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A Kingdom Hearts Correspondence |
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Alright, before I start I suppose I should write a disclaimer or anything. Also, I suppose I should warn those who have not played through Kingdom Hearts completely. If you have in fact NOT completed the game, this essay will prove to spoilerific. But I don't think anyone here hasn't played Kingdom Hearts from beginning to end. I am just putting this here as a warning for those who MIGHT not have played the game. With that being said, I'll move onto a somewhat official disclaimer.
~ I do not own Kingdom Hearts, or the ideas presented inside. Nor do I claim to own any of Eliot's work. I used both as templates to show a possible correspondence between the two unlikely mediums.
~ Here we go, its rather long, but if you're interested I think it will be worth it. Also, note that this was written before the release of KH2 and in looking back, some things will need to be changed to perhaps make more sense. However, the points are there and should hold. Please, offer any critiquing you want. If you want the actual file itself, just PM me. And oh yea, one last thing. If you want to use any of this anywhere, just cite it back to me or something, ok? Im not to big on plagarism, but just give credit were credit is due, lol.
~
T.S Eliot:In Search of the Light within the Darkness
A Correspondence
"Instead of trying to bring a brilliant, intelligent, knowledgeable light to bear on obscene problems, I suggest we bring to bear a diminution of the light--a penetrating beam of darkness; a reciprocal of the searchlight ... The darkness would be so absolute that it would achieve a luminous, absolute vacuum. So that, if any object existed, however faint, it would show up very clearly. Thus, a very faint light would become visible in maximum conditions of darkness." � Bion, Psychologist "Brazilian Lectures"(Fram)
There have always been individuals that throughout the course of time could be termed as exceptional, such as authors. Authors have had a distinct quality about themselves to become apart of the timeless history by transcending time with their words and ideas. They are the ones that have shaped literature to what it is today. Among the vast array of classic authors that made their mark in literary history, it can be said that T.S Eliot stands at the forefront for his time. It is easy to see that with T.S Eliot�s writings it can be said that he has not only transcended time with his with his writings, but his ideas have also transcended the bounds of literature itself. We could therefore acknowledge that in today� world Eliot�s words and thoughts are no longer solely contained between the pages of books, but we can find them elsewhere if only one would look hard enough. After coming across and reading his poem, The Hollow Men one might be so inclined to say that there exist between the frameworks of the poem a parallel to yet another work existing outside of Eliot; the other work in question would be the video entitled Kingdom Hearts. This can only been shown through a thorough comparative analysis of both the poem and the game.
However, the question that might arise would be to say why choose a video game to showcase Eliot�s monumental talents over anything else that may have more acclaim to a wider audience? I believe that in using a video game, they mind set would be altered; shifting the critical analysis that novels lend themselves to into a different medium. In order to illustrate the point of this essay, I will draw upon Eliot�s poem, The Hollow Men to prove the significant parallels that exist between not only the poem but within Kingdom Hearts as well. With The Hollow Men, Eliot delves into the desolation and destituteness of life coupled with the over all decay of western civilization and perhaps the rot of humanity as a whole. Though, while under the critical lens one can point out Eliot's use of Dante's Divine Comedy as well as Conrad's Heart of Darkness to be the underlying voices that help construct the existence of the �hollow men.� Yet, there is another lens that we could take a look through to analyze his works, that being the comparative analysis. Through the lens of comparative analysis, one can see the parallels of correspondence that exist between T.S Eliot's The Hollow Men and the video game Kingdom Hearts. This essay is not to criticize, but to build up and be the evidence for the parallels that exist within the application of ideas concerning that of Eliot�s The Hollow Men and the instance of the �hollow men� within Kingdom Hearts directly. To be able to see the use of Eliot�s ideas inside a video game is very substantial evidence in showing the parallels that exist between the two genres of art.
To begin, we must first assess The Hollow Men before applying the comparative lens in order to find the parallels that do exist between the writings and Kingdom Hearts. �The Hollow Men (1925) dramatizes one extremity of human experience�the psychic space between stagnation and despair�suffered by individuals and an entire culture� (Weiskel 46). The Hollow Men is a reflection on the emptiness, futility and misery of modern life as well as many other problems that abound within and throughout humanity; problems such as the communication to ourselves and others as well as the �higher� power not to mention the meaning or in this case, the lack thereof in life. At a glance, any well read individual could pick up the monumental symbolism, literary as well as biblical allusions, slight repetition, and the instance of controlled language to convey the themes of the poem. �Within the poem we can see Eliot�s intense preoccupation with articulating the different dimensions of life and death, specifically, the deathlike states of mind in the still living� (Weiskel 46). Within The Hollow Men we can feel Eliot�s sense of melancholy and apprehension towards humanity as well as see what humanity is turning into; nothing but these stuffed yet empty men left to wonder the darkness of the world searching for the light of redemption..
The poem opens up with two epigraphs which call for the reader�s attention. The opening epigraph, "Mistah Kurtz-- He dead" is the first of many allusions to Conrad�s novel, Heart of Darkness. However, the second mini epigraph that is there is, �A penny for the Old Guy.� �The epigraph, "A penny for the Old Guy," stresses that Eliot's poem relates to ceremonial effigies. Here, as in The Waste Land, Heart of Darkness is important. "Mistah Kurtz--he dead" emphasizes a connection between savage ritual and Eliot's crossed staves. To obtain power by embracing darkness, Kurtz deified himself in line with primitive belief� (Crawford on The Hollow Men). Throughout the course of the poem, outside of the despair and sense of hopelessness, there is this overwhelming �nothing� that is consuming the inhabitants of this world taking the further from the light and deeper into the darkness.
As we continue to read the opening lines for the poem, our minds develop many first thought connotations. When the words are read:
We are the hollow me
We are the stuffed men [...] (Eliot, CP 56).
It translates the word into thought and we can picture these uninhabited vessels that once shone with life and are now �hollowed� out to their core. �The hollow men are walking corpses ("Mistah Kurtz - he dead" wink , and their emptiness is the vacuity of pure mind detached from any reality� (Miller, On �The Hollow Men�). It is within these lines that the image of the scarecrow is evoked within the readers. Also, if these beings are indeed �hollow� as Eliot has claimed they are, then they are without the very thing that makes them exceptional; the human heart. What could have made Eliot�s outlook on life turn to so morbid and bleak? Shortly after the publishing of The Waste Land in 1922 and moving onto publish The Hollow Men in 1925, it was clear that his feelings on what the war had done not only to him, but to everyone as well. Eliot had become completely disgusted with society and the down right degradation that had caused humanity to rot thus far. The Hollow Man essentially represents his suffering. Eliot himself had fallen victim to the darkness that was slowly eating away at these �hollow men.� Another quality of the �hollow men� is that when they speak, if they do, their voices are almost silent and nearly incoherent.
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless [�] (Eliot CP 56).
�They are cut off from one another. Their voices are whispers, "quiet and meaningless" (CP, 56). Groping together, they "avoid speech" (CP, 58.)� (Miller, On �The Hollow Men�) The very existence of these beings that inhabit a crumbling world is one that is the search for meaning; a return to the light if you will. It has been lost and now they are locked within the darkness of their own doubt, walking away from the pillar of light that might give them a glimpse of the reality they so dearly need and desire. But there is only blackness, emptiness and nothing where they reside. In contrast with their search for redemption, we are given the image of inaction which reminds us of our dear friend J. Alfred Prufrock.
Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion; (Eliot CP 56).
Even though they search, they are doomed to fail because they wonder in stillness. Never going here or there, they move without moving to no end. As we move on, we discover the existences of three kingdoms that are termed; death�s other Kingdom, death�s dream kingdom, and the twilight kingdom which oddly enough does not belong to death. It does not belong to death because this is where the hollow men �live.�
Now, as the frame work has been set for the brief analysis of The Hollow Men, we can now venture into the comparative analysis. One can see that Eliot was very much concerned about the fallen and fragmented world in which he inhabited. He wrote about his experiences coded through the use of many allusions that decoded into his journey for transcendence. His use of Conrad�s, Heart of Darkness yields the idea that the �hollow� men are beings that were born from the darkness that slept within their hearts. Now, within Kingdom Hearts we have the same exact parallel. Within the game, it is believed that darkness rests within all hearts and if given the chance, can corrupt even the most pure of hearts. This was the belief of a man called Ansem. He recorded all of his findings on the darkness into thirteen detailed reports.
�Much of my life has been dedicated to pursuit of knowledge. That knowledge has guarded this world well. Not a soul doubts that. I am blessed with people's smiles and respect. But though I am called a sage, there are things I do not understand. I believe darkness sleeps in every heart, no matter how pure. Given the chance, the smallest drop can spread and swallow the heart. I have witnessed it many times. Darkness... Darkness of the heart. How is it born? How does it come to affect us so? As ruler of this world, I must find the answers. I must find them before the world is lost to those taken by the darkness� (Ansem, Report #1 Kingdom Hearts).
Ansem was concerned about the state of his world as well just as Eliot was about his. Where Eliot wrote about his concerns coded in allegorical allusions, Ansem toiled away with his studies, constantly trying to accumulate more knowledge in hopes of finding an answer or cure to the darkness that rests in all hearts. In a way, Ansem is much like Kurtz, the figure quoted in the epigraph to The Hollow Men. Except the only difference is that where Kurtz fell into and was consumed entirely by his darkness, Ansem plunged himself into the darkness itself and by accepting it, came back as a being that had transcended the bounds of mere flesh. Ansem had found a way of transcendence, but not in the way Eliot had dreamed of. He had inadvertently stumbled into the existence of dark transcendence. But how does this parallel any instance of The Hollow Men? Before Ansem cast his body into the darkness, he conducted many studies on how darkness affects the heart. In conducting his experiments, he was in fact aiding the very darkness that was plaguing his world, but his thirst for knowledge could never be quenched. As his studies continued, he gave a name to these beings born from the darkness that lacked hearts. He gave them the name, �Heartless� because they were beings without hearts. But these beings were born from the darkness itself and in thus could not be termed as anything human.
Perhaps the strongest argument that one could make to illustrate the parallels while comparing The Hollow Men with Kingdom Hearts would be to show the actual existence of the �hollow men� within Kingdom Hearts directly. Now, after having an understanding of The Hollow Men, we can say that these �beings,� if they can be termed as such, have become �hollowed� to their very cores. In other worlds, these �beings� have become nothing more than shells of who they once were. They are the inhabitants of a dying world; beings trapped within the solitude of a world returning to the darkness. When Ansem returned from offering himself to the darkness, he took note of something very interesting.
�When the heart casts off the flesh, where does the body go? Heart and soul are separate, and the spirit remains in the body. But can we assume that the leftover body and soul perish?
Certainly when the heart changes into a Heartless the body disappears. However, that is only this world's story; in another world, mightn't they change forms like the Heartless and exist there?
If we take that to be the case, there must be a you other than yourself existing somewhere. An existence neither of darkness nor of light. An in-between existence. Cast off by the heart, a mere shell, one who begrudges both the darkness and the light. This mystery cannot be easily resolved. The relationship between the heart and the flesh is a complex one. But since we exist here, they cannot be termed as existent. Therefore I shall call them..."The non-existent ones� (Ansem, Report #13 Kingdom Hearts).
Ansem had become a �hollow� man himself. Here he was, without his heart and yet did not transform like so many others before him had. Inside Ansem�s report is the framework for the Kingdom Hearts version of Eliot�s The Hollow Men. With this, Kingdom Hearts goes and begins to hint on the possibilities of other or alter existences. What we find out are that these �non-existent ones� are the existence of just the body, nothing but the shell of the prior existence. In essence, the Kingdom Hearts �non-existent ones� are in a sense a parallel to Eliot�s �hollow men.� While the general idea is there, the concept is vaguely different in application. In comparison what we see here is the adaptation of Eliot's idea taken from one context and applied within a completely different medium. Where Eliot saw his fellow man as these �hollow men,� the case has obviously changed considerably as we can see the idea evolve and change shape within Kingdom Hearts. Eliot's �hollow men� supposedly inhabit the present world or rather, our own present existence. But as we find out in Kingdom Hearts, there is more than just this existence of being thanks to the work of Ansem. We only know this world's story according to Ansem�s reports. What Kingdom Hearts proposes is the existence of other parallel worlds in which we exist apart from ourselves. Ansem suggests the possibility that existence is nothing more than a phase of being. It can be said that �being� encompasses a sort of wholeness and the state of existence can be said to be in many different stages. At the core of all this is the advocation of a �Non Existence�, which is exactly what the �hollow men� are; a non existence. Upon reading Ansem�s reports, you can not help but take some very strange ideas into consideration, namely, the fact that you might exist apart from yourself as something else. In essence, the �non-existent ones� represent fragments of the completed whole. If this is the case one has to realize that the �you� you know of is only a small part of your �complete� self. While dissimilar and oddly the same, the �hollow men� and these �non-existent ones� share many aspects which would be hard to deny the parallels that already exist between them. Both are beings that have lost themselves to the darkness of their own desperation and in doing so, have fallen away from the whole and now wonder in their hopeless perpetual states to become whole once again. They search out the light because it is the only way for them to become complete, but they can not because they are locked within a world between worlds; because they are both the �hollow men� and �non-existent ones� at the same time.
Another instance of how Kingdom Hearts parallels Eliot�s The Hollow Men is the treatment of the kingdoms that are mentioned. As stated before in the beginning of the essay, the kingdoms that reside in Eliot�s The Hollow Men are that of death�s other kingdom, death�s dream kingdom, and the twilight kingdom. Eliot used Dante�s view on the three after existences of life. Death�s other kingdom represents Paradise, which is the ultimate goal. Death�s dream kingdom represents Inferno, which is in a sense a return to darkness and everlasting torment and finally there is the twilight kingdom. The twilight kingdom poses an interesting conundrum. This kingdom is supposed to represent Purgatory or Limbo. Now, these kingdoms exist within the bounds of Kingdom Hearts however, they are referred to their archetypal names. Paradise is referred to as the world of light or the world as it once was. This is the ultimate goal of Ansem, the being driven by the darkness to find the light. He was willing to loose anarchy upon the world and sink everything into darkness if Paradise was waiting at the end. There is no mention of Inferno, but instead is replaced by the world of darkness. The twilight kingdom poses yet another interesting look because with Eliot, it was the middle ground for his �hollow men� and the same holds true for the �non-existent ones� in Kingdom Hearts. But there is much more that Kingdom Hearts elaborates on furthering the idea of Eliot�s �hollow men.� I talked about existences earlier and how there are parallels between this world and the next. In Ansem�s reports, after having come back from the darkness as himself he wrote:
�I have transcended to an existence of only the heart. I should have come back as a Heartless, but there is no sign of such a transformation. My body has surely perished. However, I am different from the other Heartless, keeping the memories of before, and I have not taken on the form of a Heartless. It is clear that there are still many things to be studied.
In order to cross over to the dark side, which is not this world, you must go beyond the door of Kingdom Hearts, the place connected to the world's heart. The innermost part connected to the world's heart, the place connecting to the world of darkness. (I will record the details in another report...)
There are still so many unknown worlds. The present world. The world of darkness. The world of light. And, The world in-between. Where does the true paradise lie, I wonder?� (Ansem, Report #12 Kingdom Hearts).
As one can see, the issue of �existence� with in Kingdom Hearts is very complex and at the same time very fluid. However, if these different worlds exist, then the �hollow men� are floating precariously in the world in-between just as the �non-existent ones� inhabit the world of darkness. All of them just pieces of an even greater puzzle waiting to be solved. These were the main points that established the parallels between T.S Eliot�s The Hollow Men and Kingdom Hearts and how there was instances where one could say that Eliot�s idea of the �hollow men� had some way made it into the minds that created Kingdom Hearts, though it is not known for sure. But one would be hard pressed to deny that there are indeed correlations that can be made from comparing both works.
In conclusion, the writings of T.S Eliot have been an extreme influence over a lot of the writers back then as well as the writers of today. If one looks hard enough, they could find trickles and echoes of T.S Eliot�s work all over. With the comparison of The Hollow Men to the game Kingdom Hearts one can see with the list of parallels how T.S Eliot has made it out of the pages of a book, transcended literature itself and has made his way into another venue for another audience. The parallels such as, Ansem�s search for Paradise going hand in hand with Eliot�s journey for transcendence, the �hollow men� and the �non-existent ones� being one and the same, and the varied yet very similar uses of the kingdoms. With these, one can hopefully recognize the significance that Eliot�s The Hollow Men had on Kingdom Hearts and that his influence will most likely continue to effect others whether they are aware of it or not. The lessons that can be taken from both are to not be ruled by the darkness within, but rather impart your light onto others. We must not be afraid of the darkness and be willing to traverse into the unknown in order to discover ourselves. Though, in closing, we must be careful about engaging our own darkness, because it is as Nietzsche says, �whoever battles monsters should take care not to become a monster too, for if you stare long enough into the Abyss, the Abyss stares also into you�( �Aestheticism in Kingdom Hearts�).
WORKS CITED
Books Used:
Bloom, Harold, ed. Bloom's BioCritiques A Comprehensive Biography and Critical
Analysis of T.S Eliot. Broomall: Chelsea House, 2003.
Eliot, T. S. "The Hollow Men." 1925. T. S. Eliot: The Complete Poems and Plays, 1909-
1950. New York: Harcourt, 1958.
Moody, David A., ed. The Cambridge Companion to T.S Eliot. 5th ed. Cambridge: The
Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 1994.
Video Game Source:
Kingdom Hearts. Dir. Tetsuya Nomura. Perf. Haley Joel Osmet (Voice of Sora).
Squaresoft / Disney Interactive, 2002.
Websites Used:
�A Faint Light In The Darkness by Jim Fram�
<http://www.spark-online.com/july00/printhappyten/fraim.htm>
On �The Hollow Men�
<http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/eliot/hollow.htm>
�T.S. Eliot Bibliography�
<http://www.literaryhistory.com/20thC/EliotTS.htm>
�Aestheticism in Kingdom Hearts�
<http://www.aestheticism.com/visitors/gaming/kingdom_hearts/>
Articles Used:
�Eliot�s THE HOLLOW MEN�
<http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=5275070>
�Eliot�s The Hollow Men"
<http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=329993>
�Eliot�s THE HOLLOW MEN�
<http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=7104250>
�T.S ELIOT AND THE HOLLOW MEN�
<http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=10024085>
I think thats the best I can get it to look like as far as formatting goes. Like I said before, any comments would be appreciated.
 DarkInsigniae · Fri Apr 11, 2008 @ 03:19am · 1 Comments |
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Gaian Name: DarkInsigniaE
Character Name: Jeremiah the Proxy
Gender: Male
Age: 23
Height: 6'5
Weight: Roughtly 190lbs.
Eye Color: Deep Brown.
Hair Color: Jet Black.
Starting World: Radiant Garden, though he isn't quite sure how he ended up there.
Character Position: Proxy. However, I'll PM you and tell you the details of this position.
Variety: Human.
Side: Servant of the Worlds
Appearance: In one word, you could sum up Jeremiah as Unique. Then again, you could call all other humanoid type nobodies unique as well. But other nobodies do not share Jeremiah's namesake. Jeremiah stands tall,but his stature is not ominous at all. He has a rather lithe exterior despite his weight. He has dark mocha smooth skin that is devoid of any scaring whatso ever. His eyes, while dark, are quite piercing to say the least. However, his face is one that is generally welcoming. Though, the first thing you notice when looking at him is his hair. He sports a myraid of sleek and slim black cornrolls that come down to his shoulders. The styles are always changing as well.
Personality:
History: Not much is known to Jeremiah about his past per say, other than the fact that he has a feeling that where ever he came from he was of great importance. He isn't sure if the darkness took over his world or not, not much can be ascertained from his memories as of yet. Jeremiah is slowly realizing what has happened to him Since he woke up in Radiant Garden, he has had a feeling that he wasn't who he used to be. When he was approached by Eris to join under the guise of being offered answers to his plight he accepted the position reluctantly. He does know that he has great power, but he isn't sure how to channel it quite yet.
Ability:
Weapon:
RP Example:
DarkInsigniae · Tue Apr 24, 2007 @ 05:19pm · 0 Comments |
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Oh, random Japanese for story stuff |
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The Breakdown: PSYCHOMATICA Ramblings.
What this is, is me trying to make myself a little cooler by getting the japanese Kanji and Romanji equvilents to what I am saying. The translations are coming out alright, but Im going to keep going. This is mainly for my Kingdom Hearts Roleplay that I am working on.
[ + ]
::09/29/06::
起源 = kigen = The Beginning [ ORIGIN ]
それらをすべて支配する1 つのキー。= sorera o subete shihai suru 1 tsu no kii. = One key which controls those entirely. [ The ONE key to rule them all. ]
私達はかつてあったそれとして世界を作り直すように努める = watashi tachi ha katsute atta sore toshite sekai o tsukurinaosu you ni tsutomeru = We endeavor in order to recreate the world at one time as that it is [ We seek to recreate the world as it once was ]
私達は残ているすべてである。= watashi tachi ha zan te iru subete de aru. = We are everything which the remaining て is. = [We are all that is left ]
私は生命を与えた! 私は暗闇のあなたの中心である! = watashi ha seimei o atae ta! watashi ha kurayami no anata no chuushin de aru! = I gave life! I am your center of the darkness! [ I GAVE YOU LIFE! I AM YOUR HEART IN THE DARKNESS! ]
暗闇 = kurayami = ??? [ Darkness ]
ライト = raito = Light/write [ Light ]
不人情 = funinjou = Non- human feelings [ Heartless ]
だれも = dare mo = ??? [ Nobody ]
私達はだれ、私達の記憶のそうでなかったら合計であるか。= watashi tachi ha dare, watashi tachi no kioku no sou de nakattara goukei de aru ka. = Are we who, when our memories so is not, total? [ Who are we, if not the sum of our memories? ](lol)
[ + ]
::10/01/06::
最終的なゲート = saishuu teki na geeto = Final Gate [ FINAL GATE ]
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18464327
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18514559
♥
DarkInsigniae · Fri Sep 29, 2006 @ 12:00pm · 0 Comments |
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When I opened my eyes, I saw a new setting, one with lush trees and hills of green. The ground was soft where I lay. It smelled like a forest.
"This is someplace new," I said, looking around in my new surroundings. "Where is this place?" I continued.
Being as curious as I am, I looked around for any signs of familiarity only to find none. I noticed the trees were different around these parts, but that was about it. When I looked down at myself I realized that my clothes had been taken along with my gold.
"What happened to me?" I thought to myself while trying to figure out any and all possible reasons as to why this happened to me.
As I vexed my mind for some possible answer nothing revealed itself to me. As if I myself was walking in darkness in unfamiliar territory. I'm not going to lie to you, I'm scared.
"Why can't I remember?" I continued to think to myself searching my mind for some possible reason as to why I was in my current predicament.
I decided that staying here was not going to be of any good to me or my plight, so I decided that there's only one way to find out about me...and thats go off and find other people who I might know in this world.
"I'll find out where im from, I must!" I said to myself triumphantly, as I stood up shaking the dust of my shirt and pants and began to walk off into the distance.
DarkInsigniae · Sat Jul 02, 2005 @ 03:15pm · 0 Comments |
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