Topic > House Taken Over by Julio Cortazar: Transformation in Gothic Literature

The idea that you might transform into something evil scares us all, so Gothic literature uses this common tactic to induce more fear. In “House Taken Over” by Julio Cortazar we can see the transformation of fear in the brothers' supposedly normal daily lives. Without the transformation into Gothic literature it would just be a normal scary story that you know could never happen to you, the idea that these things are happening to normal people like you and me scares us. It makes us think that any ordinary person can turn into something evil like the characters in a story. The transformation is especially disturbing because it's not like any other kind of fear. It is more realistic than the others and it is very easy to believe that what you are reading or seeing is true. While supernatural activity is generally present in these stories, a lot of the time the people in the stories are the real monsters. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay “The only thing I can think of to make sense of these creatures is that the old brother and sister are simply psychotic.” Finding out that these normal people were hallucinating the entire events of "House Taken Over" is terrifying because we want to believe that monsters invaded them, but ultimately it just makes us question ourselves. In “House Taken Over” we see that transformation plays an important role in the story in many ways. At the beginning of the story they are seemingly normal but as the narrative progresses we see many strange habits along with hints of mental disorders. The theory that the brothers aren't actually being invaded and it's just a psychotic episode raises the idea that instead of monsters and terrible people who are always the antagonists, our own minds can be our greatest enemy. “. . . when they hear noises in the kitchen and in the other rooms they usually occupy, they leave the house without saying a word to each other or without even taking anything with them". Reading something like this really makes you wonder if events like this are more common than you might think in people's daily lives. My personal experience with transformation is when I was in gymnastics, this was a transformation that took many years to happen but it was positive. I learned a lot through sport: respect, discipline and perseverance and this really helped me transform into the person I am today. Without gymnastics I don't think I would be where I am today because I basically grew up doing it and my coaches were all like parents to me, each teaching me different life lessons. “He taught me how to work towards a goal and, when things weren't going well, how to overcome adversity.” Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay During transformation plays a key role in Gothic literature, it is also very important in everyday life because without it we would not be able to become better people. There are many things that go into making a scary story, but if you want a truly scary story, a transformation is needed. The transformation hits close to home because we are all people and it's really scary to be able to identify with the villain of a story. Gothic literature really emphasizes this aspect and this is why this genre is so disturbing to anyone who reads it. It's easy to label a villain as evil, but it becomes really scary when you can figure out what's wrong with him.