Laura simply isn't real. My theory. (Spoilers)

Post by **Aqualight** » 04 Aug 2006

I think Laura is a real child.

Post by **pink_isnt_well000** » 04 Aug 2006

You should explain why you think she is....so your post seems...umm worthy..

Post by **AuraTwilight** » 04 Aug 2006

If Laura isn't real, then Eddie and Angela aren't real. If they're not real, there's no story. There's just a guy going nuts, and it also implies James is somehow important. He's not. Laura exists and always has existed, if by sheer fact alone that she can leave the town and other people can perceive her perfectly well. To say nothing of her being the voice of reason and sanity in the story. She's the only one who's not totally bonkers.

Post by **Darkh4** » 04 Aug 2006

Of course James is important, in his own mind, that is. Everyone is important in their own mind. Without oneself there's no, well, self. If everything that happens in the game is part of a delusion created by James' guilt-ridden mind and given form by the influence of Silent Hill, why would it necessarily follow that everyone he meets must actually exist?

Granted, it certainly makes for a less interesting story if one is to believe that everyone in the game is merely a part of James' delusion. I like to think that Laura, Eddie, and Angela are all real, but I haven't seen anything in the game to prove that they are anything beyond characters in a dream.

Though the whole thing about how Maria, who is definitely a delusion, completely avoids being in the same scene with any of the other three, certainly is a compelling argument for the real existance of those characters.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » 06 Aug 2006

Laura is a manifestation of James' need to see Mary, just like Maria is. Laura is the side of Mary that hated the way James treated her.

Post by **alone in the town** » 06 Aug 2006

I refuse to believe Laura isn't real until I see at least a little compelling evidence to the contrary.

Post by **AuraTwilight** » 06 Aug 2006

Especially since Laura can be perceived by OTHER PEOPLE and how she's the voice of reason and sanity in the story, and such. Also, if she wasn't real, that'd mean she was a monster of the sort Maria is. If Laura is a delusion of James, how come you don't get/have to kill her like you do with Maria? Maria's boss scene is all symbolic of James accepting the reality of his wife's murder and leaving behind his delusions, so why doesn't Laura get the same treatment?

Furthermore, the Leave Ending is supposed to represent James leaving his past behind and starting over, with no delusions or illusions holding him back. He can't exactly do that if he lives life with a delusion. If she was a delusion, then the Leave Ending is freaking identical to the Maria ending. Do I hear Laura coughing, signifying that nothing's been resolved whatsoever and that James is destined to repeat his mistakes? Hell no.

The Leave Ending is the only happy ending in SH2. Why would you take that away by making Laura a brainfart? I mean, she is a fart, but not of the brain variety.

Post by **Zzesrut** » 07 Aug 2006

Laura may be real, she may not be real but to James, she is real and I think thats what truly matters. You all have good points and I applaud your attention to detail and knowledge of whats going on!

Post by **Icarus** » 07 Aug 2006

alone in the town wrote:I refuse to believe Laura isn't real until I see at least a little compelling evidence to the contrary.

Dido.

Post by **Darkh4** » 08 Aug 2006

AuraTwilight wrote:Especially since Laura can be perceived by OTHER PEOPLE and how she's the voice of reason and sanity in the story, and such.

James' experience in Silent Hill is at least partly a delusion, right? And a delusion is basically a waking dream.
I don't know about you, but in every dream I've ever had with mulitple characters, the characters all perceived each other pretty well. That doesn't make them real, does it?
All I'm saying is, being perceived by people who are themselves of questionable existence doesn't really prove Laura's reality.

However, in the end I see no way to definitively argue for or against Laura's existence.

Post by **Yana** » 08 Aug 2006

Laura is real. The thing is she doesn't see any monsters or Maria. The town looks normal to her, because shes the only one who holds no darkness in her heart. She is real.

Post by **AuraTwilight** » 08 Aug 2006

I don't know about you, but in every dream I've ever had with mulitple characters, the characters all perceived each other pretty well. That doesn't make them real, does it?
All I'm saying is, being perceived by people who are themselves of questionable existence doesn't really prove Laura's reality.

Then why does Maria, an undeniably unreal person, go out of her way to avoid people who are arguably real? Because they can't perceive her, and that would force something to click. "Wait, you can't see Maria?"

Post by **Watchdog** » 08 Aug 2006

Most probably, something like that. The "I hate bowling" thing does seem like a pretty desperate attempt to avoid coming into contact with Eddie and Laura.

Post by **Valtiels Nurse** » 09 Aug 2006

Actually, I always had a theory that Laura was like the kid from "The Sixth Sense". She can see the "ghosts" of purgatory, like James, because she is was friends with Mary, before she died. She sees the town as normal, and I actually kind of think that the town still has residents thriving in it that just don't notice the Otherside (I may be totally off on this theory, but that's the only way I can see Laura hanging around in an abandoned old town, monsters or no.) Plus, Laura is obviously sick, which brings her closer to death and the Otherside

But now I have a question; if Laura can see James because he is connected to Mary, how is it she communicates with Eddie and not Angela? I don't know if Eddie has some reason to be connected with Mary or James, but I was wondering about that. I read the theories about Laura possibly knowing Eddie before the game, but me personally, I don't like uncertain variables. Things have to fit, and strangely enough while most of Silent Hill is a confusing whirlwind of ideas and symbols, most of the stuff and theories about Silent Hill given by St.Thomas/The Adversary, Krist., and other more experienced gamers help me make things fit. I have theories, but usually other gamers find chinks in them that don't fit, but if I think I have a solid idea, I will stick to it. Plus, since Laura is on the third floor, I don't think she would have been there with Eddie.

Post by **AuraTwilight** » 09 Aug 2006

Well, if Laura was in the real world, wouldn't people stop her from wandering around recklessly or ask her why the hell she's talking to air? I think she's in the Foggy Silent Hill, but not the Dark Otherside. Perhaps, since she was there and had the same goal as James, the Town decided to use her in screwing with him.

Post by **alone in the town** » 09 Aug 2006

She's in the Otherside the entire time, as are all of the other characters. The 'town' isn't using her for any reason (because the town is not a sentient entity). She is merely there for her own reason, and she only screws with James because she feels James didn't love her best friend the way he should have.

She doesn't communicate with Angela simply because they never crossed paths.

Post by **Valtiels Nurse** » 09 Aug 2006

True, if she was sick she couldn't wander around to several places outside the hospital. But considering she couldn't understand why Silent Hill was dangerous, something makes me think she could only see the people wandering around, rather than actually being in the Otherside Silent Hill. In fact, if I'm right, in the real Silent Hill, nothing is blocked off and the roads are not broken. If Laura is in the Otherside the whole time, how would she be able to get to the Hotel (I very much doubt she swam)?

Now I had a strange thought: Maria doesn't want to be seen with other people, as she doesn't exist to them, BUT as after Laura leaves the Bowl-o-Rama, Maria presumably chases her for a second and then pressures James into going after. While it doesn't prove that Laura could see Maria, doesn anyone think that's kinda strange?

Post by **AuraTwilight** » 09 Aug 2006

The 'town' isn't using her for any reason (because the town is not a sentient entity).

Well, I didn't mean to imply that, but the aspect of James' subconscious reflected in the town :P Which sorta, kinda is. Point is, I doubt Laura just stumbled into the Otherworld.

If Laura is in the Otherside the whole time, how would she be able to get to the Hotel (I very much doubt she swam)?

Because the Otherworld is different for everyone. Sure, the roads might be broken and blocked off for James, but for Laura it's probably fine. James might have to use that canoe to get to the Hotel, but maybe for Laura there was a nice convient bridge or maybe there was a ferry.

Now I had a strange thought: Maria doesn't want to be seen with other people, as she doesn't exist to them, BUT as after Laura leaves the Bowl-o-Rama, Maria presumably chases her for a second and then pressures James into going after. While it doesn't prove that Laura could see Maria, doesn anyone think that's kinda strange?

It is kinda strange, but it doesn't really prove anything, like you said. I'm sure if they met, Laura still couldn't perceive Maria, except maybe as an exact clone of Mary, I don't know. But Maria is a reflection of Mary, and at that point must have some semblance of the bond with Laura that Mary did. She also probably pressures James into going after her because Laura is convienently heading towards crap that James needs to see.

Post by **Valtiels Nurse** » 09 Aug 2006

I should have remembered that aspect of the Otherworld and how it changes according to other people's perception. *slaps herself on the head*

I guess she was just convienient to James's guilt trip through the town. And Eddie's. No wonder why she was able to go into the Otherworld...or perhaps it was because she was a child that still believed in magical places.

Post by **AuraTwilight** » 09 Aug 2006

I don't see why both, (or three) interpretations can't co-exist.