Afternoon of Alterity - Nazareth College

legends are true, as the ship’s co-captain, Zoe, explains to Simonthe horrors that will transpire if a group of nearby Reavers boardsSerenity, grimly describing, “If they take the ship, they’ll rape us todeath, eat our flesh, and sew our skins into their clothing. And ifwe’re very, very lucky, they’ll do it in that order” (“Serenity”). Again,this wild, unethical murderous rage and cannibalistic tendencyis clearly aligned with the traditional traits associated with themonstrous line of Cain.With regard to the Reaver’s physical appearance, it is mostinteresting that like Grendel, whose body goes largely undescribedthroughout the poem of Beowulf, the Reavers’ bodies are alsosuspiciously absent, never actually appearing on screen during anyof the episodes of the Firefly series. Erickson comments on the effectthat this writing and directing choice has on the characterization ofthe Reavers, noting, “By presenting Reavers almost totally throughtheir absence… Reavers, within the framework of the series, almostdo not exist… But although we barely see them, we see what theycan do, what seeing them can do to a person, and mostly we see thefear the idea of them can create” (Erickson 174-75). Just as readersrecognize the ferocity of Grendel through viewing the havoc anddestruction that he wreaks upon the Danes, viewers of Firefly areintroduced to the savageness of the Reavers through the terror theyinspire in the crew and the utter devastation they leave behind withregard to their victims. In the episode entitled, “Bushwhacked,”the crew of Serenity boards what looks to be an abandoned passingship, which they soon discover has in fact been attacked by Reavers.The shooting script of the episode describes in gruesome detail theannihilated corpses that the crew discovers: “THE BODIES arestrung up from the ceiling. Three clumps of twisted flesh. The skinpale, almost luminescent…” (Firefly: The Official Companion 89). Thecrew also discovers the lone survivor of the attack, left disturbedand psychologically broken from having been forced by the Reavers12 afternoons of alterity