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Silent Hill... a purgatory?

Posted: 26 Jan 2009
by Fargo
I searched around for any similar threads but I couldn't find anything, so...

Okay, this thought has been circulating around in my head for a while now. We have noticed that those who are unrelated to Alessa, but happen to stumble across Silent Hill have a different perception of the dark powers that the town holds, so in the case of James, Angela and Eddie, they were somehow "called" by the town so they could face their inner demons come to life, accept the consequences of their actions, and possibly repent of their sins, and in the end...
PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER_SHOW PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER:
James and Angela apparantly die when it's all said and done, while Eddie obviously did, so could this mean that the town of Silent Hill absorved their sins in order for them to purify their souls from the burden of killing other living beings, so they are not condemned to spend the rest of their eternities in hell?...
So... any thoughts about this? :) (be sure to mark 'em spoilers!)

Posted: 26 Jan 2009
by Grendel
That's an interesting possibility. Unfortunatley, all of this is unknown.

Personally, I don't COMPLETLEY view it that way, but it does make certain sense. And it certainly can be supported within SH2 and SH4, and the extensions of SH1, 3, O, and H.

Posted: 26 Jan 2009
by headkickrodeo
The town has no desire to punish or redeem people. It all completely depends on the individual...

It doesn't really serve a specific purpose...it can just change people's perceptions. I guess you could (kind of) compare it to a good, strong dose of a psychedelic (mushrooms or LSD...they tend to show you what's in your head). If you're happy, you'll have a grand ol' time. If you're stressed or worried or depressed about something, you get negative visuals, anxiety attacks, paranoia, etc, etc. In Lost Memories, it said that if a person's in an unstable emotional state, then the otherworld will appear to be in a state of flux, as well. Except, obviously, SH seems to actually seperate you physically from reality (does it ever make this clear in the series?) and manifest your thought/emotions into actual places and entities, not just pretty colorful patterns and voices in your head.

I hope this makes sense....anyone who's had a bad trip will know what I'm talking about.

Edit: Actually, I'm glad I made that comparison. Psychedelics can also make forgotten and/or repressed memories way in the back of your subconscious come bubbling up to the surface, whether your ready to deal with them or not (this can obviously be good, or very, very bad). If used correctly, they can help you accept or get over emotional wounds or trauma, or, if you're not ready to deal with that baggage, it's like being stuck in an introspective nightmare for a few hours.

Posted: 26 Jan 2009
by AuraTwilight
In my opinion, Silent Hill only gives shape to the things in your mind. James, Angela, etc. sought a purgatory on some level, so they created one for themselves. Conversely, Laura is lonely, unable to connect with anyone, so she's given a copypasta of Silent Hill, devoid of people, to reflect that.
Except, obviously, SH seems to actually seperate you physically from reality (does it ever make this clear in the series?)
Yes.

Posted: 27 Jan 2009
by PrescitedEntity
I agree with Aura - it's as simple as Silent Hill manifesting what is in people's minds.

Going from that, though, it's still possible that Silent Hill does function as a Purgatory. We've never been shown anything to indicate that it acts on strong positive emotions, only strong negative ones, which it then manifests in incredibly dangerous manners while still giving the person a fighting chance to leave once the cause of that negativity is absolved. I don't know that it intends to function that way, but it definitely did in Silent Hill 2.

I mean, if "strong emotion/desire" is all that is required to trigger it, then you'd think there'd be cases of it manifesting extreme happiness, or something other than grief, guilt, etc.

Posted: 27 Jan 2009
by AuraTwilight
But there are cases of positive emotion. "furthermore he is happy there," etc. We just don't see this because it's a horror series and happy bliss stuff would ruin the atmosphere. But apparently Amy Baldwin was able to form an Otherworld, however small or subtle, purely from her desire to give a birthday card to her daddy.

Posted: 27 Jan 2009
by PrescitedEntity
Oh! I forgot that about Amy. Well, then, yes, I fully agree that Silent Hill simply manifests based on the person's emotions and thoughts.

Posted: 27 Jan 2009
by Oddish
I don't know if I'd call it a purgatory, per se. Traditionally, purgatory is a holding place for the souls of people who did no great evil but died without accepting God's grace, it allows them to ultimately earn their entry into Heaven. Most of the people in Silent Hill aren't dead yet.

Posted: 18 Feb 2009
by SHACKled89451
Most of the people in Silent Hill aren't dead yet.

In a way, aren't they?

Posted: 19 Feb 2009
by Loveless_Dogg
For a time I believed that the Hallucinogenic chemical found in White Claudia was being mixed and carried around throughout the town by that dense fog or mist. Affecting everyone in someway that enters or lives in the town.

....But that was just an Idea. It never really went anywhere beyond that.

Posted: 19 Feb 2009
by AuraTwilight
In a way, aren't they?
No, they're not.

Posted: 19 Feb 2009
by SHACKled89451
No, they're not.

.....and how do you know that?


I said, "In a way..."

That's a very general statement... prove me wrong.

Posted: 19 Feb 2009
by AuraTwilight
Well, let's see, JAMES is a alive, ANGELA is alive, EDDIE is alive, LAURA is alive, MARIA is alive (most of the time), etc.

If a character isn't explicitly stated to be a ghost or something, they're alive. The burden of proof is on you to prove otherwise.

Posted: 19 Feb 2009
by Judgement1223
MARIA is alive (most of the time), etc.
What?

Posted: 19 Feb 2009
by SHACKled89451
If a character isn't explicitly stated to be a ghost or something, they're alive. The burden of proof is on you to prove otherwise.
Are they explicitly stated to be alive? Since we are discussing purgatory, which is a STATE of death; And since the topic of this thread is a debate (of sorts) about whether or not the characters of SH2 are in their own purgatory manifested by the town itself, Who's to say they aren't dead, or alive, or in limbo? You contested MY statement, so the burden of proof is on you, my friend, since I never claimed there was proof either way.

Posted: 19 Feb 2009
by TheRedOne
Judgement1223 wrote:
MARIA is alive (most of the time), etc.
What?
PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER_SHOW PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER:
Well, Maria is a living manifestation. She's alive, and real. However, through the course of the game she is found dead and even killed before James' eyes.
You've played the game, right?

Posted: 20 Feb 2009
by AuraTwilight
Are they explicitly stated to be alive? Since we are discussing purgatory, which is a STATE of death; And since the topic of this thread is a debate (of sorts) about whether or not the characters of SH2 are in their own purgatory manifested by the town itself, Who's to say they aren't dead, or alive, or in limbo? You contested MY statement, so the burden of proof is on you, my friend, since I never claimed there was proof either way.
Silent Hill being a spiritual, afterlife purgatory is a theory, so no, the burden of proof is on you. When we see ghosts in this series, like Ernest, they tend to not be there like living people are. And James got there by uh...driving up the road. And parking. Unless he took an epic mortally wounding shit on the john, he's alive.

Posted: 20 Feb 2009
by SHACKled89451
Silent Hill being a spiritual, afterlife purgatory is a theory, so no, the burden of proof is on you. When we see ghosts in this series, like Ernest, they tend to not be there like living people are. And James got there by uh...driving up the road. And parking. Unless he took an epic mortally wounding shit on the john, he's alive.

I'm sorry, I forgot who I was talking to... :roll:

moving on...

Posted: 20 Feb 2009
by AuraTwilight
What, don't have an answer? Sorry for using logic to trounce your argument.

Posted: 20 Feb 2009
by SHACKled89451
AuraTwilight wrote:What, don't have an answer? Sorry for using logic to trounce your argument.
Yes.. That's exactly it.
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?