Silent Hill... a purgatory?

James got a letter. From a dead person. Oh dear.

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crucifix
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Post by crucifix »

SHACKled89451 wrote:Couldn't be the fact that I just know when to quit, and avoid hijacking a thread with bickering.
Let's just leave it at that, shall we?
it's not "hijacking", it's legitimate debate over a subject related to the topic.
no longer active. thanks for the memories.
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SHACKled89451
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Post by SHACKled89451 »

it's not "hijacking", it's legitimate debate over a subject related to the topic.

OK, then that particular "debate" is over. Just didn't want to hog the thread with the back and forth stuff....
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Oddish
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Post by Oddish »

Putting in my oar...

I am not Catholic and have not studied the subject extensively, but my understanding is that Purgatory is:

1. A place where those neither saved nor lost go after they die. James is not dead, not yet.

2. A place that cannot be returned from. In "Leave", James returns to the world.

3. A process in which the outcome is inevitable. Once the deceased soul's sins have been purged and he/she is ready to move on, he passes into Heaven. This contrasts it with limbo or hell, both of which are permanant destinies.

Therefore, Silent Hill is not a purgatory in the primary sense of the world.
[url=http://www.silenthillforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=14918&start=0]See the SH2 Endings that WEREN'T chosen[/url]
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Fargo
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Post by Fargo »

Oddish wrote:Therefore, Silent Hill is not a purgatory in the primary sense of the world.
Well, I guess I forgot to mention that regardless of ghosts, ghouls and the undead, I was thinking about Silent Hill as a purgatory in a sort of meaningful way, not that it is in fact one, which is quite obviously not the case here.
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alone in the town
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Post by alone in the town »

Occam's Razor deflects this one back to you, sir. They seem to be alive, the game offers no implication that the characters are dead, and therefore the player has no explicit reason to assume they are not alive. Especially since in 1, 3, 4 and Origins, the characters have all emerged alive from with the Otherworld, thus making it very clear that they are not dead when they are within).

Since you contest the established precedent, I believe the burden of proof is, in fact, upon you.
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JuriDawn
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Post by JuriDawn »

I think Fargo is trying to argue that Silent Hill is a sort of purgatory for the living. Primarily, anyway. (Ernest Baldwin?) A purgatory in function, if not fact.

I may have something to add later.
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woofy
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Post by woofy »

Silent Hill, in a sense, is a purgatory. Like what JuriDawn just said. I highly doubt it is 'the' actual purgatory. I believe that all the main protagonists emerge alive.
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Fargo
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Post by Fargo »

woofy1988 wrote:Silent Hill, in a sense, is a purgatory. Like what JuriDawn just said. I highly doubt it is 'the' actual purgatory. I believe that all the main protagonists emerge alive.
Except for (SH3 spoiler)
PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER_SHOW PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER:
good ol' Harry in SH3 after his encounter with the Grim Reaper :P
Mark your spoilers
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AuraTwilight
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Post by AuraTwilight »

Yea, but he EMERGED alive. Dying in Silent Hill isn't the same as escaping Silent Hill and then dying a couple decades later.
[quote="BlackFire2"]I thought he meant the special powers of her vagina.[/quote]
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Fargo
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Post by Fargo »

AuraTwilight wrote:Yea, but he EMERGED alive. Dying in Silent Hill isn't the same as escaping Silent Hill and then dying a couple decades later.
Still, Silent Hill caught up with him :-P

But yeah, I know what you mean.
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AuraTwilight
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Post by AuraTwilight »

Silent Hill != Some wacko who happens to have lived there.
[quote="BlackFire2"]I thought he meant the special powers of her vagina.[/quote]
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Fargo
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Post by Fargo »

AuraTwilight wrote:Silent Hill != Some wacko who happens to have lived there.
Umm... huh?

Please elaborate :?
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AuraTwilight
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Post by AuraTwilight »

I'm saying that the phrase "Silent Hill caught up to him" isn't really accurate since it's not the power of the town that got him but some nutjob with a knife.
[quote="BlackFire2"]I thought he meant the special powers of her vagina.[/quote]
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Fargo
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Post by Fargo »

AuraTwilight wrote:I'm saying that the phrase "Silent Hill caught up to him" isn't really accurate since it's not the power of the town that got him but some nutjob with a knife.
Oh! lol, yeah... true that, but I guess we can blame Claudia for that :P
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alone in the town
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Post by alone in the town »

There was nothing about his death that was foreordained.

Though, the lyrics to "Hometown" do seem to suggest that the town does reclaim those it does not initially keep.

I still don't buy it, though.
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AuraTwilight
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Post by AuraTwilight »

I always read those lyrics as referring to people IN the town.
[quote="BlackFire2"]I thought he meant the special powers of her vagina.[/quote]
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