Conditional Human Nature in Billy Budd: Sailor

Differing forms of human nature are evidently present in Melville’s novella, Billy Budd: Sailor (1924). The values and attitudes of human beings are heavily shaped and dictated by their social, cultural and historical contexts.

The three main characters, Billy, Captain Vere and Claggart have varied worldly experiences thus their human nature metamorphosed to reflect their diverse exposures. Despite each main character being completely separate “types” of humans, they all possess tragic flaws which are firmly entwined into their psyche, thus become natural instinct. This is clearly demonstrated in the character of Captain Vere particularly in the seventh and twenty-first chapters. Despite being in a powerful social position, he has no personal power of choice. He becomes a slave to the expectations of his occupation and a mere vassal of his superiors used to regurgitate the laws of the society in which he was raised. 

Vere comes from a civilisation dependent on the implementation of laws for its survival. In effect he, like the civilisation sees the practice of laws as a means of preserving life. During the trial, Vere perceives a clear binary decision to make: “…condemn or let go.” (Cpt. 21, p.363) Thus, he is convinced that if he didn’t enforce martial law in the form of condemning the innocent Billy, he would have to “let go” of the societal structure that maintains order on the ship. Vere asks the court “Why? They will ruminate. You know how sailors are. Will they not revert to the recent outbreak at Nore?” (Cpt. 21, p.364) The rhetorical questioning anchors the idea that if a convictable crime is not punished based on the law; the entire social configuration would become ineffective, resulting in anarchy. The situation, due to the omniscient social structure becomes a class against class struggle. Kelley said the Vere’s “…political perspective (reveals his)…faith in the progressive notions of society. It suggests the power and primacy of civilization, or higher forms of life (aristocratic, European, patriarchal, white), over lower ones (the mob)." (Kelley,W. (2008), p.184) thus, as well as protecting the fixed lifestyle of the ship, Vere is also insuring the continuation of fixed class roles, which each have their own set of requirements and expectations.  Captain Vere’s adherence to this tyrannically strict social order is clearly obsessive. “… a true military officer is one particular like…a true monk…keeps his vows of monastic obedience than the former his vows of allegiance to martial duty”. (Cpt. 21, p.355)   This simile equates the law to a strict religious lifestyle, embedded into every aspect of life. 

Vere’s is described by Melville early in the novel as “…an exceptional character. Unlike no few of England’s renowned sailors...” with a “serious mind of superior order”. However, “…there is a “pedantic” streak showed in his behaviour and also that the scene goes far to undermine Melville’s earlier efforts to depict Vere as a phenomenal man. If he is a phenomenal man, why does he act as if he had no possible choice?" (Parker, H. (1990), p. 139). In chapter 7, this quality is noted in Vere: “…don’t you think there is a queer streak of the pedantic running through him? Yes, like the King’s coil of navy rope?” (Cpt. 7, p.312)   The simile comparing Vere to an industrial piece of the King’s property conveys that Vere’s exceptionality is only an external façade and that his natural inclination towards following rules set by superiors has rendered him a mere vassal of the king. This foreshadows early on Vere’s lack of ability to think for himself. Vere, allows himself to be completely controlled by the will of the monarchy in his condemnation of Billy. Even though Vere acknowledges that condemning Billy is a “sad assent” and “is Nature”, he challenges this asking “…do these buttons that we wear attest to our allegiance with Nature? No, to the King.” (Cpt. 21, p.361) The buttons perform a similar function as the branding of cattle. They are a physical mark, affirming they in a way belong to the king. The metaphor of the buttons “attesting” their allegiance emphasise that they are a constant reminder of their unbreakable sense of responsibility to uphold the laws of the Monarch. The capitalisation of “Nature” makes it appear as the name of a living entity; raising another binary decision, to serve Nature or to serve the King. In effect, the King becomes somewhat of a divine figure in Vere’s eyes. 

Like a religion, the law provides Vere with a guide to make ethical decisions however; as a result he entirely discounts his humane inclinations and misunderstands the state under which a person is innocent. Reich said: “By what standard is he innocent? Is it by law deriving from nature, from God or from man? And to what is the concept of innocence applied-to Billy’s act or to Billy himself?" (Reich,C. (1989), p. 128). By this, Reich highlights that Billy is both innocent and guilty in some respects. He is guilty of his crime but, due to his ignorance, Billy as a person is innocent. Vere describes his condemnation as a “shameful death of a fellow creature…” (Cpt. 21, p.361)  Referring to Billy as a “creature” highlights his primitive knowledge and experience. Despite this, Vere’s natural inclination to uphold his duty to the law leads him to mistaken his moral conscience “vitalised by compassion” as weakness. “…strive against scruples that may tend to enervate decision.” (Cpt. 21, p.361) By personifying “scruples” it emphasises that Vere believes that emotional considerations can have an active, debilitating effect on the ability to form a judgment. Early in the novella, a main quality of Vere is “…directness, sometimes far-reaching like that of a migratory fowl that in its flight never heed when it crosses a frontier.” (Cpt.7, p.313) This simile highlights Vere’s tendency to avoid other possible conclusions in order to come to a linear and prompt decision. He does this by excluding human morality from the situation, focusing only on “the blow’s consequence” (Cpt. 21, p.358). This ultimately results in Vere misjudging Billy’s act which was clearly accidental manslaughter as Billy “…did not mean to kill him.” (Cpt. 21, p.357)   not homicide but, as manslaughter has the same end result as a homicide, he is punished as if he was a murderer. Thus, by “…depoliticis(ing) the political…by universalising it in the name of “humanity”- and “peace”...(it) dehumanise(s) the human.” (Spanos, W. (2011), p.161) (despite Vere’s vigorous attempt to do ‘the right thing’.

It is made evident through the character of Vere that social literacy can be just as, if not more debilitating than illiteracy can be. Vere and Billy represent the two extremes in regards to literacy. Vere has profound worldly experience, an immensely detailed understanding of the workings of civilisation and is able to read (and read widely). In contrast, Billy, despite years of service at sea and being a grown man is completely ignorant of the mechanisms with society, has limited social skills (coupled with his tendency to stutter) and is unable to read or write. In a sense, Vere although literate and cultured is denied the freedom of thought that comes with social unawareness. “His settled convictions were like a dike against those invading waters of novel opinion…” (Cpt. 7, p.312)  The simile highlights that due to Vere’s connectedness with social conventions, has barred him from abstract avenues of thought. The image of the “invading waters” continues the ongoing motif of the mutiny; revealing it as multifaceted concern: both a literal ship take over and an uprising of thought unsuppressed by social concord. However, even though Billy’s mind is free and separate from social convention, he has no personal motives in which to yield this liberation. Billy proclaims he has “…eaten the King’s bread and… (he is)…true to the king.” (Cpt. 21, p.357)  The metaphor of the bread emphasises Billy’s extreme loyalty to his superiors. The bread of the king is reminiscent of the bread of Christ, continuing the ongoing religious allegory and mirrors Vere’s religiously strict adherence to law.  As he knows nothing of society, he does whatever he is told in the hope of fitting in thus; both he and Vere suffer alike at the hands of the strict social order, despite being from complete opposite sides of the spectrum in regards to literacy.  

Vere, during the trial appears to be impassive as he tells the men “…let not warm hearts betray heads that should be cool.” (Cpt. 21, p.362) The metaphor highlights how emotion and decision making should be completely separate. However, earlier on in the novella, Vere’s wide reading reflects a struggle to affirm the effectiveness of other systems of thought. “He loved books… (about the)… treating of actual men and events no matter of what era-history, biography, and unconventional writers like Montaigne, who, (was) free from cant and convention…” (Cpt. 7, p.311)  The emotive verb, “loved” heightens Vere’s fascination with the texts to the point of obsession as he “never… (went)… to sea without a newly replenished library…of the best” (Cpt. 7, p.311). Vere’s selection of non-fiction works reflects his desire for knowledge. The passage mentions Michel de Montaigne, a prominent writer in the French Renaissance who popularised the essay as a literary genre. This allusion to someone who had done something completely new and different, without being guided by existing rules, conveys his suppressed internal desire to break with convention. “In this line of reading, he found confirmation of his own reserved thoughts-confirmation which he vainly sort out in social converse…”(Cpt. 7, p.311) The repetition of “confirmation” highlights Vere’s need to contemplate abstract concepts however, due to his nature; he would never allow himself this thus, he must seek answers alone and introspectively through the books. This ultimately leads to Vere’s isolation from others as his nickname “Starry Vere” (Cpt. 7, p.312) connotes.

Vere’s cultural upbringing has also provided him with a warped sense of masculinity, leading him down the path of immorality. In the society in which Vere is from, what makes a man masculine is obedience and knowing one’s place within the world. Early in the novella, Vere is described as “renowned” and called “…a noble gentleman…” because of his “long and arduous service with signal devotion” (Cpt. 7, p.311). The emotive connotations of “renowned” and “noble” are of independence and bravery, to think and act according to your own conscience. However, ironically, Vere does the opposite as he embraces a role in which he is subordinate to the class above him. Due to this specific cultural ideal, Vere goes as far as to say that acting in response to your emotions is emasculating. “…will an upright judge allow himself off the bench by some tender kinswoman…with her tearful plea?...sometimes the feminine in man, is as that piteous woman…she must be ruled out.” The metaphor of the men’s emotional considerations being like an overly sensitive woman equates human sympathy with a stereotypical feminine weakness. It is very ironic when Vere tells the men that thinking for one’s self is feminine while being obedient and submissive is masculine. Within the framework of long standing gender stereotypes, these qualities are reversed, women being seen as subordinate while men are assertive. This misconception leads Vere and the other ships men to unknowingly deny their intellectual masculine qualities, thus enslaving themselves further to the will of their superiors.

Therefore, various forms of human nature are evidently present in Melville’s novella, Billy Budd: Sailor (1924). The values and attitudes of human beings are heavily shaped and dictated by their social, cultural and historical contexts. The three main characters, Billy, Captain Vere and Claggart have varied worldly experiences thus their human nature metamorphosed to reflect their diverse exposures. Despite each main character being completely separate “types” of humans, they all possess tragic flaws which are firmly entwined into their psyche, thus become natural instinct. The character of Captain Vere particularly, despite embodying a high social position is just as much, if not more of a slave to the will of the monarchy as his fellow ship men of a lower class. This slave-like mentality is strengthened by social misconceptions such as martial law being essential for individual survival, the law being applicable to all situations, and warped concepts of the binaries, innocence and guilt; masculine and feminine. Vere’s nature of being pedantic in regards to following set rule makes him vulnerable the dehumanisation that comes with being rendered a mere vassal of his superiors, used to achieve their agendas through the implementation of the law.

References

Kelley, W., (2008), Herman Melville: An Introduction, Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Melville, H. (1962), Billy Budd, Sailor, University of Chicago Press

Parker, H., (1990), Reading Billy Budd, Northwestern University Press

Reich, C., (1989), Critical Essays on Melville’s Billy Budd, Sailor, G.K. Hall & Co.

Spanos, W., (2011), The Exceptionalist State and the State of Exception: Herman Melville’s Billy Budd, Sailor, The John Hopkins University Press

Yannella, D., (2002). New Essays on Billy Budd. Cambridge University Press

What is Art? The Answer May Be in Ben Lerner's 10:04

What makes art different from any other commodity? Is it its monetary worth? The skill level of the artist? Does it have a particular 'quality' that separates it from mere "things"? If art can be commoditised, what is the difference between the Mona Lisa and a paperweight? I will be discussing these questions and many more in relation to Ben Lerner's American novel 10:04 (2014).

It had transitioned from being a repository of immense financial value to being declared of zero value without undergoing what was to me any perceptible material transformation—it was the same, only totally different. (133) 

[Judd’s] interest in modularity and industrial fabrication and his desire to overcome the distinction between art and life, an insistence on literal objects in real space—I felt I could get all those things by walking through a Costco or a Home Depot or IKEA; I’d never cared more for Judd’s “specific objects” than any of the other objects I encountered in the world, objects that were merely real. (178) 

(Lerner, Ben. 10:04. Picador USA, New York, 2015.) 

Ben Lerner, in his American novel, 10:04 (2014) highlights the fineness of the line between commodity and art in the modern, capital driven society of New York City. In the first excerpt, the protagonist is stunned at how material items can shift in value between very valuable and practically valueless without changing in appearance or quality, a behavioural and attitudinal trend evident in people evaluating both art and commodity. In the second excerpt, the protagonist speaks of Judd and his particular taste in what kind of items he wishes to acquire and surround himself with. While they are of meaning to Judd, the protagonist finds no value in them than any other mass produced, easily purchasable items on the market. In a number of ways, both statements can be about opinions and approaches towards art and of commoditised ‘things’. While some artwork and types of ‘things’ appeal to some people, they could be worthless to another based on their personal likes and interests. However, what Lerner emphasises is how similar if not the same art is to commodity as it can be commoditised and that art collectors and appreciators are not very different from people who collect a certain kind of mass produced merchandise. Ultimately, both art and commodity items are ‘things’ and ‘stuff’ to be made and acquired for the purpose of a person’s hobby or for building and reaffirming their sense of belonging to a certain fanbase or audience. In one sense, everything can be seen as merely ‘stuff’, but on the other hand, if one were to approach any lifeless, man made, acquirable item with an open mind in regards to their origin, production and place in the complex matrix of society, almost anything and everything can be appreciated as a work of art, a work made for a distinct purpose, whether that be of function or fashion, self expression or simply for commercial profit. 

What distinguishes certain activities and practices as ‘art’ has always been a contentious area of discussion, due to the subjective nature of opinion. Even if someone were to consider one painting more artistic than the other because it sold for more in an auction, this would still be subjective, as it is in this person’s opinion that economic value equates to artistic value. Others may consider the aesthetic attributes of the work, being its beauty as perceived by the five senses. In this way, a play with lyrical language could be considered artistically written. Likewise, a piece of pottery could be artistic because of its perfect portrayal of a classic style and also just as much if the artist were to abstract this known style into something entirely different. According to Raymond, “…the true crisis in cultural theory, in our own time, is between this view of the work of art as object and the alternative view of art as a practice. Of course it is at once argued that the work of art IS an object: that various worlds have survived from the past, particular sculptures, particular paintings, particular buildings, and these are objects. This is of course true, but the same way of thinking is applied to works which have no such singular existence. There is no HAMLET… in the sense that there is a particular great painting…yet the habit of treating all such works as objects has persisted because this is a basic theoretical and practical presupposition.” (Raymond, W. (1980), p. 47)  While the definition for what makes art ‘art’ so broad, it ironically can narrow the possibility of some things and practices being considered as art, especially when those become taken for granted and rendered common. 

In Oscar Wilde’s essay, 'The Decay of Lying: An Observation', he highlights the similarities between liars and artists, as well as the practice of lying as being an artistic practice. In the dialogue essay, the character, Vivian reads aloud her article, declaring that “People have a careless way of talking about a "born liar," just as they talk about a "born poet." But in both cases they are wrong. Lying and poetry are arts… they have their technique, just as the more material arts of painting and sculpture have, their subtle secrets of form and colour, their craft-mysteries, their deliberate artistic methods. As one knows the poet by his fine music, so one can recognise the liar by his rich rhythmic utterance, and in neither case will the casual inspiration of the moment suffice.” (Jalic Inc. (2017)) In this sense, even someone of presumed immoral character, due to their dishonesty, is skilled in their own way of being what they are. A person who is a good liar has worked on their techniques over a long time, exactly as an ‘artist’ would in their field of expression. A person cannot simply decide on the spot that they will be a liar and make it happen with the same believability that a practiced individual would show. This is exactly like how any person could pick up a paintbrush and produce a painting. While they could get lucky and create a beautiful piece (just as the unpracticed liar may get away with a tall tale), It will not have the quality that comes from a professional painter, who had worked and experimented for years to get their style right. 

When considering the modern world, especially that of the built up, largely populated city of New York, the city which ‘never sleeps’, Wilde’s argument makes just as much of a point when ‘lying’ is substituted for ‘commodity’. While they may be mass produced, not very pretty, easily accessible and not at all unique, there is great value and need for even the simplest items in the immense web of modern life. Michael, who produced an article entitled: ‘These Boots Are Made For Walking…: Mundane Technology, the Body and Human-Environment Relations’ argues and directs conversation to the most mundane technological conveniences, stating that “…the present article is concerned not with ‘epochal’ technologies, but mundane ones, specifically, walking boots. But why consider a mundane technology such as walking boots?…these obvious, ‘invisible’ technologies receive little academic attention yet they are pivotal in shaping everyday life, and do so often through the body.” (Michael, M. P. 107-108) Thus, even if they are not often thought of, ‘boring’ or ‘regular’ items like walking boots can have a big impact in people’s lives. While the degree of specialness is seriously lacking, considering that practically all people own a pair, without them, a long walk could be a painful and despairing experience. Lerner draws attention to the importance of these regular ‘conveniences’ in a poetic but also deeply relatable fashion. 

A potent example of this is where the author character goes to meet with the librarian at the coffee shop. “Someone said his name because his coffee was ready. He approached the counter and collected the giant cappuccino, noting the flower pattern in the foam...he had taken it with two hands, one on the cup and one on the saucer, so as not to spill coffee or upset foam; he couldn’t return her wave…He walked slowly, eyes fixed on the dissolving flower, to the seat beside the window, having ruined everything.” (p. 61) This awkward, practically pre-social encounter kicks off the second chapter. While it is very much concerned with how first impressions are so quickly formed and how people tend to over analyse even the smallest of actions at times of nervousness, the fact that the protagonist approaches all subject matter in the novel with this level of intensity, the object being the ‘giant’ cappuccino is the star of the show. In regards to spatial politics, the gigantic nature of the item fills the hands as well as the space of the moment. Even if it is non-living, an object of literal consumption and incredibly usual, it is what handicaps the protagonist and gets the most descriptive attention this passage. While the reader can practically see and taste the coffee, the appearance of the librarian, the person who is main reason for the visit, remains a mystery. Neither of the human subjects get any descriptive attention. While this passage could definitely and most likely be poking fun at the way people obsess over meaningless things, it also highlights the importance of these so-called ‘meaningless things’ in our day-to-day lives. For all we know, the protagonist may have spent the whole day alone up until this point, so the barista calling his name could have been an incredibly welcome form of human contact, as routine and basic as it is. Obsessing over the rather generic flower pattern in the cappuccino can also be considered funny as it is made to be destroyed quickly. However, it also represents order and is a perfect version of what it is, even if that is just a cheap coffee. This ‘thing’ may be the only thing going well and in a person’s day. It could even offer a moment of warm comfort on a cold winter’s day; a wake up call in the morning after a very long night at the office. While this passage has so many potential meanings, there is much that can be said about the central object, not as a metaphor for a greater issue but just as itself and the experience it offers. 

The process of commodification is certainly a complicated process which varies based on the time, place and sort of item. According to Kopytoff, “...the production of commodities is also a cultural and cognitive process: commodities must be not only produced materially as things, but also culturally marked as being a certain kind of thing. Out of the total range of things available in a society, only some of them are considered appropriate for marking as commodities. Moreover, the same thing may be treated as a commodity at one time and not at another. And finally, the same thing may, at the same time, be seen as a commodity by one person and as something else by another.” (Kopytoff, I. (1986), p. 64) When looking at the novel for example, the written word in the earliest of times was greatly respected, as it not only required the person who wrote it down to be literate and able to read and write. The audience of readers who had access to the materials were also automatically limited to those who could read. Reading and writing was not only a marker of class in regards to education. Additionally, these people who could read would also need money to purchase these books which before the times of the printing press were expensive and took a long time to produce. Much later on, the novel received the reputation for being just that, ‘novel’, a novelty as such, read by those who had nothing better to do. The average American 1950s housewife for example was known to read novels, filling her head with useless, romantic dreams and ideas, after she finished the day’s chores. The more educated men, in the meantime would read proper non-fiction reference books and literature regarded as ‘classic’. 

Novels today range in value according to many factors. For example, in the modern age of cellphones, iPads and social media addiction, it is a welcome site to see any young person pick up a novel and read. However, a lot more respect would often be shown to student A, who decided to read Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles in their spare time than student B, who chose to re-read Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga, even if they were the books that got them to like books again. It is also important to remember that both books are novels and were treated as such when they came out. The fact that Twilight has been so popular all over the world, made into movies and mass marketed over the last 13 years has, as some may say, cheapened its artistic potential, while Tess of the D’Urbervilles is a Penguin Classic and comes up regularly in high school and university studies. At the same time, while the texts vary so much in terms of reputation and validity as important books, it is essential to note that both are still mass produced and can be found online or in bookshops for roughly the same price. Anderson accentuates the positive and community fostering abilities of having common books available and easily accessible. “If the development of print-as-commodity is the key to the generation of wholly new ideas of simultaneity, [why]…did the nation become so popular? …In the process [of vernacularisation] they gradually became aware of hundreds of thousands, even millions, of people in their particular language-field, and at the same time only those hundreds of thousands, or millions, so belonged. These fellow-readers, to whom they were connected through print, formed, in their secular, particular, visible invisibility, the embryo of the nationally imagined community.” (Anderson, B. (2006), p. 37-44) While these effects can certainly be seen, within groups in society today, this does not mend the rift between art and commodity and what makes an item fall into one category or the other. 

So where exactly does the difference lie between art and commodity? Are both Twilight and Tess of the D’Urbervilles equally eligible to be considered as art and where exactly does 10:04 stand in terms of this divide? Robertson argues that “The compulsion of early man to make art suggests that it was important to his survival, as important perhaps as food and warmth. Art of the Ice Age is not a commodity. Early Christian art is not a commodity, art made for the temple, the shrine, the mosque and the cathedral is not a commodity, although it can all be commoditised. Art that is a commodity is such because it exists within a world that packages needs and desires into goods. Art is made today but has not sold on the global art market is not art because the system within which it exists does not recognise it as such.” (Robertson, I. (2016), p. 27) In one sense, all novels and mundane items that fill this commercially driven world are commodity because everything and everyone has a price tag. Almost anything can be sold for the right price, just as a person, given the right amount of money would be prepared to do almost anything. Just as The Verve says in their famous 1997 song, Bittersweet Symphony, people are just “Trying to make ends meet, you're a slave to the money then you die.”(Richards, K. & Jagger, M. & Ashcroft, R. (1997)) If this view was exclusively taken on board, life in the modern world of progress, convenience and efficiency would seem entirely grim. However, just as everything and everyone can be thought of as commodity, everything can also be thought of as art, with their own stories, purposes and place in the world. 

Even the most simple items, like the giant cappuccino can be powerful and beautiful despite if not especially because of its simplicity. When Lerner contemplates the item that had altered value but not really changed from what it was, he states that it “...was the same, only totally different”. This quotation makes a similar point to what Andy Warhol does in his famous rhetorical question: “Isn’t life a series of images that change as they repeat themselves?” While many things happen and are felt, done and said all around the world at different times and simultaneously, there is no doubt that even the most original and drastic ideas have been implemented or at least thought of before. If approached negatively, this idea can support the idea that human beings, in a big picture way lack uniqueness and thus purpose, as almost everyone wants to leave their impression on the world in order to justify that their life was well lived and so they could continue to influence the future by living on through their legacies. However, for Warhol and Lerner, lack of uniqueness is not at all diminishing but rather distinguishing, depending on how the ‘regular’ subject matter is represented. According to Indiana, “Warhol infuriated de Kooning, among others, by claiming only to paint ordinary things that he happened to like, and by painting them in the starkest, most personally uninflected manner, by making art in the easiest way he possibly could: he wasn’t struggling with inner demons, or wresting from paint any sort of transcendental truth, and his work seemed to lampoon the whole idea of artmaking as something intrinsically difficult that carried any risk of failure. For Warhol, the art object didn’t even have to be made by the artist—he just had to attach his signature to it after it came off the assembly line.” (Indiana, G. (2010), p. 66) 

Just because his art was not psychologically fuelled or focused on subject matter of epic influence, Warhol’s identity as an artist was questioned. His work, especially in his popular pop art Campbell’s soup can prints literally turned trash into treasure. Taking something as mundane as a soup can and depicting it in such vibrant colours juxtaposed the normality of the subject. The pop art style of making many versions of the same image imitated the modern process of mass-production. “Our media-saturated world today is a function of a growing society inundated with need-to-know, need-to-know, rinse, repeat, rubbish. “Oh, he called it 50 years ago,” laughs Donovan. “He would have delighted in it today. Reveled in it. He would have been in the thick of it—obsessed with the Internet, social media, celebrity.” We love to hate today’s shameless boldfacers, to judge them, to question their motives, or, at times, to sympathize with their plight.” (Bennet, K. (2011)) The spirit and motivations behind Warhol’s work can definitely be detected in Lerner’s novel, 10:04. 

In the protagonist’s life, only a series of mundane events occurred, at best however, the way in which they are written emphasise the importance of the banal. “Because every conversation you overheard in line or on the street or train began to share a theme, it was soon one common conversation you could join, removing the conventional partitions from social space; riding the N train to Whole Foods in Union Square, I found myself swapping surge level predictions with a Hasidic Jew and a West Indian nurse in purple scrubs” (p. 17). The way in which the conversation around him becomes so similar that it shares a theme highlights its regularity however, predictability is not always a bad thing. Predictability is comfortable and homely or ‘heimlich’ as Freud refers to it in his essay, The ‘Uncanny’ (Freud, S. (1997)). According to Freud, man’s greatest fear is the unknown or ‘unheimlich’ (unhomely). If something is known, it can be beaten as they say in the well known idiom, the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know. The mention of the universally known chain supermarket, ‘Whole Foods’ and ‘Union Square’ in New York allows the reader to feel familiar and grounded, even though this may not be anything like the home they live in. The protagonist’s familiarity with the train route N emphasises the routine nature of his life while the encounter with the Jewish and Indian people highlights that even the most regular commutes can result in culturally diverse encounters. The poetic writing style of Lerner works in the same way as Warhol’s whimsical and fun art style as both are directed towards subjects of the everyday. However, it is important to note that it is not the artistic gloss that makes these regular commoditised items and experiences beautiful, it merely works to accentuate and bring out the overlooked glory already present within them. Both Lerner and Warhol do not create this beauty from scratch but rather use their skills to point out the art worthiness in the most unlikely places. 

As mentioned before, it is not only items that can be commoditised, but certain experiences and kinds of people as well. Ben Lerner being a white, middle-aged American male living in New York City makes him one among millions of the same background who have shared their stories or featured as the central character of stories throughout the history of American literature (additionally in television and film). Before reading the novel, the reader has high expectations for Lerner, that he would present something new in a sea of ‘dime-a-dozen’ New York City life novels. One of the earliest styles of novel structure was the bildungsroman. It was style which especially suited American concepts of nationalism in regards to the power of the individual and construction of the ideal self. According to Buell novels followed, “...the traditional plot of identity formation unfolds in symbiotic tension with the imperatives of social adjustment and collides with the modernist emphasis on imperfect, failed, or arrested development… neither the myth nor the story line that embodied it withered away. On the contrary, both have persisted into the twenty-first century in mutated forms, in a striking mixture of recognition, critique, revision, and defiance of the diminished probability of actually living out the traditional dream script” (Buell, L. (2014), p. 108). While the protagonist in the novel is not exactly the ideal bildungsroman hero, who overcomes great adversity and achieves the perfect version of himself, he certainly embarks on a reflective journey towards understanding and defining what is around him. In the spirit of the bildungsroman, we follow this one individual through his life journey however unlike a hero narrative, the ordinariness of the protagonist allows the novel to be a work of realism. According to Matz, “When the moderns took it up, the novel had long been a form of realism. Its main goal had been to create the illusion of real life in action. As Ian Watt writes in his study of “the rise of the novel,” it aimed at a “full and authentic report of human experience,” an “air of total authenticity,” with “verisimilitude” as its proof of success.1 But this “formal realism” (this making form mimic reality) had really always really been a set of conventions. That is, the novel may have seemed just to present reality directly, but it always did so based on some shared set of norms, some customary way of seeing, particular to the times.” (Matz, J. (2004), p. 32) Even though Lerner’s poetic style of writing marks him as educated and skilled, the way in which he takes in the world around him is as approachable as it is analytical and profound. 

In conclusion, while some people may disagree, there is great significance for people like Lerner to tell their stories, even if it may be commodified. Everyone has their own style and view of the world thus reading novels like these allows us to put a face on someone in a crowd of seemingly identical individuals. While Lerner may be using the novel as a form of expression, a medium that is a commodity, this commodification is an inevitable consequence of living in the modern, capital driven world. In a sense, everything and everyone exists as a commodity, with a cultural and commercial value. This however does not limit their ability to transcend their forms and become significant, meaningful and artistic. A painting and a novel at the end of the day are both objects, even a person living as one of the millions of people in New York City can be seen with similar value however, while they all have the equal ability to be worthless, they also possess an equal ability to become great as well. 

References

Anderson, B. (2006), ‘The Origins of National Consciousness’, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism, Verso, London, New York

Bennet, K. (2011), ‘“Warhol: Headlines” at the National Gallery of Art’, https://capitolfile-magazine.com/the-national-gallery-of-arts-warhol-headlines-exhibit, accessed 14/10/17

Buell, L. (2014), The Dream of the Great American Novel, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, London, England

Freud, S. (1997), Writings on Art and Literature, Stanford University Press, Stanford, California

Hopkins, J. (2013), ‘The ‘New Materialism’ and the Fragility of Things’, Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 41 (3), SAGE, USA

Indiana, G. (2010), ’Pop Art: Surf’s Up!’, Andy Warhol & the Can That Sold the World, Perseus Books, LLC, USA

Jalic Inc. (2017), ‘Oscar Wilde 1891, The Decay of Lying: An Observation’, http://www.online-literature.com/wilde/1307/, accessed 15/10/17

Kopytoff, I. (1986), ’The Cultural Biography of Things: Commoditization as Process’, The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, New York

Latour, B. (1992), ‘Chapter 8: Where Are the Missing Masses? A Sociology of a Few Mundane Artifacts’, Shaping Technology/ Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical Change, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, London, England 

Lemonnier, P. (2012), Mundane Objects: Materiality and Non-Verbal Communication, Leftcoast Press, Inc., California

Matz, J. (2004), ’“What is Reality?”: The New Questions’, The Modern Novel: A Short Introduction, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., USA, UK

Michael, M. (2000), ‘These Boots Are Made For Walking…: Mundane Technology, the Body and Human-Environment Relations’, Body & Society, Vol 6, Issue 3-4, https://doi-org.ezproxy1.library.usyd.edu.au/10.1177/1357034X00006003006, accessed 14/10.17

Pfaelzer, J. (2012), ‘Dreaming of a White Future: Mary E. Bradley Lane, Edward Bellamy, and the Origins of the Utopian Novel in the United States’, A Companion to the American Novel, Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Raymond, W. (1980), ‘Base and Superstructure in Marxist Cultural Theory’, Problems in Materialism and Culture: Selected Essays, NLB, London

Richards, K. & Jagger, M. & Ashcroft, R. (1997). Bittersweet Symphony [Recorded by The Verve]. On FM [MP3 file]. New York City, New York, Abkco Music, Inc

Robertson, I. (2016), Understanding Art Markets: Inside the World of Art and Business, Routledge, New York, London

Spirituality, and the Rituals of Death in"Another"(2012)

The 12 episode (+1 OVA (original video animation)) anime television series, Another (アナザー Anazā) (2012) produced by P.A.Works and based on Yukito Ayatsuki’s 2009 highly acclaimed horror mystery novel of the same name, represents a distinctly Japanese understanding of religion and the afterlife.

While television shows are dominantly for the purpose of entertainment, escapism and above all, profit, this does not lessen their ability to challenge, reflect and present the views and beliefs that shape society. Another, while staying within the relatively universal confines of the horror genre, the calamity that threatens the lives of the students is a direct result of incorrect ritual behaviour concerning the death of Misaki Yomiyama. The situation is motiveless and defies all scientific explanations. The only way to overcome the situation is through enacting beliefs which many Japanese have and hold at their disposal if they are ever in need. 

The way death is viewed in Japan is changing. However, traditional ideas and beliefs greatly underpin the Japanese understanding and attitude towards death. According to Professor Rihto Kimura, “Zen-Buddhist phrases such as "accept death as it is"... have been key motifs totally integrated into our traditional understanding of life...However, the traditional perception of death as an acceptable process has been vanishing as the Japanese have applied modern biomedical technologies more frequently in well-equipped hospital settings.” (Kimura, R. (1996)) Thus, modernisation worldwide, especially in terms of medical innovations have had an impact on how the Japanese see death. In many instances, death can be prolonged and cast aside if the proper medical procedures are performed and, in the case where the patient dies anyway or seems to have died before their rightful time, denial as a form of grief prevails. In Another, the instance which causes the death inducing calamity is where a death is left unacknowledged and completely denied. 

In Another, the complication the characters face is not a new problem they caused but a curse-like phenomena, caused by the ninth grade’s ‘Class 3’ of 26 years ago. This urban legend is known by everyone in the town but never believed until they experience the effects first-hand. According to the story, a popular student named Misaki Yomiyama died shortly after starting the ninth grade in Class 3. Everyone in the class was shocked and unsure of how to deal with the news until one of the students proclaimed that he is not dead after all. The student said that Misaki was alive and well, sitting in the classroom with them. Soon after, the rest of the class and the homeroom teacher joined in and acted as if Misaki was still alive, to the extent of including a seat for him in the graduation ceremony at the end of the year. Like the ghosts in American films, such as Casper (1995) and Ghost (1990), Misaki’s spirit could not move on from the earth because of unfinished business. After the class’ graduation, the class and their homeroom teacher returned back to the classroom for a commemoration photograph. When they looked at it later, the dead student Misaki could be seen standing, smiling with the rest of the students, with a deathly pale face and distorted features. This is in accordance with a widely popular and believed Japanese phenomena called ‘Shinrei Shashin’, where ghosts reveal all or part of themselves in a photograph. In the photo, they are believed to look strange, different from the living subjects. Similar ‘image distortion’ is shown in the Japanese horror film, Ringu (1998) and its American remake, The Ring (2002) and its sequels (Lacefield, K. (2010)). 

While this short term consequence may seem minor, the main point of difference between Western ghosts and Japanese ghosts is that the Japanese believe the dead have a polluting power. In this sense, whether intentionally or not, their being in the world of the living causes those around them to die. As a result of Misaki Yomiyama’s treatment, Yomiyama High’s ninth grade Class 3 became a place that was open and thus closer to death as each year an ‘extra student’, a person who is already dead, joins the class. Their presence not only causes death but death in extravagant, stylised and horrifying ways, similar to what you would see in slasher films like Final Destination (2000), death caused by tragic accidents and that are hard to see as purely coincidence. The first death that we see in the series is of the class representative who trips on the stairs while holding an umbrella, resulting in the tip of it impaling her through the neck. Unlike the ‘yurei’ Japanese spirits of the dead or ‘yokai’, monstrous demons, the extra student has a physical body, memories and does not know that they are dead, which links to the idea of ‘living on’ in the underworld. The librarian and homeroom teacher from the class 26 years ago, Chibiki Tatsuji says that the calamity is not a curse as it harbours no malice but rather it operates more like a natural disaster, as a natural reaction to the acts of ritual impurity and ignorance. 

The way in which we judge the actions of the students 26 years ago as right or wrong is heavily reliant on our regionally and culturally specific understanding of death and dying. As Mei Misaki is telling the story to the protagonist, Koichi Sakakibara, she says that “no one wanted to accept the cruel reality. I’m sure you can relate”, condoning the behaviour. From a Western perspective, the way the class acted was strange but an understandable reaction as denial is the first stage of the five stages that make up the grieving process according to Kübler-Ross and Kessler (Kübler-Ross & Kessler. (2014)). However, in the Japanese context, this story has terrifying consequences. In Japanese death, the dead must be barred from the living for the sake of ritual purity and good health. According to Popovic, “At the funeral the deceased gets "kaimyō" or a new Buddhist name. The purpose of this special name is to stop the return of the deceased if her or his name is called.” In addition to this, as part of what the Japanese call ‘Kamidana-fuji’, the household shrine is covered in white paper to keep the “impure spirits of death” away. Relatives and friends also put up a white lantern outside of their house as a sign of their acknowledgement of the person’s death (Popovic, M. (2016)). While it is not revealed if Misaki Yomiyama had this style of funeral, what these aforementioned rituals have in common is their commitment to keeping the dead separate from the living.  Infosino says that it is “...believed that after the body is cremated, the spirit starts a 49-day spiritual journey to reach its destination, which frees it from any bonds to the physical world.” Until they reach this destination, they dwell in an in-between world, ‘Yomi’ which means ‘underworld’ in Japanese. This place is not rewarding like heaven or a punishment like hell, as in a western sense, but a neutral place in which every human soul, good or evil passes through. In this place, the dead continue to be the person they once were, for example, a man who was a carpenter unknowingly remains a carpenter in death for eternity. This directly links to the behaviour and nature of the ‘dead student’, a being in a state of selective amnesia concerning their moment of death, in Another.

The meaning of the town’s name in the series, ‘Yomiyama’ deepens and confirms its connection to death and to a very old Japanese legend. Izanagi and Izanami were the first female and male gods to be born and were in charge of giving the earth form and inhabitants. Firstly, the pair created the gods of the sea, wind, trees, mountains, fields and then of fire. Birthing the fire god left Izanami badly burned and she soon died. She was buried on Mt. Hiba, then her spirit ascended to Yomi-no-kuni, the underworld. Missing his partner, Izanagi travelled to Yomi-no-kuni to retrieve her. Izanami said that she could not go as she had already eaten the food there, but said she would talk to the master about her release on the condition that Izanagi would wait outside and not look upon her while inside the underworld. Izanagi disobeyed and went inside only to see Izanami looking like a rotting corpse. Furious at his betrayal, Izanami sent death hags to chase after him. When you break up the name of the town, ‘yomi’ means underworld and ‘yama’ means mountain, thus together refer directly to the place where the body goes and the place where the soul goes after death. The people of Yomiyama are trapped, both body and soul inside the town, thanks to the calamity and those who unknowingly conjured it.

While it was believed that there was no way to tell the dead person apart from the living, Mei Misaki possesses a special gift. Under Misaki’s eye patch that covers her left eye is a prosthetic doll’s eye that, as Mei says, “can see what should be left hidden”. When looking upon people and images of them, Mei is able to see the colour of death. Not only does this colour show up on dead people but also on those close to death, just as the image distortion in Ringu applies to those exposed to the cursed video, as their death is impending. The fact that her doll’s eye, an eye which is man-made, can see beyond what a natural eye can see is interesting in the sense of considering transhumanism, where our inventions will eventually perform better than we can, leading us to ‘upgrade’ ourselves for the purpose of self improvement. However, Mei’s eye is linked to a much older idea in Japan, that dolls are linked to death. Like a soulless human body, a doll is empty but as Mei tells Kouichi, “empty things seek to fill their emptiness.” This is why in the prequel OVA episode, Mei takes her sister Misaki Fujioka, the girl who dies before the series begins out of the doll shop’s underground level as “It is not good for newcomers to be here”. When Fujioka asks why, Mei says simply that “the dolls are empty”, reminding us of what she explained during the series. The OVA, which serves as a bonus episode in many anime series, adds context to Mei’s character and solemn behaviour for the sake of the mystery narrative, as it was important at the beginning of the series to leave her story ambiguous. It also provides a deeper link between dolls and death. 

While the dolls are lifeless, they remain more than just a main motif in the story. Shots of Kirika’s artistic and strange dolls appear randomly in flash frames throughout the series. When Mei and Kouichi finally talk openly in Mei’s apartment, a doll on the right side of the frame appears to be watching them with unwavering attention. When we see Misaki Fujioka die during the prequel OVA episode, the dolls that she admired from Mei’s mother’s shop look down at her with pitiful expressions and are the last thing she sees before she too becomes like them in a sense. When considering how the dolls operate as part of the television show, “Space defines the relationship of one object to another- if someone sits too close to you on the bus, you feel that they are invading your ‘personal space’. The way in which space is described is usually in terms of quantity: distance ..., area ..., volume or amount .... Therefore, space relations are imbued with the effects of ... power” (Lury, K. (2005) p. 148). Thus, while they are lifeless, speechless and are not active participants of the show, like the human characters, they fill rooms and are the eyes on the walls as a strong memento mori, symbolising how death surrounds and suffocates the majority of frames in Another.  

In order to truly grasp what Another is trying to say to not only its Japanese audience but its global audience, it is essential to understand not only how Japan and the west differ in terms of ideas of death but of religion and how it operates in these divergent contexts. When considering what is truly meant by the term ‘religion’, one may think of the Big 5: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism. While other religions are practiced, these seem to be the most prominent in the world in terms of their number of followers and influence. They each have their own sacred texts, creation stories, place of worship and set of worship practices. However, when considering major cultural trends and behaviours, seemingly secular activities and structures operate in undoubtedly religious ways. For example, if finding happiness was the ultimate concern in life, many people, especially in the West, try to achieve that through the consumption of commercial goods. Nationalism in terms of the ‘imagined community’ as defined by Benedict Anderson is deeply religious, as it binds groups of people together based on shared places of origin and common interests, even if these people have and never will meet (Anderson, B. (2006)). This is especially evident in the United States of America, a country which exhibits extreme national pride and believes in myths such as freedom, democracy and the ‘American Dream’, where every person as a powerful individual, no matter their upbringing and background can achieve greatness if they work hard for it. 

While the West seems to be linked to the East, due to the effects of globalisation and the increased interest in consuming Japanese cultural products, especially in terms of their entertainment through manga, films and anime, there is still much that we do not know or fully comprehend about their highly religious way of life. Many believe that religion in Japan is a combination of Buddhism and Shintoism, however it is not so black and white. According to Thomas, who had researched what young Japanese people thought about religion in anime, a student responded that “We are often told that in Japan the two [religions of] Buddhism and Shintō are amalgamated, but to me the truly essential [the student used the English word] thing that is deeply ingrained in Japanese people is a kind of nature worship akin to animism, I think. I think that what especially illustrated that [nature worship] was Miyazaki Hayao’s [anime] Princess Mononoke.” (Thomas, J. (2012), p. 61). It is not the student’s mention of animism that is the most provoking here but that such beliefs and practices are “...ingrained in Japanese people.” What you do because you are religious and what you do because you are simply Japanese are inextricably linked. According to Garcia, “While most Japanese don’t believe in one specific religion and only 20 percent believe in the existence of gods, they do… embrace certain superstitions, popular beliefs, and the notion of fate. For instance, the most common activities when visiting a Shinto shrine are making a wish, buying protective charms...” (Garcia, H. (2014), p. 20). 

This notion is represented in many popular anime franchises and most interestingly in Infinite Stratos II, a science fiction romantic comedy about a Japanese boy, Ichika who has five female love interests from different countries: Japan, China, France, England and Germany. In episode 11, the class goes on a trip to Kyoto where they visit the Jishu Shrine, a real world place famous for making love wishes come true. In a comical scene, we see firstly the Chinese, English, German and French girls come to the shrine for the intention of performing the love ritual, with Ichika in mind. Before proceeding to pour the water on the ‘love stone’ statue, the Chinese girl, Huang Lingyin tells us through an internal monologue that she is “...not the type of person who makes wishes to gods, but since this shrine is so famous for making romantic relationships successful, there has to be something to it, right?” While every girl from the main group but the Japanese girl is in this scene, the behaviour of these foreigners exemplifies a distinctly Japanese understanding of religion. Unlike the Catholic Church, where the adherent is baptised and expected to pray daily and frequently visit the church for mass, for the Japanese, such requirements are entirely voluntary. No matter the beliefs of the parents, every baby born in Japan is listed as part of the Shinto shrine closest to where they live. It is also fine and not at all unusual for Japanese people to pick and choose what kind of rituals they want ie. “to be baptised in the Shinto ritual, get married with a Christian ceremony in a church, and, finally, celebrate a funeral following Buddhist tradition.” (Garcia, H. (2014), p.18). Enrollment in an Australian Catholic school, requires proof of affiliation with a specific church to get a spot in the school. Islamic adherents are expected to pray five times daily and read the entire Quran at least once a year. Unlike these religions, Japanese people do not need to meet a specific devotional quota so to speak, rather because the beliefs are so entwined with their identity as Japanese, they are known and available if the person ever feels they are in need of them. Additionally, doing rituals half heartedly or without complete faith that they will work as shown in the Infinite Stratos example, does not lessen their power or usefulness whereas from a western religious perspective this would be seen possibly as disrespectful or even blasphemous. 

This urban legend of Misaki Yomiyama and the calamity informs not only the direction of the series’ narrative but also the actions of the characters, causing them to act in bizarre and irrational ways. As soon as the students can see the events happening around them, they are quick to believe in the calamity. While they all immediately enact a set of rituals to prevent the calamity, they do this half heartedly, with the exception of  the ‘head of countermeasures’, Akazawa who lost her brother to the calamity years ago. Instead of having faith, like what a Christian has in God, the students only believe when they see the calamity for themselves. Like in the above Infinite Stratos II example, their religious beliefs are available when they feel they need them. When they become more extremely involved and find the tape left by a former Class 3 student from 15 years ago, they put aside their values, lose their personalities, and revert to a quasi-hive mind, focused on killing the dead student, even if that means mistakenly killing living students in the process. This is especially striking considering that the class is made up of anime character archetypes. The fact that these stable and semi-predetermined characters absolutely fall apart with the exception of the outsider hero, Kouichi, shows just how strong their underlying beliefs are and how it did not take very much to make them not only believers but murderous, survivalist and fanatical.

Therefore, while Another is a television program, operating under almost universal horror tropes, it has a distinctly Japanese message regarding their attitudes and beliefs towards death. While the show was well received in the West, the deeply religious foundations of the frightening situation faced by the characters in the series only make complete sense when you consider how the Japanese viewer would understand it, based on their religious and spiritual beliefs. Unlike the beliefs of religions such as Christianity, where the adherent firmly believes in God and his teachings, what it is to be religious in Japan and what is to be Japanese in a cultural sense are inextricably linked, causing the country and its cultural products to become a ‘melting pot’ made up of both secular and religious ideas both old and new.

References

Anderson, B. (2006), Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, Verso, London, New York Choo, D. (2007), ‘Japanese Ghosts’,  http://www.dannychoo.com/en/post/1102/Japanese+Ghosts.html, accessed 20/10/17

Fiske, J. & Hartley, J. (2003), Reading Television: Second Edition, Routledge, London, New York

Garcia, H. (2014), A Geek in Japan: Discovering the Land of Manga, Zen, and the Tea Ceremony

Infosino, C. (2017), ‘After Death Beliefs of Japanese People’, http://classroom.synonym.com/after-death-beliefs-japanese-people-17439.html, accessed on 19/10/17

Jaffe, S. & Weinstein, L. & Koch, H. (Producers), & Zucker, J. (Director). (1990). Ghost [Motion Picture]. United States: Paramount Pictures.

Kang, X. (2005), The Cult of the Fox: Power, Gender, and Popular Religion in Late Imperial and Modern China, Columbia University Press, New York, NY

Kikuchi, Y. (Director). (2013). Infinite Stratos II [Television series]. Japan: 8-Bit

Kimura, R. (1996), ‘Death and Dying in Japan’, http://www.bioethics.jp/licht_biodying.html, accessed on 19/10/17

Kübler-Ross, E & Kessler, D. (2014), On Grief & Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss, Scribner, New York, London

Lacefield, K. (2010), The Scary Screen: Media Anxiety in the Ring, Ashgate Publishing Company, USA, England

Lockett, A. (2002), ‘Cultural Studies and Television’, Television Studies, British Film Institute, London Lury, K. (2005), ’Chapter 4: Space’, Interpreting Television, Oxford University Press Inc., New York

Mealey, R. (2016), ‘Japanese ‘return doll souls to heaven’ in Shinto Shrine Ceremony’, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-06/japanese-dolls-souls-return-to-heaven-at-shinmeisha-shrine/7695414, accessed on 14/10/17

Mizushima, T. (Director). (2012). Another [Television series]. Japan: P.A.Works

Morgan, G. & Side, W. & Perry, C. (Producers), & Wong, J. (Director). (2000). Final Destination [Motion Picture].  United States: New Line Cinema.

Popovic, M. (2016), ‘Japanese Funeral’, http://traditionscustoms.com/death-rites/japanese-funeral, accessed 19/10/17

Shimane Prefecture. (2011), ‘To the Underworld (Yomi-no-kuni) and Back’, http://www.japanesemythology.jp/yomi-no-kuni/, accessed 15/10/17

Thomas, J. (2012), ‘Chapter 2: Recreating Religion’, Drawing on Tradition: Manga, Anime, and Religion in Contemporary Japan, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu

Tokyo Times. (2013), ‘Ningyo Kuyo: A Japanese Doll Funeral’, http://wordpress.tokyotimes.org/ningyo-kuyo-a-japanese-doll-funeral/, accessed on 12/10/17

Wilson, C. (Producer), & Silberling, B. (Director). (1995). Casper [Motion Picture]. United States: Universal Pictures.

Winn, M. (1985), The Plug-In Drug: Revised Edition, Viking Penguin Inc., New York, NY