Written by Mary Gaitskill, The Other Side follows the disturbing

narrative of an outwardly ordinary man. By subverting a number of

conventions of the horror genre, under its criteria espoused by Louis Carrols
essay, The Nature of Horror, and employing such specific rhetorical
strategies as narrative point of view and plot structure, the short story forces
its audience to receive the protagonist as both a man and a monster. These
conflicting characterizations become Gaitskills metaphor for the times in
which our humanistic inclinations to view our world with hope and optimism
becomes a threat to our existence.
The one thing that saves us as humans can act equally as our weaknesses
in the overwhelming midst of danger and monstrosity.

a multitude of the authors rhetorical strategies and subversions of the

conventions of the horror genre, with regard to ,
The Other Side forces its audience to experience conflicting emotions
towards their characterization of the narrator.
1.

Horror Genre - Gaitskills story contains a man who is both ordinary and
extraordinary, human and simultaneously monster
In Gaitskills portrayal of the protagonist as both a human and a monster,
Gaitskill defies significant convention in the genre of horror. In his essay,
The Nature of Horror, which initiates an aesthetic inquiry into the nature of
horror, Noel Carrol identifies one convention in horror novels and stories, that
the humans regard the monsters that they encounter as abnormal, as
disturbances of the natural order. Within The Other Place, the protagonist
aligns with much of the characteristics that define a monster.
1. He loves violence morbid, creepy
2. He has unnatural relationship with parents bizarre
upbringing
3. The Other Place is where he becomes a murderer
frightening, element of surprise, you never know his trigger
4. He was grossly turned on by his sons fear
5. Stalking the girl objectifying, invasion of privacy
affection, but this is a trick, not okay
6. He attempted to kill a lady
ii. Therefore, by definition, he is a monster

Under Carrols definition, the abnormal thoughts and disturbing actions of

the protagonist in The Other Side evidently indicate that he is a monster.
It compromises our ability to keep ourselves safe
However, Gaitskill does not employ what Carrol describes one indicatorwhich
differentiates works of horror from other works, identifying such as the affective
responses of the characters in the stories to the monsters they meet.
works of horror, the responses of characters often seem to cue the emotional
responses of the audience. Rather, among the other characters, the narrator is not
regarded as a monster - he is a father, husband, and friend.
1. He has a family, a wife, a son natural, normal
2. He is successful as a real estate agent
he fails another standard feature of the monsters of horror,
Categorical incompleteness is also a standard feature of the
monsters of horror
iii. no one reacts to him as a monster
1. In his interactions with his friends, His friends do not
recognize
2. In confessing his murder fantasies to his wife, His wife does
not recognize
iv. Therefore, we do not recognize him as a monster Gaitskills
choice to flout convention and not have the monster in the story
readily identifiable for the readers
Therefore their perception of him consequently obscures our ability to completely
identify the blatant monstrosity of the narrator.
Indeed, the narrator does have redeeming characteristics revealed through his
interactions with other characters that causes the audience to sympathize with the
monster. Gaitskill subverts the convention of the horror genre
and, in turn, forces the audience to view him also as a the ultimate example is his
inability to kill the lady
appeals to our societal value
a. by definition of what a monster is, show he is not a complete monster,
Therefore, we want to say that he is not completely a monster
b. causes conflict We are given all of the signs of this monster, yet we
reason, we justify, we seek to sympathize with him evolutionary
instinct, all of the signs say to stay away from him; yet our society says to
give him the benefit of the doubt through Gaitskills flout of horror
genre convention, we withhold our judgment that something is very wrong
with him and allow ourselves to sympathize, our reaction to this fictional
character is a metaphor of the byproduct weve become of our societys
values that is a dangerous thing to have if it festers to prevent us from
identifying danger w
v. not have the monster in the story readily identifiable for the readers

c. Another flouting of horror genre - Discovery plot

Horror stories are predominantly concerned with knowledge as a theme. The two most frequent plot structures in
horror narratives are the Discovery Plot and the Overreacher Plot.In the Discovery Plot, the monster arrives,
unbeknownst to anyone, and sets about its gruesome work. Gradually the protagonist or a group of protagonists
discover that a monster is responsible for all those unexplained deaths. However, when the protagonists approach the
authorities with this information, the uthorities dismiss the very possibility of the

vi. rather than the protagonist discovering that the monster is

responsible, the audience is forced to discover the monster, while
everyone in the story does not react accordingly (wife, friends, son)
to his monstrous qualities
vii. we must realize that ourselves, given not too many details other
than our gut instinct that something wicked is inside of him versus
our culturally ingrained belief that we should withhold judgment
viii. we use our energy to prove that he is indeed a monster
Gaitskills rhetorical devices