The Monsters of Life

The Monsters of Life

In Frank Langella’s essay “The Monsters in My Head,” Langella describes fear as a monster our imagination that changes as we get older, Langella also describes how one should confront and control the “monsters” that are in our heads. I agree with Langella, that one should not fear the “Monsters” of life that one should confront or overcome fear itself because, if one does not overcome these monsters, these monsters will end up eating us or hunting us for the rest of our lives.

In Langella’s essay “The Monsters in My Head,” Langella describes that when he was a young kid, a mummy would come into his room every night to hunt him down, but then one night the mummy did not show up for its nightly routine, it had disappeared. Years and years passed till, one night when Langella already had a son, a four year old. Another monster showed up to eat up his son’s sleep. Langella went into action with his macho strategy of fighting his son’s monster with a pillow. So, from that night on he would always do his heroic achievement, fighting his son’s monster off. After weeks of this continuing battle, Langella realized that the monster would return every time his son wanted it to return. Langella then reflected on his mummy’s disappearance and realized that his own monster had never gone away, it was always there next him, but it had changed shapes and sizes as rapidly as he grew older. As he grew older, Langella’s monster went from a mummy to a flying object. Then it changed to a first date, a first rejection and then to marriage and now fatherhood. Then Langella told his son that he was not going to fight the monster anymore because it was his son’s monster and he had to fight it himself since the monster was in his son’s head, and only his son could control it. The monster never returned to hunt and eat up his son’s slumber. It actually changed its form. The monster became his son’s new favorite playmate. So, Langella attempts to suggest strategies to overcome and control the “monsters” or the fears of life.

Langella’s arguments of controlling and overcoming ones fears are true because I have experienced these “monsters” or these fears myself through my lifetime. When I was about ten, I used to dread watching horror films because after watching these gruesome-massacring films, I would always relive those scary-horrid scenes in my own dreams or as we well known them as nightmares. So, every time when my family wanted to watch these crimson-thrillers, I would just go to my room and watch cartoons to invade these things we call nightmares or monsters, that will come in the pitch-black night to eat us or hunt us down. One night, my uncle Rodolfo came over to watch the Boogeyman. My uncle told me not to be afraid of fictional-monsters that only existed in my head. So, I stayed that night to watch this terrifying -cliffhanger movie. As I anxiously watched the movie, I realized that the main character, Tim, was also afraid of this monster, the boogeyman, which Tim believed that it lived in his closet, and would come out at night to terrify Tim’s sleep away. The point is that one day Tim decided that he wanted to confront this monster, so in other words he wanted to be brave and take control. As I watched the movie, I reflected and realized that I could also control and overcome my fear for screaming-suspense moving pictures or in other words horror movies. Then I told myself everything is in my head these monsters do not exist, they are imaginary. So, from that night on, I always enjoy the thrilling sensation of getting my hairs spike up after seeing a great scary movie without having any monsters invading my wondrous dreams. Like Langella said, we should overcome, control, and fight our own monsters, just like how I had to learn to fight and control my fear of having nightmares hunting me down after watching a horror movie. One has to always remember that these “monsters” or “fears” are just in our heads.

Langella’s argues that these “monsters” still stand next to us side by side every day, every hour, every minute that the clocks runs, these monsters never go away. They just change shapes and sizes. My monsters are always with me. They are my favorite companions with whom I go to school, my classes, and my every day activities. My monsters are my challenges and fears, my ups and downs; they are what keep me going. The “monsters” that only exist in our heads are what makes us better persons. Some of the many monsters that have accompanied me through my long journey of life range from high school to adulthood and now to UCR. High school was like that long double twisted rollercoaster that never ends but irony it went by in a flash. High school was like the “IT” of the wondrous carnival of life. The “monsters” of high school and adulthood were very judging and responsible for hunting me down but, I was able to conquer them by changing their appearances. High school became my stepping stone to high education and adulthood became my sense of responsible and maturity. Now UCR will become my dearest best friend and one of my new companions in this long journey. Like Langella said, we should not let the monsters in our heads control us we should take control of our fears of losing or failing.

Therefore, Langella’s suggestions on how the “monsters” in our heads are just fictional characters of our imaginations going wild. That change as we grow older in maturity and responsible. Lastly we should not let the “monsters” of life control us, we should actually take gear, control, and override them or else they will run us over.