Cohen

Cohen argues that there are multiple monsters within our society. Towards the beginning of Cohen’s essay, he describes monsters and their physical features and how they are always going to appear no matter the circumstances, but as you read further into his essay he brings into detail that people in our society are the real monsters and may be unaware of it. He takes actual monsters from stories and characterizes people in our world today as these monsters and how they relate. He even uses biblical, mythological, and masculine/feminine references to enhance the severity of his essay. This reading also explains Cohen’s views on inequality because of the hierarchical system in our world. In the final thesis he states that our children are the monsters because of how adaptable they are to our society, yet they still obtain freedom because they are so young and have little to worry about in the world until they are older and can make a change. Each of Cohen's theses has a specific argument or claim, yet they are all intertwined with one another. Within the seventh theses, he connects each of them to bring it all together.

Cohen addresses his argument within each theses, but through different approaches. The first describes the abnormal features of a monster. The second states that monsters will never leave us, and they are each connected to a cultural moment. Third is that monsters cannot be categorized, and each monster is created by oneself. Fourth explains that monsters are far beyond the ordinary and can break boundaries, in which this is not condoned, yet people are envious of this. Fifth goes off of the fourth in which monsters have no boundaries. In the sixth, Cohen allows us to realize monsters are created by people and it is just a fear that people are afraid to take the risk to share the same freedom as monsters have. The seventh thesis it ties all of these together. It states that monsters can be children, which is a possibility, but they can be much more than that. There are monsters everywhere in society.  It is our fear that allows them in our lives, which is why there are so many. If people were not afraid to  fight for the freedom that monsters have then there would be no monsters. The monsters are what live within each of us.