Order and Reality are Violated Theme in Horror Literature and Films Essay Sample

Have you ever been interested in the supernatural or magic of any kind? Order and Reality are Violated are all about how supernatural or magic is used in horror and it's a major element. It is used in many different films, stories, and other things under the horror genre. Order and reality are violated are used in horror a lot and are used in the short story “The Hitchhiker” by Roald Dahl, the short story “Click-Clack the Rattle Bag” by Neil Gaiman, and the film Coraline by Neil Gaiman. In, “The Hitchhiker” order and reality are violated when the hitchhiker keeps appearing wherever the man drives too. In the story, it says, “Now, I would have forgotten him completely except that just an hour later, while crossing the Pulaski Skyway over the Jersey Flats, I saw him again. At least, he looked like the same person. He was standing now with one thumb pointing west. I couldn't figure out how he'd got there, but I thought maybe a fast truck had picked him up, beaten me to the Skyway, and let him off. I didn't stop for him.” and, “Well, you watch for him. You watch for him the next time. Keep watching. Keep your eyes peeled on the road. He'll turn up again. May be any minute now. There… right there!” In the story, the man sees the hitchhiker again even though it would be impossible for the hitchhiker to move fast enough to get there before him without getting another ride, and even then he wouldn’t be able to make it far ahead enough for the same car to pass him again. He is also so obsessed with seeing this man that he picks up another hitchhiker so that she can look for him only for him to realize that the hitchhiker is not seen by her. Since it's impossible for him to get that far that fast, it was obviously violating reality and order by somehow teleporting or going super fast. In “Click-Clack the Rattle Bag”, the story that is told by the little brother leads to violating order and reality. Two quotes from the story are, “would have pulled away, then, if I could, but small, firm fingers pulled me forward, unrelentingly, into the dark.” and, “they look like what you aren’t expecting. What you aren’t paying attention to.” The little brother in this part of the story is telling his sister's boyfriend about a monster that drains your blood and hangs your bones up in a sack. There is foreshadowing when he says that the monster looks like what you aren’t expecting because the boyfriend didn’t expect the monster to be the little brother. When it starts saying how the small firm fingers pulled him forward it is implied that the little brother is a monster and was leading the boy away so that he could eat him. Since the monster was implied to be real it is obviously not something that happens in real life which contributes to the violated order reality element. In the movie Coraline, Coraline goes to a different dimension and that can not happen in real life. In the movie, the other and father have a conversation and in it, they say, “My father can't play piano.” “No need to. This piano plays me” Not only is the fact that her real father cant play piano prove they are in a different dimension, but the piano also plays the other father which is impossible and can only be done by magic. Another quote from the movie is, “You're not sewing buttons in my eyes!” “But we need a "yes" if you want to stay here”. Not only is it not normal to have buttons sewn into your eyes but to have it done so you can stay in a dimension with other button eyes people is not possible. Therefore the movie Coraline shows order and reality violated because of the other dimension and the magic objects in the dimension. Order and reality are violated is used in horror a lot and is used in the short story “The Hitchhiker” by Roald Dahl, the short story “click-clack the rattle bag” by Neil Gaiman, and the film Coraline by Neil Gaiman. These are proven by the odd and magic things that happen within each one. Since all involve magic and/or monsters, it violates order and reality, therefore each has a common element of horror and can be put in the horror genre. “The Hitchhiker” has a hitchhiker that seems to be following the main character even though it is impossible to move that fast, in the “Click-clack the Rattle Bag”, the little brother is a monster and that is impossible, and finally in Coraline, the people in another dimension want to sew buttons into her eyes. As you can see all of these have the horror element, Violating Order and Reality. Next time you see or read something under the horror genre, try looking for signs of this element.