In the book itself we stumble upon a new "being" of some sort. It's hard to tell what the "monster" is. Is it a virus? a spiritual being that possess animals and plants? Honestly I still don't know. I enjoyed the endless dive into the unknown world. As the book progresses, the weird becomes more prominent creating more questions than answers. I liked the use of hypnosis as one of those mysteries, it showed us that even though they were in a world of unknowns, there are levels of unknowns still in the real world, like the power to control people's minds. The bio matter letters that the biologist looked at infected her with some sort of spores. These spores then undo the hypnosis mind control which the psychologist was capable of. I believe this to be a moment of showing that the "weird" was almost a good thing. Undoing what mankind has done. After finishing the book and watching the movie, I figure the main goal of the "weird blob" was to cure earth of Mankind.
The book doesn't really have a goal besides a vague "we need to get to that lighthouse" direction. But what do they do when they get there? The new weird makes us feel like we are powerless and almost helpless to what is going to happen. In the book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy there is a short throw away line meaning to be a joke about an alien species that is just "a shade of blue." This idea of an alien or creature being only a shade of blue boggles my mind. I think Annihilation gives me the same feeling about the new weird. I hope to read more of this series to learn about the mystery even if it remains unsolvable.
I liked your analysis of the presence of hypnosis as a negative element of the human world. I also found that to be a disturbing element of the story, and definitely a part of the horror of the story even though its not something that came from area X. Your conclusion that the goal of area X is to cure the world of humanity is something that I hadn't thought of, but it makes a lot of sense to me and I agree with it.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that using "the unknown" as a device for horror media is one of the more original ways to deviate from the usual trope of monsters and other scary things. It taps into the psychological effects that horror has on the characters and on the readers. This reminds me of the first Alien movie, where the "monster" is barely seen for most of it, usually engulfed in darkness. The use of an almost abstract menace is very effective and, in my opinion, one of the better ways to depict an engaging horror story.
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