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Notes on How to Write the Legitimate Violence Essay for Essay #1

First, always look at the essay question and try to figure out what the question is asking you

to do as the writer. Always follow the instructions you are given on the essay question sheet as well

as from the lecture on how to write an essay and any writing workshops given in class.

This question is asking you to pick 1 character from EITHER Cabin in the Woods OR The

Descent and analyze that 1 character’s acts of violence during the movie to decide what type of

violence the character uses. The analysis of the acts of violence through proving or disproving the

definitions will be the primary argument you will make in your essay as you will try to prove

whether the character demonstrates legitimate or illegitimate or mercy-killing or valourous

violence according to the definitions given in your notes as part of horror theory.

Since, you are writing a typical 5 paragraph essay, you will have an introduction, 3 body

paragraphs (each analyzing 1 act of violence the character demonstrates/ performs/shows/

illustrates), and a conclusion. Remember, do not just pick any 3 acts of violence to analyze. Always

try to pick the most interesting actions to analyze in order to have interesting points to bring up

and prove in your essay.

When you write an essay, you pick examples from the beginning, the middle, and the end of

the movie or story. The reason you try to get and analyze examples from the beginning, middle, and

end is because that will allow you to see if characters change from whom they start off at the

beginning of the text to whom they end up becoming at the end of the text.

So, for the primary argument of your essay that will analyze acts of violence and determine

whether they are legitimate/ illegitimate/ mercy-killing/ valourous/ not valourous, you will pick one

main character and three examples of him/her using violence in the movie. As your first example/

first body paragraph, you will have to analyze the first time he/she uses violence because that first

act of connecting to passion and becoming the monster in order to survive will reveal a lot about

whether the character is becoming too monstrous to return back to civilization or is still connecting

to civilization and logic in his/her kill. (We will talk about degeneration/regeneration later when we

talk about the possible secondary argument for your essay).

For your second/middle example, you will pick an important or insightful act of violence

the character demonstrates in the middle part of the movie. After proving what definition of

violence the middle action proves, you could analyze whether that act of violence shows the

character is becoming more “other” in how he/she kills or you will show how the character is still

connecting to civilization/logic/morality in how he/she kills (secondary argument).

As for your last example, you will analyze the last time he/she uses violence in the movie

because that last act of violence will tell the reader whether the character has become too “other”/

too monstrous to return back to civilization and will have to stay in the wilderness or die in the

wilderness or whether the character will return to civilization but as “other” not as a member of the

establishment (part of secondary argument or general conclusion).

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Types of Violence and the Definitions You Will Use to Analyze Each Act of Violence

A. Legitimate violence refers to violence done in self-defense or defense of others. (That means that one uses violence to defend one’s own life or the life of someone else. Sometimes, a

person demonstrates/uses legitimate violence and he/she is connected to passion/wrath at the

same time. Feeling passion/wrath does not mean that one is not demonstrating legitimate violence.

It is okay to be angry that someone/something is trying to kill you or your friends. As long as you are

acting in self-defense or defense of others, you are still using legitimate violence).

Examples of legitimate violence for Dana in Cabin in the Woods:

1. Dana first hits the zombie with a crowbar (high tech weapons/ phallic symbols) and then

stabs the zombie with a knife (high tech weapon/ phallic symbol) in the Black Room to save

Holden’s life.

2. Dana releases the monsters to attack the soldiers by hitting the round Purge button (high

tech yonic symbol / symbol of technology) to save herself and Marty from the soldiers.

3. Dana stabs Sitterson by accident with a knife (high tech weapon/ phallic symbol) in the

hallway because she thinks he is a monster trying to kill her.

4. Dana also pulls a gun (high tech weapon/ phallic symbol on Marty as she decides whether or

not to kill him to save the world from destruction by the pagan gods.

In Cabin in the Woods, the establishment (scientists) decide to kill the 5 teenagers in a ritual sacrifice

in order to save the world from apocalypse (destruction). However, you cannot use this example in

the essay as you need to analyze 3 acts of violence performed by one character.

Examples of legitimate violence for Marty in Cabin in the Woods:

1. Marty kills and dismembers the zombie who tries to kill him in the grave with a trowel (high

tech weapon/ phallic symbol).

2. Marty kills the guard in the elevator who is trying to kill him by slamming his head against

the wall.

3. Marty also lets Dana get attacked by a werewolf (using the “other” as a weapon) when she

holds a gun on him as she tries to decide if he should be killed to save humanity.

Examples of legitimate violence for Sarah in The Descent:

1. Sarah kills the child monster who tries to rip out Sarah’s neck by stomping on its face three

times (Sarah’s foot/boot is a low tech weapon/ primitive weapon/ primitive phallic symbol).

2. Sarah kills the mother monster by stabbing her in her eye and cheek with a tooth which is a

low tech weapon (a primitive weapon/a primitive phallic symbol).

3. Sarah kills the father monster by using a long bone (low tech/ primitive weapon/ primitive

phallic symbol) and smashes it against his eyes and face.

4. Sarah kills the monster at the exit of the cave by gouging/poking out its eyes with her fingers

and then wiping his eye jelly off on her jeans. (She also spits out part of his ear which she

had bitten off with her teeth. Fingers and teeth are primitive phallic symbols/ low tech/

primitive weapons).

Sarah uses problematic legitimate violence throughout the movie as she kills to survive

but also seems to take a sadistic pleasure in causing pain and suffering to the monsters as

she kills them.

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Examples of legitimate violence for Juno in The Descent:

1. Juno kills the two monsters trying to kill her and steal Holly’s dead body away to be eaten.

2. Juno uses a knife and then an axe (high tech weapon/ high tech phallic symbol). Juno feels

guilty at letting Holly go earlier in the fall that broke Holly’s leg so now Juno acts from guilt in

her determination not to let the monsters steal Holly’s body. This guilt shows that Juno is

still connected to civilization and morality when she kills.

3. Juno stabs Beth in the throat by accident because Juno thinks Beth is a monster coming up

behind Juno to kill her. Juno feels too guilty about what she has done by stabbing Beth and

leaving her to die alone to tell the truth about how Beth dies to the other women.

4. Juno stabs the monster in the back who is trying to kill Becca and Sam and then Juno uses

her arms (primitive/low tech weapons/ primitive phallic symbols) to break the monster’s

neck and kill it. Juno then uses the knife that Sam left in the body of the monster to kill the

monster that attacks Juno under water.

Remember, as long as a character acts in self-defense or defense of others, the

character uses legitimate violence even if the violence is problematic.

B. Illegitimate violence refers to violence done out of a desire for revenge or vengeance. (That means that someone is using violence only to get revenge on another person/monster and

NOT using violence to save his/her own life or someone else’s life. Remember, if you are angry

when you kill but are still killing in self-defense or defense of others, you are still using legitimate

violence).

An example of Sarah’s use of illegitimate violence in The Descent:

1. Sarah stabs Juno in the leg and leaves Juno to be killed by the monsters. Sarah is not acting

in self-defense or defense of others (their lives) as Juno is not threatening anyone. Sarah

stabs Juno out of a desire for revenge for Juno having an affair with Sarah’s husband Paul

and for Juno lying about how Beth dies).

An example of Marty’s use of illegitimate violence in Cabin in the Woods:

1. You could look at Marty’s refusal to die to save the world as an act of violence done for

revenge as he wants the world to pay for killing his friends in order to survive OR you could

look at Marty’s refusal to die to save the world as an act of non-valourous violence as he

refuses to sacrifice himself to save others.

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C. Valourous violence refers to violence done with an expectation of self-sacrifice. (That means you expect that your act of violence will lead directly to your own death but you are willing to

die to save others. Not every act of legitimate violence is valourous as if you do not expect to die by

sacrificing your life to save others, then you are not demonstrating valourous violence).

Examples of Valourous Violence from The Descent:

1. Sam has had her throat ripped out by the monster on the ceiling and is dying; however, with

her last breath, Sam jumps onto the monster and stabs him and then she dies. Sam sacrifices

herself to give her sister Becca and Juno a chance to get away and live.

2. At the end of the movie, instead of running away, Juno pulls the axe out of her leg and turns

toward the approaching monsters. Juno has been injured and will most probably die a

painful death as she fights off the monsters to give Sarah a chance to escape the cave and

atone for what Juno has done to all her friends by bringing them into the cave to be killed

and for having the affair with Sarah’s husband Paul. Since, Juno expects to die, she

demonstrates valourous violence.

Example of Dana’s valourous violence from Cabin in the Woods:

1. Dana sees Anna Patience Buckner approaching Marty from behind with an axe to kill Marty.

Dana warns Marty by calling out his name as she hopes to save his life. If Anna Buckner had

killed Marty, the world would have been saved and Dana would have lived. However, by

warning Marty, he is able to knock Patience into the hole and save his own life. Thus, Dana

sacrifices her own life to save Marty.

2. Marty does NOT demonstrate valourous violence since he refuses to die to save humanity.

D. Mercy-killing or euthanasia refers to violence done to shorten pain and suffering of

someone and hasten death. (Mercy-killing is connected to legitimate violence except you are not trying to save someone’s life but trying to give them a quick, painless death).

Mercy-Killing in The Descent:

Sarah demonstrates mercy-killing when she kills Beth with a rock to give her a quick, painless death

rather than leaving Beth to be eaten alive by the approaching monsters. The rock is a yonic symbol

which connects Sarah to the power of the “other” and is when Sarah first gets blooded.

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Coming Up with a Secondary Argument for Your Essay:

After you have picked a character from either Cabin in the Woods or The Descent and picked 3 acts

of violence the character demonstrates, you then, first, have to analyze the act of violence against

the definitions above in order to prove that the character demonstrates that type of violence. After

you have proven your primary argument, you then have to prove part of your secondary argument

in each body paragraph as you analyze the example further.

There are two possible secondary arguments that you can try to use in your essay.

Remember, since you are only analyzing one character, you will either choose a secondary argument

of degeneration or a secondary argument of regeneration as seen below.

Degeneration: Sometimes, characters will start off as part of the establishment but

degenerate through their acts of violence/passion and end up becoming “other” by the end of the

story. Thus, in addition to proving each act of violence according to the definitions given, you will

also try to determine if the character is becoming more degenerated as they use violence in their

kills to survive in the wilderness. The argument that looks at whether the character degenerates

through his/her use of violence will be your secondary argument. In order to show degeneration,

you might look at how the character kills. Are the kills sadistic - does the character seem to enjoy/get

pleasure from inflicting pain on the monster? Does the character seem to prolong the killing in order

to cause the monster more intense suffering? Does the character try to dehumanize or symbolically

destroy the monster by attacking the face or dismembering the body of the monster (desecration of

the body)? Does the character do something 3 times or in multiples of three re: denial of Christ or

denial of one’s connection to civilization /love/ morality/ goodness? Does the character kill using

primitive phallic symbols – low technology symbols (showing a weaker connection to civilization) or

kill using yonic symbols (showing a connection to the wilderness)?

Remember – just because a character kills sadistically, that does NOT mean he/she is using

illegitimate violence. It is possible to kill sadistically even when using legitimate violence; it will

just mean that the character’s acts of violence are problematic because they are taking too much

pleasure in killing and that will indicate too strong a connection to passion which you can use to

explain degeneration (secondary argument).

OR

Regeneration: Sometimes, characters start off as part of the establishment and although

they degenerate as they kill to survive, they are able to cling to symbols of the establishment and

logic and regenerate by the end of the story. Thus, in addition to proving each act of violence

according to the definitions given, you will also try to determine if the character is remaining

connected to civilization/the establishment although they use violence in their kills to survive in

the wilderness. This argument that looks at whether the character eventually regenerates through

his/her use of violence will be your secondary argument. In order to show first degeneration and

then regeneration as you analyse 3 examples in the film, you will look at how the character kills

and any possible motives associated with their kills other than to survive. Thus, although the

characters degenerate a bit in their first kill when they connect to passion/and become blooded,

they never fully become the monstrous. Therefore, they are able to regenerate by the end of the

story/film by reconnecting back to the logic/morality (guilt) of civilization and have the potential to

return back to civilization. However, sometimes, due to their regeneration, the character ends up

committing a valourous act of violence and sacrifices him/herself in an attempt to save others. So,

they die but they die as part of civilization not as “other.” A character who regenerates despite

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using violence to survive will often kill using the most effective and efficient ways to kill. He/she is

not interested in causing the monster pain and suffering but only interested in killing the monster

in order to survive or save the lives of others. They will often kill using high tech symbols that

show a stronger connection to civilization or they will kill using high tech phallic symbols. They do

not usually attempt to dehumanize or depersonalize the monster by attacking the face or eyes

exclusively because they are killing logically not from pure passion. They often feel guilt at not

being able to save others and this guilt reconnects them back to civilization and morality which

shows they are regenerating despite killing to survive.