Afternoon of Alterity - Nazareth College

survive, challenge, and defeat. Especially interesting, is that he’s seenas a slayer of monsters. A man, so demonized throughout the text, issuddenly accepted as securer of the status quo. Thus, the institutionof outlawry is able to use Grettir as a multi-facet: he functions as amonster in life, a reminder of what humans should not be, and a heroin death, a man preserving and protecting the state. It appears then,that the governmental body is fully aware of Grettir as a monster anda hero, and is able to use him two-fold to reinstate societal normality.As these medieval texts reveal, governments in the past wereconscious of society’s monsters, using them to protect bordersand reinstate the status quo. This concept continues today, whilethe means of reminding society of their place has changed. Today,media, colored by a nation’s culture and motivated by profit, areutilized as an extension of the state. They project and remindsociety of the monsters so valued by the government, providinghuman beings a clear other from which to disassociate from. Aprime example of the monster control we experience today is oftenwitnessed in the news with the depiction of “the terrorist.” Thenegativity and the language the surrounds the depiction of the “theterrorist” is “universally negative” (Brennan 2). This being is oftenconsidered “‘freedom-hating,’” a direct opposition to everythingthat American values uphold (Brennan 2). Thus, this monster, “theterrorist,” is created for Americans to compare themselves against.If we are consistently forced oppose ourselves to the other—thisextreme harmer of nations—we naturally maintain the status quo,for we directly disassociate “the terrorist,” or a threat to Americanuniformity. The news is not the only utilized form of media bythe government; many of today’s most popular television showssubconsciously remind us of who and what humanity and societyare and should remain. The television affords us the comfort ofbeing able to view the monster and the monstrous qualities that itobserves, while still being able to maintain a significant distance.124 afternoons of alterity