do you ever read classic literature? this story felt somewhat absurdist to me in its disjointedness and postulation on meaning/morality (or lack thereof). a lot of people struggle to read absurdist fiction because the symbolism tends to come off as intangible, but i’m always interested in stories like this, so i hope you can hear me out.
i don’t think it’s right to say that symbolism must be laid out so explicitly… it’s supposed to be implicit. you might be looking for something specific and not finding it, but that doesn’t mean nothing is there at all. i don’t see why it would need to reference a distinct belief system; regardless of which religion is at play, there’s a pretty solid case here for an exploration of morality and “sin” in the eyes of others. there are a lot of hints throughout, and by the end i think it’s evident enough that the sheep are a representation of the core values instilled into dennis throughout his life. they gradually die off as he strays further away from his traditional role (i.e. honorable young man who is… not attracted to other men). he implies briefly that he was never interested in women, though he still shows a level of hesitance about pursuing todd, as though his attraction to men is something he has been suppressing. he slowly grows more careless, however, beginning to neglect the sheep as he becomes closer with todd. the set of morals that was handed to him, which he was tasked with caring for, slowly falls apart as he indulges his own desires… until eventually, before he even realized what was happening, those sheep were all gone. the scene that repeatedly alternates between panels of him having sex and a deer being shot is what really put the nail in the coffin for me, but every following chapter reaffirmed my theory further. he seems to be persistently riddled with shame throughout the story, for betraying his family and the values they set out for him. he put it all out of his mind until he was forced to confront it, at which point it was far too late to reverse the damage—by finally indulging himself, he inadvertently lost trust in the blueprint that dictated his life previously. feeling so overcome by guilt and fear, he felt there was no choice but to end his life so he wouldn’t have to contend with the fact that he had betrayed his values on his own accord. i think this interpretation is thorough enough, and i didn’t have to leap far at all to land there based on the symbols and motifs laid out by the author.
basically, i think your perspective is limited because you’re searching specifically for references to an individual religion, which isn’t necessarily the forefront of the story. rather, it’s about the broader concept of repression and internalized homophobia within a world that pressures you to fit the mold assigned to you. symbolism doesn’t need to be especially specific in order to hold value. i think this story could resonate with anyone who has the eyes to see.
That's a very bold assumption lol. The only reason I mentioned the Bible is because i keep seeing it on the comments. Also, I don't know where you got your homophobia comment within my short paragraph. I was merely stating my opinion about the writing, I didn't even talk about the character's genders and whatnot.
About the absurdism, maybe you're right that It's not for me. Yes, I've read some before, but I totally forgot to bring it up here. Didn't it occur to you that I wrote my original comment because I'm not a fan of absurdism? Some people tend to like more technical style of fictional writing after all.
I don't get why I'm "homophobic" because of that.
Also, such a long paragraph, but again, that's your interpretation of the manhwa. You can't use your interpretation to prove that I'm "homophobic." You're taking your absurdism to the next level. Wow.
Where did the commenter call you homophobic? The commenter was talking about Dennis battling homophobia… not you lol
"basically, i think your perspective is limited because you’re searching specifically for references to an individual religion, which isn’t necessarily the forefront of the story. "
This comment pertained to me, that's for sure. The succeeding sentence had the homophobia comment, and they were using" you, " so it's easy to **interpret** it that way. After all, we're all about interpretations here, aren't we? ;)
Kidding aside, I hope and think you're right. If that's the case, then I will only say: The commenter's interpretation is interesting. Sorry for misunderstanding you, because to be honest I didn't read the upper part (the long part). That could be what the author meant, but to me, the main point of the story is that even though sometimes you know the devil is luring you, you'd happily fall for it.
Again however, I'm not looking for a specific religion in the story and just because I didn't like the style of writing, doesn't mean my "perspective" is limited (whatever that meant).
Everyone thinks the symbolism is good, but I don't think so. Open ending isn't the same as not putting any hints or context at all through the story. Did it come from the bible or mayans? Is there a even a reference from whatever belief? We don't know. It was never mentioned. Yes, it's up to your interpretation, because the story is literally incomplete. Open endings, even though it's up to your interpretation feels complete because the author laid foundations throughout the story. But this one, it's too short to even establish something. It was a good try though and the sexual chemistry was one of the best I've seen.