Monsters On Ice By Stephen T. Asma Analysis

Brian Morrison English 104-032 20 September 2016
Monsters on Ice: The Risk of Not Taking Risks
When was the last time you tried something for the first time? Stepping outside of your comfort zone and trying new things can be as terrifying as a monster: a monster that we’re sometimes afraid to approach because of the unknown surrounding it. In “Introduction” to On Monsters, Stephen T. Asma writes, “An action or a person or a thing is monstrous when it can’t be processed by our rationality, and also when we cannot readily relate to the emotional range involved” (10). Anything that we’re not familiar with can be seen as monstrous. In life, it’s much easier to stick to what you know so that you don’t have to go through the awkwardness or discomfort
We made our way along slowly for a few minutes before I was saved by a guy on a Zamboni, like the one seen in Figure 2, who made us clear the ice for thirty minutes. For that half hour I felt like a fish back in water, but my mind was not at ease; I was dreading going back out onto the ice.
Figure 2. Zamboni (“Frank Zamboni”). When we finally did go back, I was a little more cautious getting onto the ice and we started back where we had left off. It was anything but a smooth ride, but I gradually got less
Figure 1. Ice Skating Walker (“Public Ice Skating”). Figure 3. Air Dancer (“Torero Inflatable”). terrible as the night continued. As soon as I would say something like, “Hey, I think I’m finally getting the hang of this!” I would stumble a few seconds later. So far I hadn’t fallen, which was my main goal going in. I had some very close calls in which I would end up looking like one of those blowup things in Figure 3, but I’d luckily stay on my feet. In “Introduction” to On Monsters, Stephen T. Asma writes, “In the
You never know what you might be missing out on when you let the fear of trying new things stop you, or what could’ve been if you had stuck with something that you quit after failing at first.
Two days later you asked me if I wanted to go again. In “Introduction” to On Monsters, Stephen T. Asma writes, “The monkeys cannot fully confront the snake, but he cannot leave it alone either” (5). Ice-skating was like the snake for me. Despite my fear, I was still intrigued by it. The fear is there, but it can only completely stop you if you let it. I kept skating even though I had the fear of falling. It also could explain why I ended up agreeing to go back even though I knew I’d surely end up adding to my bruise collection.
Looking back, my fear and reality didn’t really align. According to an article titled, Fear Similarly Alters Perceptual Estimates of and Actions over Gaps Guess, MacCardell, Stefanucci write, “ Heights are estimated as taller when more afraid” (2). This shows that fear creates more reason to be scared than there actually is. In “Introduction” to On Monsters, Stephen T. Asma writes, “If we find monsters in our world, it is sometimes because they are really there and sometimes because we have brought them with us” (14). Both show that fear is sometimes there when it shouldn’t be. We always focus on the worst possible scenarios. Fear let my mind imagined the possibility of ending up in a hospital even though the likelihood of that was very small. I’m not saying