Phantom And Loathe
The Phantom of the Opera is a classic story in which we are presented with a character (the Phantom) and his oddities, and are actually given the choice whether to like him or to loathe him. In the Story the Phantom is a character who has an impaired judgment and a disfigured face from birth, henceforth disenabling him from distinguishing between right from wrong and coping with society’s norms. It is these mental and facial impediments coupled with his violent and gruesome choices that drive him to kill and compels us to loathe him and pleads with us to sympathize with him simultaneously.
In the Phantom of the Opera, Erik is ill famed for turning Operas into disastrous slaughterhouses and everybody fear and dislike him for that. He makes
ridiculous demands and every single one of them is met accordingly; for if his demands were not met, he warns the Opera owner of the fatal consequence he could inflict. The Opera’s owner is terrified and is compelled to sell of his property, so as to avoid any contact whatsoever with this shadowy figure. But the Phantom just does not stop there and because his judgment of right from wrong is impaired, he actually goes on to cut off the chandeliers when he gets angry at the managers and let his temper get the best out of him. This little expression of anger as perceived by the Phantom is not so little, as 25-50 people lose theirs lives. Now judging from that, it becomes lucid why Raoul or anybody would now have developed an intense feeling of hatred for and fear of the Phantom. But He continues his nightmarish ventures and goes on to kill Firmin because he was doing his “Christine” a favor. He does not have that sense of awareness or better still, that sense of right from wrong to tell him that he was not supposed to murder somebody in order to help somebody out.
But Then again, you can’t be too harsh on the Phantom, for the facts that He is badly disfigured and mentally impaired. Judging from his lack of perception, his crime of killing Firmin may seem justifiable, because he does not know what to do in the kind of situation he found himself in. He deeply loved Christine (whom he thought he had given the beautiful voice to and therefore was responsible for Raoul’s love for her) and was not about to let any thing hurt her. But the lack of judgment is just one of his weaknesses that makes you want to sympathize with him and not label him as a simple cold blooded murderer. His other weakness lies in his physical appearance; he seems to be self-conscious about his appearance when he tells Christine about no body wanting to like him and being denied of motherly love. And it is upon this rejection; he goes on to blame his killing on fate and how he was destined to be that way. When he reveals that side of himself to us, we have no choice then but to sympathize with him.
In final analysis, the Phantom no doubt is a scary sight to look at, and also a cunning and lethal character to take for granted. He uses his cunningness and craftiness to manipulate and murder people, and for that, he gets his well-deserved hatred from audiences. And a premeditated and voluntary murder can in no way be justified. But on the other hand, he is just another vulnerable character provided with the wrong choices and circumstances in life. And instead of turning that negativity into something positive, he chooses to be hidden from society as whole, thusly working against humans in general. With these two focal points being established, I must say that I am forced to loathe him for killing innocent people and sympathize with him for not being offered a good hand in life.
In the Phantom of the Opera, Erik is ill famed for turning Operas into disastrous slaughterhouses and everybody fear and dislike him for that. He makes
ridiculous demands and every single one of them is met accordingly; for if his demands were not met, he warns the Opera owner of the fatal consequence he could inflict. The Opera’s owner is terrified and is compelled to sell of his property, so as to avoid any contact whatsoever with this shadowy figure. But the Phantom just does not stop there and because his judgment of right from wrong is impaired, he actually goes on to cut off the chandeliers when he gets angry at the managers and let his temper get the best out of him. This little expression of anger as perceived by the Phantom is not so little, as 25-50 people lose theirs lives. Now judging from that, it becomes lucid why Raoul or anybody would now have developed an intense feeling of hatred for and fear of the Phantom. But He continues his nightmarish ventures and goes on to kill Firmin because he was doing his “Christine” a favor. He does not have that sense of awareness or better still, that sense of right from wrong to tell him that he was not supposed to murder somebody in order to help somebody out.
But Then again, you can’t be too harsh on the Phantom, for the facts that He is badly disfigured and mentally impaired. Judging from his lack of perception, his crime of killing Firmin may seem justifiable, because he does not know what to do in the kind of situation he found himself in. He deeply loved Christine (whom he thought he had given the beautiful voice to and therefore was responsible for Raoul’s love for her) and was not about to let any thing hurt her. But the lack of judgment is just one of his weaknesses that makes you want to sympathize with him and not label him as a simple cold blooded murderer. His other weakness lies in his physical appearance; he seems to be self-conscious about his appearance when he tells Christine about no body wanting to like him and being denied of motherly love. And it is upon this rejection; he goes on to blame his killing on fate and how he was destined to be that way. When he reveals that side of himself to us, we have no choice then but to sympathize with him.
In final analysis, the Phantom no doubt is a scary sight to look at, and also a cunning and lethal character to take for granted. He uses his cunningness and craftiness to manipulate and murder people, and for that, he gets his well-deserved hatred from audiences. And a premeditated and voluntary murder can in no way be justified. But on the other hand, he is just another vulnerable character provided with the wrong choices and circumstances in life. And instead of turning that negativity into something positive, he chooses to be hidden from society as whole, thusly working against humans in general. With these two focal points being established, I must say that I am forced to loathe him for killing innocent people and sympathize with him for not being offered a good hand in life.