Martinez !

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, it is 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. However, I would argue

that maybe what we truly fear is the unknown. In this particular monster novel, the fact that

Strieber did not know what exactly happened to him made him insane and obsessive.

Throughout the novel, Strieber 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
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placed in. He was also able to identify how the aliens looked and behaved around him (Strieber

20). Astonishingly enough; he was also able to remember, very specifically, a conversation he

had with one of the aliens (Strieber 19). Strieber depicts the aliens as tall, skinny and fast

(Strieber 16). He claims they have big eyes and as black as the abyss (Strieber 15).

Coincidentally, the way Strieber describes the aliens is exactly how aliens are made to 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 (strieber 19). 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 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. 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
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upon waking up. Its almost described as being stuck between REM sleep and wakefulness. An

episode can last for seconds or minutes and the episode usually ends on its own. It can be very

scary when you are in state where you feel like you are unable to move. You may feel anxious

and afraid so much to the point where 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 dreadfulness. Another theory for what happened to Whitley would be 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, Strieber 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.

Interestingly enough, Strieber 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" because the couple stated they had
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been kidnapped by aliens. On the night of September 19, 1961; Barney and Betty Hill were

driving highway to their home in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. On a lonely road through the

White Mountains, they saw a really bright object that appeared to be following their car. At the

time they assumed it was another car however; 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

(Purtill). The Hills claim was the first actual publicized account of an 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 (Sheaffer). Ironically, the way the Hills described the aliens is so similar to how Strieber

described their characteristics even though the Hills were years before. 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 Strieber and the Hills.

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

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

childhood events. Freud claims that our desires and our unconscious conflicts are categorized 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,
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that a literary work is almost like a manifestation of the authors own neuroses. However when

applying this lens to this novel I dont see how Strieber faces any of these aspects. 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

beings. Reading this novel was interesting in the sense that Strieber was able to make the readers

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

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

Strieber 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 Strieber 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 unknown aspect of what happened to Strieber.

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Works Cited

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

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

general-public/sleep-paralysis/.

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.