbued. Of course, this wasn't the original characterization of a Death clad in black robes as he had been traditionally nothing but a skeleton similarly attired with a scythe and hour glass for generations.
It also brings to mind the character of Destiny in, oddly enough, DC comic books. He was most prominently featured in the Sandman series, but he existed in their books even before then, turning up during significant battles in order to bear witness. Destiny wanders around in robes of dark grey, his blind eyes unseen because of the shadow cast over his face by his hood, and carrying a large book which is handcuffed to his wrist. When Destiny was made conspicuous in the Sandman series as a part of entities known only as The Endless, he is by far of the seven, the most ambiguous and feared for what he may know.
Is this, then, what this over used image tells us about mankind? That we, as a whole, find the unknown to be terrible and horrifying as well as the future and beyond? That these things have haunted us the most from Dickens's day all the way to the present? That we haven't really changed that much in a hundred years' time? That fundamentally, when stripped down to the bare bones of it all, it doesn't matter if someone is buried alive, knifed to death, or forced to saw off their own foot, that what really scares us, each and every person everywhere, is the same? That what we really fear is what we don't know and the what is yet to come? Death of course, personifies the ultimate in both and is undoubtedly the most "famously" depicted character in that black robe, so naturally, if a writer wants to frighten us, they throw someone similar at us. They practically guaranteed a universal understanding that this is one character to be feared and avoided. Why come up with something new when they can use a tried and true method?
I mean, even if taken out of the literary or film context, if you, yourself were walking down the street and you saw a figure about seven feet tall, thin, and completely covered head to toe in a black, billowy cloak and you couldn't see their face, wouldn't you run the other way? Wouldn't you instinctively think that this was someone you should steer clear of? It's a basic instinct.
Okay, wow. I don't know what brought all of this on. I guess every once in a while I like to sound like I'm smart or something. Don't mind me, folks.
William (literary analyst)
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