Glutton

The Glutton is a monster found in Silent Hill 3. While it is a major obstacle in Heather Mason's escape from the Otherworld Hilltop Center, it doesn't pose a legitimate threat to her.

Appearance
The Glutton resembles a tall monster encased in decaying skin, trapped within (or part of) a cylindrical cage that surrounds its entire body. The bottom ring of the cage is adorned with an array of sharp spikes, akin to stalagmites, while the top is draped with what appears to be shrouds of the monster's skin, which may act as a form of tentacle. Features similar to feet can be seen between the spiked prongs, giving the impression that the Glutton is suspended within its cage. The spiked prongs are similar to those in the scenery of the battle with God.



The Glutton possesses two mouths that convulse and squirm from its chest and "head". Although initially believed to be eyes, these are confirmed to be mouths; the Tu Fui, Ego Eris fairy tale shows a picture of a knight's foot extending from the Glutton's mouth as he is devoured whole. Around the Glutton's upper head is what appears to be a metal ring. This ring could possibly be mirroring a halo, perhaps alluding to Claudia Wolf's perspective that the monsters are holy figures created by the Order's God. From the fairy tale, the Glutton is portrayed as a formidable foe; this would be expected, given the monster's somewhat aggressive nature and the radio's emission of static, but the Glutton appears to show no interest whatsoever in attacking Heather.

Character
Despite its seemingly passive nature, the Glutton's removal is mandatory to allow Heather to leave the office building it resides in. After exploring the building for some time, Heather finds all the pieces of a story called Tu Fui, Ego Eris, which when read aloud in its complete form, causes the creature to cry out. When Heather returns to its former resting site, it has disappeared.

Fairytale


The Glutton's name is attributed to the creature in the story Tu Fui, Ego Eris, which gobbled up knights and villagers who attempted to leave their village. While the creature makes no hostile actions, it nonetheless renders the exit inaccessible to Heather, much like how the creature in the story was an obstacle to the villagers, preventing them from leaving their home. It embodies the fear of helplessness before the circumstances.

The fairytale speaks of a priestess that is once killed, resurrected from compassion, and returns to defeat the monster. A possible reason for the Glutton's indifference towards Heather might be that the priestess in the story is an embodiment of Heather, reborn from Alessa Gillespie out of compassion as well, returning to face the monsters.

Additionally, the folds hanging from the upper rung and the spikes protruding from the bottom rung slightly resemble a jaw full of teeth. The creature that is inside may actually be a representation of the monster's devoured victims as in the story.

Maternity and femininity
There is a particularly emergent theme of maternity and femininity running through Silent Hill 3 and its monsters due to the central conflict of the game centering on impregnation in the cult's attempts to force Heather to birth their god. The Glutton can be seen to be represent various ideas involving this theme:


 * It may be symbolic of an infant, as infancy in all living creatures is a time of consumption and ravenous gluttony so one can grow. The sheer irony is that although the monster is described as dangerous in the story, it is, in fact, as harmless as an infant.
 * The Glutton may represent the female genitalia, as its body's shape is slightly reminiscent of a medical diagram of this aforementioned area. In other words, it is conical: it starts out wide on the top, gradually becoming slender and narrow down toward the bottom, just like the uterus and the vagina. Its two orifices could represent the urethra cavity and vaginal introitus respectively. Furthermore, one of the vagina's general purposes is to stimulate the penis and therefore induce ejaculation. In this sense, it absorbs (i.e. consume, or digest) penises and, more precisely, sperm or seminal liquid, which fits the theme of gluttony. The soldiers which the Glutton in the story eats could be seen to be a metaphor for sperm.
 * The convulsing movements might be a parallel to orgasmic muscular contractions in the female reproductive tract, an action that forces sperm into the fallopian tube to aid fertilisation The uterus similarly experiences powerful contractions that, along with a mother's efforts of bearing down or pushing, serve to expel an infant during birth.
 * The creature within it could be symbolic of a fetus in utero, which could be taken further to be seen as a breech birth in noticing that its feet are coming out from the bottom. This subject can tie into women's fears of pregnancy complications.

Harry Mason
Alternatively, the monsters may be symbolic of Harry Mason, as Heather reads the fairy tale not long before she discovers her father has been murdered. Claudia views Harry as a "monster" for stealing her childhood friend, Alessa Gillespie, away from her. This is evident when Claudia mockingly says Harry's name to Douglas Cartland ("That man, Harry Mason, stole her away and kept her hidden from us").

It is possible for the monster to reflect entrapment, in that the monster is barring people from being free. This may symbolize Claudia wishing to defeat the monster (possibly Harry) so that everyone can be free, attaining to her belief of a paradise that Harry is preventing.



The act of killing the monster in the fairy tale apparently "had to be done". This strongly relates to Claudia's feelings toward Harry, who she believes must be murdered to birth God, in turn, giving everyone (in the fairy tale, the village) happiness. If the fairy tale was written by Claudia, then it would also correspond to the priestess being a "very, very kind" person; Claudia does not see herself as evil or self-righteous, but believes she is doing good for the world by trying to resurrect the Order's god and bringing salvation and Paradise to the people.

The priestess also uses words to indirectly kill the monster; likewise, Claudia uses the Missionary to indirectly kill Harry. Heather has no choice but to get rid of the monster, as it blocks her way out of the Hilltop Center, thus she can be seen reiterating the role of the priestess.

Trivia

 * The creature was designed by Jun Inoue.
 * A "glutton" is one who overindulges in food. Gluttony is also one of the seven deadly sins, a concept among some Christian groups, and means to hoard or consume any material thing in excess.

Gallery
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