Silent Hill Heaven

Isa wrote: Still, I'm assuming it follows suit.

You're right.

and the doorways are boarded off instead of just the windows. Of course, earlier on there are doorways filled in with cement... That must mean something.

Think of it as a crude way of James keeping his own path straight. It's a messy job, hastily done as a last minute cover-up, but these boards and cemented doorways keep James from straying anywhere but towards his goal.

And then there's always the butterfly room, room 202. If that's not a Mary reference, I dunno what is.

This should help quite a bit. Mockingbird's posts should give you some answers, and try Peachy's link at the bottom of the page, too.

"To HELL": Hell is another term/way to think The Abyss. It's another step in James's journey to The Abyss.

Also: "When you look into the Abyss, the Abyss also looks into you." James finds Angela and Eddie, and he can see his own struggles and suffering and doubt and what-have-you mirrored in their. They are people who ARE the Abyss, because they aren't coming back from where they went into that dark place of themselves.

Let's say that the state of apartments are a construction of the person. An apartment is a series of extended homes- a place of domesticity. For James, that part of his life has been wrecked and shattered. Is it subconsciously reflected in places where "home" should be- the apartments looks like shit.

In fact, this could probably extend for all of the characters in one way or the other- all of their home lives have been ruined irreparably. They don't get to go back, and the state of the apartments are ruined beyond salvage.

I think that the abyss part comes later, beginning in the Historical Society, passing downward through the prison, the morgue, the labyrinth, the catacomb, and ending in the slaughterhouse. Perhaps the weirdest part is the way it ends, with James just going through a door and winding up back in Misty Silent Hill.

I know it's not where the actual Labyrinth part of the game is, but it's a harbinger of it, possibly.

Oddish wrote:I think that the abyss part comes later, beginning in the Historical Society, passing downward through the prison, the morgue, the labyrinth, the catacomb, and ending in the slaughterhouse. Perhaps the weirdest part is the way it ends, with James just going through a door and winding up back in Misty Silent Hill.

If the Abyss ends at the slaughterhouse, then how else do you explain James being able to walk into Lakeview and not only see it as it was three years ago, be able to walk around unhindered? The burned version of Lakeview exists in foggy Silent Hill, but the other version looks nothing like the work of the Otherworld. So what else is it? Not to mention after the hotel reverts back to it's original state, you suddenly find yourself magically teleporting around. Enter one room and wind up in the opposite hall.

I don't think the Abyss ends until after the final battle with the Pyramid Heads. After James starts to finally realize what's going on and why. Or perhaps it doesn't end until after the final boss. That long hallway does appear out of nowhere, doesn't it? Depending on your ending, James may very well never leave the Abyss.

This is very off topic... Apologies.

Anyhow. I like what Sionnan said. It explains why the apartments look destroyed, even in foggy Silent Hill. (Also cleared up that Abyss quote for me!) It explains why the hallway you find Eddie in looks the worst, and is pretty much void of things to do, save for pound in a lying figure's head to get at some bullets.

There's something significant about both rooms that deal with Mary. The one with her dress is, like I said, pretty much the least screwed apartment you can find. It's clean and in tact, and Mary's clothes are mysteriously there. I'm guessing this room represents that one ray of hope James seems to have? Or the delusions. And then there's the butterfly room. Besides what's discussed in the caterpillar/cocoon/butterfly theory, it's still quite a bit odd that there are cages everywhere, even some of the rooms are caged off, and whatever's in that hole either startles James or hurts his hand. I'm guessing the latter, since the vibrations in the controller go off.

I just thought the apartment were cool as hell to go through. But I think I believe the "broken home" theory mentioned earlier.

Well, we can't read symbolism into everything. Like the six-pack of canned juice does not necessarily have a metaphorical reason for existing, it's just a large, heavy object. As Freud said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Wait...what? The juice doesn't mean anything?! I thought that was meant to represent the 6 sides of James!

Omg...were all turning into modern philosophers...

As Freud said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Freud didn't say that, actually. That was said in RESPONSE to Freud, for his theory that just about everything in dreams were somehow symbolic, usually of sex.

Nope, I just looked it up. It is believed that Freud did say that.

He attributed to saying that but there's no proof.

Exactly thats why I said it's 'believed' to be him who said it, and it most likely was.

Regardless of what ol' Sigmund said or didn't say, sometimes a six pack of juice is just a six-pack of juice.

lol...awesome.

Oddish wrote:Regardless of what ol' Sigmund said or didn't say, sometimes a six pack of juice is just a six-pack of juice.

I agree, and I'm actually taking a Psychology class.

Just as MMY said earlier, the room number 208 & the connection of Maria & moths play an essential role in the game's plot.
I think most of the rooms in Woodside & Bluecreek apt.s are symbolic in nature.
Like the room where you find the flashlight, contains Mary's dress, the 'first mannequin' (or one of the first) right before Mary (as if suggesting James' repressed feelings), carpet-like wallpaper, & regular sewing machines.
It's like Mary's dress pattern is scattered all over the room.
Or, walls of the room that contains the handgun are filled with bullet holes, & cigarettes are scattered around the place.
The room where we first meet Eddie, contains a corpse, & football posters. (Reflecting Eddie's personality; "He's gonna have a hard time playing football.").
And the room in which Angela's in, has some obvious references to her life.

The apartment buildings are my favourite areas. They set the template for the whole game and the complex is quite intruiging (spelt wrong). It sucks you in and the little touches in each room makes me ask questions about the residents. Plus the looooooooooong dark, silent corridors create a sense of isolation.
But anyway, I don't think they have a significant meaning. Its hard to explain the way I percieve the structures. They're simply just buildings that you have to fight through.

I think the apartment building is just a practice for 2 of the main aspects in Silent Hill games...

One is exploration... To have a lot of rooms where you need to go and write in your map is great and the developers wanted to start the game showing that this feature still present...

The other thing is to take a peek in the "Lives" different people... Every room is a little universe and each one of them makes you wonder about the people that could be there...

Dang, Team Silent is my idols with what meanings and things they put in this game. It seems like everything in this game can mean something and yet when you play it not paying attention to what stuff can mean, it doesn't make it pop-out. This is why this game is the best in the series, at least to me.