Shepherd-Sunderland: What's In A Name?
Posted: 20 Dec 2007
So I was doing some research the other night on the Garden Of Eden and I came across an interesting tidbit of information.
One of the geographical locations often mentioned as being a candidate for the location of the ancient Garden is a place called Sundaland, a region in southeastern Asia near the South China Sea.
I don't think I need to point out the obvious similarity between Sundaland and Sunderland. From this line of thinking, we have a possible hidden meaning behind James' last name.
James and Mary viewed Silent Hill as a kind of Paradise, which is literally what Eden supposedly was. If Silent Hill is where the God of The Order originated, then it is possible that humanity began there as well. This could also make Silent Hill itself a kind of Eden within the mythology of the series.
That aside, though, the main focus here is on the viewpoint of James and Mary as the town being a sort of personal Paradise.
If there is meaning behind James' name, what then of Mary's maiden name? Obviously, Shepherd is another word that is highly associated with Christian symbolism and imagery. It is often used in association with Jesus, the Good Shepherd, but it can also encompass the general idea of caring and guiding loved ones, keeping them from straying into danger.
If you put Shepherd-Sunderland together, you get "the one who leads into Paradise". James returns to their Paradise, Silent Hill, seeking his shepherd, Mary.
However, further elements from the Garden of Eden story can be incorporated into understanding of this parallel. Satan, in the form of the Serpent, tempts Eve into eating from the Forbidden Tree of Knowledge, which results in the expulsion of the pair from Paradise.
We do not know the nature of Mary's disease, but due to the highly sexualized nature of the imagery thrown at James in SH2, I believe that the nature of Mary's disease might be an STI of some sort, or some sort of fictionalized sexual disease. This may or may not have been brought on by infidelity on the part of Mary or James. However, it is also likely that James simply visited Heaven's Night while on vacation with his beloved while they were in Silent Hill, an act of sexual indiscretion nonetheless. We know James has a history with the strip club. Perhaps the forces behind the power of the town are punishing James (and Mary, as an extension of punishing James) for this indiscretion, and have expelled them from Paradise into a hellish new reality. James partook of the Fruit of Forbidden Knowledge, and they have paid the ultimate price for it.
Shepherd-Sunderland then can be seen to mean "the one who leads to temptation, which ends in the loss of Paradise". Is it Mary, then who leads to temptation? Not exactly. It is Maria who quite obviously acts as a sort of Serpent, intent on seducing James and ultimately destroying him. Whether or not her creation and actions are intentional on Mary's part to punish James, she is at the least related to Mary on some metaphysical level, making her ostensibly Maria Sheperd-Sunderland.
These two very different interpretations of Mary/Maria's name also make sense within the already dual nature of the character(s?). This also connects with their first names. Mary is commonly associated with purity and good intentions, as a connection to the Virgin Mary, another Christian figure. While Maria shares the same ultimate origins as the name Mary, the variation is more commonly associated with a wilder, more sexually liberated sort of woman.
One final note: the name James means "to supplant", which means "to replace". James Sunderland, then, can mean "he who seeks to replace Paradise". James could at least subconsciously appear to have this very goal, through replacing Mary with Maria in the "Maria" ending.
One of the geographical locations often mentioned as being a candidate for the location of the ancient Garden is a place called Sundaland, a region in southeastern Asia near the South China Sea.
I don't think I need to point out the obvious similarity between Sundaland and Sunderland. From this line of thinking, we have a possible hidden meaning behind James' last name.
James and Mary viewed Silent Hill as a kind of Paradise, which is literally what Eden supposedly was. If Silent Hill is where the God of The Order originated, then it is possible that humanity began there as well. This could also make Silent Hill itself a kind of Eden within the mythology of the series.
That aside, though, the main focus here is on the viewpoint of James and Mary as the town being a sort of personal Paradise.
If there is meaning behind James' name, what then of Mary's maiden name? Obviously, Shepherd is another word that is highly associated with Christian symbolism and imagery. It is often used in association with Jesus, the Good Shepherd, but it can also encompass the general idea of caring and guiding loved ones, keeping them from straying into danger.
If you put Shepherd-Sunderland together, you get "the one who leads into Paradise". James returns to their Paradise, Silent Hill, seeking his shepherd, Mary.
However, further elements from the Garden of Eden story can be incorporated into understanding of this parallel. Satan, in the form of the Serpent, tempts Eve into eating from the Forbidden Tree of Knowledge, which results in the expulsion of the pair from Paradise.
We do not know the nature of Mary's disease, but due to the highly sexualized nature of the imagery thrown at James in SH2, I believe that the nature of Mary's disease might be an STI of some sort, or some sort of fictionalized sexual disease. This may or may not have been brought on by infidelity on the part of Mary or James. However, it is also likely that James simply visited Heaven's Night while on vacation with his beloved while they were in Silent Hill, an act of sexual indiscretion nonetheless. We know James has a history with the strip club. Perhaps the forces behind the power of the town are punishing James (and Mary, as an extension of punishing James) for this indiscretion, and have expelled them from Paradise into a hellish new reality. James partook of the Fruit of Forbidden Knowledge, and they have paid the ultimate price for it.
Shepherd-Sunderland then can be seen to mean "the one who leads to temptation, which ends in the loss of Paradise". Is it Mary, then who leads to temptation? Not exactly. It is Maria who quite obviously acts as a sort of Serpent, intent on seducing James and ultimately destroying him. Whether or not her creation and actions are intentional on Mary's part to punish James, she is at the least related to Mary on some metaphysical level, making her ostensibly Maria Sheperd-Sunderland.
These two very different interpretations of Mary/Maria's name also make sense within the already dual nature of the character(s?). This also connects with their first names. Mary is commonly associated with purity and good intentions, as a connection to the Virgin Mary, another Christian figure. While Maria shares the same ultimate origins as the name Mary, the variation is more commonly associated with a wilder, more sexually liberated sort of woman.
One final note: the name James means "to supplant", which means "to replace". James Sunderland, then, can mean "he who seeks to replace Paradise". James could at least subconsciously appear to have this very goal, through replacing Mary with Maria in the "Maria" ending.