Silent Hill 2: An Allegorical Analysis

On its surface, Silent Hill 2 is a generic horror game with the sole purpose of scaring the player through jump scares and horrifically modeled monsters. When one looks deeper at the meaning behind the mechanics and monsters of the game it has profound symbolism in relation to the characters in the game. This is all becomes clearer for the player as they learn more about who James Sunderland is and what he has done. In the beginning James Sunderlund is very detached from reality and reason but filled with a sense of nonsensical instinctive purpose to find his wife that he knows is dead. For example, in the beginning of the game he doesn’t question why the road to Silent Hill is blocked off, the eerie sounds coming from the dense fog, nor the letter from his deceased wife.

Maria plays a very important centerpiece of the game. She literally looks exactly like his wife however acts the opposite of her. For example, Maria wears proactive dress and talks in a sexual manner where as his wife is more conservative and shy. Throughout the game she always tries to remind Sunderland that she is real, saying things like “I don’t look like a ghost, do I? See, feel how warm I am.” She is a representation of his wife, and a repeatedly killed pawn that is used to punish James and remind him that he killed her. As the game progresses, she is never seen or mentioned by any other characters, making her seem more ghost like or unreal further alluding to the fact that she is a delusion of his mind. In the game when James and maria are reunited after being separated she says: “Then stay with me! Don’t ever leave me alone! You’re supposed to take care of me!” This alludes to the fact that James wasn’t there for his wife when he needed to be.

The monsters that relate to James might just seem like scary monsters but they show his fears and represent his regrets,. Pyramid Head is the prime example of that. Throughout the game James encounter Pyramid Head (PH) and frequently has bad things happen. In the first scene with Pyramid Head, it shows a clear disregard for the other “beings” of Silent Hill and it appears to be sexually forcing itself upon other monsters and tossing one away when it’s done. This shows its disregard for life which will be shown throughout the game. Later on when James runs away while leading Maria, PH kills her right in front of James. This is so that James has to relive the guilt of killing his own wife knowing that he could have saved her. This is again repeated through the game like when she’s locked away and he discovers her dead in the cell, and again before the finale when PH spears Maria before finally engaging James. The entire game PH is unable to be defeated, at the end however, James finally realizes his guilt and actions resulting in PH killing themselves. With PH killing itself it means that James has finally acknowledged what he has done and accepted it. PH is representative of the way James sees himself as for killing his wife. PH wears a giant metal “cage” on his head symbolizing a great weight or burden upon the shoulders of PH. It also is characteristic of that of an executioner’s hood, representing the feelings that James feels like an executioner for killing his wife. PH’s weapon of choice is an oversized sword that it drags around symbolizing the guilt is weighing it down as well, and to also represents an executioner’s axe.

The most interesting non-monster characters in the game for me is Angela Orosco. She is really unique because she is the only suffering character in Silent Hill that seems justified in her past actions, but is unable to forgive herself because of a sense of worthlessness that haunts her from the people that tormented her. Her relationship with James throughout the game signals her mistrust of males, and understandably so considering her past. Further along in the game James finds Angela being tormented by a horrible monster. The monster seems to be 2 people joined together in intercourse underneath covers inside of a twisted metal bed frame, the smaller of the two figures squirms around beneath the covers. This is allegorical to the sexual assaults that Angela had to endure growing up at hands of her father and brother. The setting of the room also unnervingly fits the theme as well, the thrusting pistons also symbolize the act of intercourse. Later she is seen admiring a similar monster that is flayed against the wall. The covers have a single person underneath them this time with blood seeping through the covers where the person’s genitals would be, implying that the figure beneath the covers is Angela’s father or brother. James enters the room and it is in powerful flames to which Angela does not react to because it’s normal for her. The fire is possibly her perceived sense of worthlessness as the flames seem to grow bigger after James silently declines to “save” Angela from her pain. She turns around and ascends the burning staircase implying that she is going to kill herself. The design choice of having her ascend the staircase and not descend is interesting to me. With ascension, it implies going to heaven but with the flames it implies hell and gives a contradicting message.

The other character, Eddy has the opposite path of Sutherland. In the beginning Eddy is seen throwing up next a dead human that he presumably killed, although he denies it. Here it shows that Eddy has remorse for killing this person, in that he is physically ill afterwards. Later on however, this is not the case. He begins to justify his actions saying that they had it coming, eventually he feels like he can kill whoever he likes just because of the way they look at him. Eddie seems disgusted by what he did in the beginning, however he can’t help himself in the end because he is consumed by the sense of power killing gives him. In Sunderland’s case, he is compelled to kill his wife out of selfishness/mercy and represses it and later on comes to the truth of his actions and is ashamed, accepting that he responsible for her death.

Another interesting aspect of the game is you can play it without fighting any recurring enemies except certain bosses. The player can easily run right past the monsters in the game and not give them any forethought. Because the monsters are especially slow, and represent his guilt and suffering, if the player engages with them it would mean Sunderland facing his guilt/suffering which he doesn’t do (until the end). Any sane person would strategically avoid the scary intimidating monsters. By making the monsters slow it will mean the player never has to engage with them but still have them in the background as a lurking presence throughout, much like those thoughts of guilt and suffering are lurking in the back of James minds but are repressed.

In the chapter 5 reading “The monster isn’t a monster…” it talks about the three approaches to a story to make the player think through the use of metaphors as mystery, metaphor as a message, and metaphor as a muse. Silent Hill is definitely more of a metaphor as a mystery type of game, because of the heavy use of symbolism. Unearthing the symbology in the game is extremely gratifying, if the player takes the time to consider the meaning behind certain design choices. The game can be enjoyed just for its horror element alone, the player can play the entire game and not consider any of the deep meanings throughout and still enjoy the experience. Silent Hill does not fit into either metaphor for muse or message at all. Silent Hill does not have a profound message at the end or an agenda to push with the game. While I would argue that James Sunderland is a non-descript bland character, the purpose of the game is clear enough: find your wife. It also does not make the game about personal player experience, rather the experience of the character in the game. While Silent Hill doesn’t have a core message for the player to absorb, it can however have the player reflect on their own personal struggles and how to personify them in a game, as well as understand others struggles and sympathize/empathize with them. Whether SH2 is deep depends on the player in my opinion, if the player is willing to try and understand the meaning behind things it is deep. If the player just plays it for a mindless thrill they will not extract anything meaningful from playing the game.