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Andrea Martinez

English 102

Professor Batty

11 November 2017

Are We Alone?

Communion: A True Story is about claims made by Whitley Strieber, who explains how

he experienced loss of time and terrifying flashbacks, which under hypnosis later he

discovered he had an encounter with aliens back in 1985 in upstate New York. Louis Whitley

Strieber is an American writer best known for his horror novels. He is currently 72 years old

residing in San Antonio, Texas. This novel, published in 1987, is told by Whitley himself and

explains the experience he had and the experience his wife had endured since the whole

encounter. He also goes into depth in explaining how his time was with these aliens and what his

experience was like. This novel is considered a monster novel, but who is the monster in the

story? Monsters take a variety of shapes and sizes. Which such vague descriptions, its hard to

define what is in fact a monster. However, according to Merriam-Webster, a monster is

defined as an animal or plant of strange or terrifying shape. Interestingly enough, in this novel

the monster would probably be portrayed as the extraterrestrial being. This could either be due to

the fact that certain characteristics of the alien description could scare us or maybe we fear the

unknown. In this particular monster novel, the aliens scared Streiber greatly that the experience

made him obsessive and almost insane.

Throughout the novel, Whitley was able to give us some descriptions on what he

remembered about the encounter. For example, he described a bit of the environment he was

placed in. He was also able to identify how the aliens looked and behaved around him.
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Astonishingly enough; he was also able to remember, very specifically, a conversation he had

with one of the aliens. Strieber depicts the aliens as tall, skinny and fast. He claims they have big

eyes and as black as the abyss. Ironically, the way Strieber describes the aliens is exactly how

they look in movies. In one of the encounters, Strieber claims that he had a conversation with

one of them and apparently, the being spoke perfect english. In the novel, Whitley tells us how

he was frozen in fear when he first saw the creature. Once aware of his surroundings, he became

frightened on how quickly they moved around him. He could not identify what was going on.

Thus, implementing that he might have not been scared of the characteristics of the creatures but

more so on not knowing enough. For example, Whitley had no idea what they were. He assumed

they were extraterrestrials but was not quite sure considering the lack of knowledge us humans

have on those outside our planet. Whitley assumes those who visited his room are aliens due to

what he does know and what he saw. To add, Whitley also had no idea what was going on, what

they were doing or going to do with him. He was totally lost not only physically, but mentally.

Essentially, this could all be the mind playing tricks on us. We imagine something different to

shield us from what actually happened, a coping mechanism. When we fear something, the mind

tries to repress the memories. Hence why psychologists claim that the mind is a dangerous maze,

and it is not always reliable.

Interestingly enough, Streiber isnt the only one who has had these encounters. Over the

years, the phenomenon of being abducted by aliens has risen. However, it all started with the

Hills. The incident came to be called the "Hill Abduction" and the "Zeta Reticuli Incident"

because the couple stated they had been kidnapped by aliens who claimed to be from the Zeta

Reticuli system. On the night of Sept. 19, 1961, Barney and Betty Hill were driving on a rural

highway to their home in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. On an isolated road snaking through the
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White Mountains, the couple later recounted, they saw a bright object that appeared to be

following their car. They arrived home around 5 a.m., unable to account for two hours of the

night but feeling that something terrible had happened to them. The Hills claim was the first

publicized account of alien abduction. Later, the missing time was recovered by a psychiatrist

using hypnosis. Under hypnosis, both Hills were able to tell a harrowing tale of abduction and

medical examination on board an extraterrestrial craft. Ironically, the way the Hills described the

aliens is so similar to how Streiber described their characteristics. Now because of this, the

question of the existence of aliens has been on a rise over the years. New theories are surfacing

and new stories are coming out where theyve had the same experience as Streiber and the Hills.

Many claim that Whitley may not even have had this encounter, that he was simply under

sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis is very common, almost 3 million U.S. cases per year. Sleep

paralysis is the state of temporary inability to move or speak while falling asleep or upon waking

up. Its almost described as being stuck between REM sleep and wakefulness. An episode can

last for seconds or minutes. The episode usually ends on its own. It can be very scary when you

are unable to move. You may feel anxious and afraid. Some people also hallucinate during an

episode. They may see, hear or feel things that are not there. They may even think that another

person is in the room with them. Coincidentally, individuals who have suffered from sleep

paralysis all see the same thing. According to the American Sleep Association (ASA), these

hallucinations can be very scary, and often involve a supernatural creature or other person

taunting or terrifying the individual, together with difficulty breathing and/or a feeling of

pressure on ones chest. Another quite common type of hallucination involves either supernatural

or human intruders lurking outside the persons window or entering their bedroom, leaving the

sleeper with feelings of fear and dread. Another theory for what happened to Whitley would be
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that yes he was in fact kidnapped but not by whom he thinks. Many believe that his mind

portrayed his kidnappers as aliens as a way to adapt to what happened. There can be many

different possibilities to what could have happened to Whitley. After the encounter with these

beings, Streiber started being persistent on knowing what happened to him that one night in

December. He was becoming insane within his own thoughts. The fear that these aliens provoked

was uncanny. Whether Whitley was dreaming or not, we can infer that the mind is a dangerous

game and may not always be trustworthy.

Psychoanalytic criticism builds on Freudian theories of psychology. Freud began his

psychoanalytic work in the 1880s. Freud believed that our unconsciousness was influenced by

childhood events. Freud maintained that our desires and our unconscious conflicts give rise to

three areas of the mind that wrestle for dominance as we grow from infancy, to childhood, to

adulthood: Id, ego, superego. These three areas can be considered our conscious. For example,

the id is considered to be the devil on our shoulder. Its meant to represent our libidinal desires

or, our forbidden wishes. The ego could be considered the angel on our shoulder or, our

morality. Lastly, the superego could be considered the middle almost. That is basically us, we are

always stuck in the middle, either do what we want or what is right. Psychoanalytic lens argues

that literary texts, like dreams, express the secret unconscious desires and anxieties of the author,

that a literary work is almost like a manifestation of the authors own neuroses. Applying

psychoanalytic lens isnt looking for what the author intended rather identifying what the author

never intended, seeking their repressed thoughts. Personally, I feel that Strieber wanted his

audience to think of the aftermath. He wants us to question the existence of extraterrestrials.

Essentially, after reading this book I do believe there is existence of extraterrestrials. I

also do believe that the government is hiding information about their knowledge of greater
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beings. Reading this novel was interesting in the sense that Streiber was able to make the readers

question the definition of a monster. Though many would argue that the monster in this novel

is Whitley himself, I would disagree and explain that the effects the abduction had on Mr.

Streiber was so predominant, that it lead him to becoming insane and obsessive. What we can

learn about the human condition through the appearance or actions of these monstrous beings

could be that; because our fear overwhelms us, our mind represses those memories in order to

shield us from the unpleasant. Traumatizing memories causes us to become distant and confused

and unfortunately; a form of PTSD or, post traumatic stress disorder. Research shows that

physical and emotional trauma can directly affect your memory. Some of this memory loss may

be a temporary way to help you cope with the trauma. Overall I feel that Streiber encountered

something that traumatized him and unfortunately he has had a very hard time coping with this

incident. To conclude, after thoroughly reading this novel, I believe the monstrous creature was

in fact the aliens. They were not only scary looking physically but the horror they cause

psychologically is whats scariest of all.

Works Cited

Strieber, Whitley. Communion. Souvenir Press Ltd, 2016.

Sleep Paralysis. American Sleep Association, www.sleepassociation.org/patients-

general-public/sleep-paralysis/.
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Sleep Paralysis. WebMD, WebMD, www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/sleep-

paralysis#1

Monster. Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/monster..

Strieber, Whitley. About The Author. Whitley Strieber, www.strieber.com/.

Bremner, J. Douglas. Traumatic Stress: Effects on the Brain. Dialogues in Clinical

Neuroscience, Les Laboratoires Servier, Dec. 2006,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3181836/.

Purtill, Corinne. A Stressed, Sleep-Deprived Couple Accidentally Invented the Modern

Alien Abduction Phenomenon. Quartz, Quartz, 2 July 2017, qz.com/1019806/a-

stressed-sleep-deprived-couple-accidentally-invented-the-modern-alien-abduction-

phenomenon/.

Sheaffer , Robert. Over the Hill on UFO Abductions. CSI, 2007,

www.csicop.org/si/show/over_the_hill_on_ufo_abductions.

TheTruthAmongstUs. Whitley Strieber Recounts His Abduction Experiences. YouTube,

YouTube, 17 Apr. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5bEgfYfCII&t=1240s.