An Analysis of Alien
Jonni Mahr
Alex Hill
Trisha Westcott
Megan Biddleman
Jessi Lowman
English 3300
26 March 2010
The Gothic Aspects of Alien: Physical and Conceptual
The Nostromo ship possesses many Gothic qualities with reference to both its physical
appearance and its overall concept. The Nostromo’s architectural construction includes basic
geometric shapes fitted together to form intricate patterns on both the interior and exterior of the
craft. These shapes resemble the exoskeleton of a Gothic cathedral. The inner communications
room in which the crew communicates with Mother, or the ship itself, has paneled walls which
taper upward at what appear to be 20 degree angles. These angles make for steep walls which
draw the eyes upward toward the ceiling. Similarly, “the Gothic architecture has thinner, steeper
walls which gives the effect of floating rather than being grounded by one’s mass” (Martindale).
In other words, the angles draw one’s gaze toward the heavens and the thin physique of the walls
allows one to mentally float toward heaven as well. The Nostromo, as a literally floating object,
is a physical manifestation of the metaphorical purposes behind the construction of Gothic
architecture.
Furthermore, in Gothic literature, there is often an absent mother figure. In Alien, “Mother” is the
ship itself. When Mother decides to explore endeavors that stretch beyond the safety and
wellbeing of her crew, she absences herself. Here protective and loving qualities as a mother
disappear when she declares the crew “expendable” (Scott). In the final scenes of the movie,
Ripley destroys what is left of Mother, thus proving Ripley’s ability to survive independent of
her Mother, just as is the case in many gothic novels.
The Gothic Mother
Central to Gothic literature is the general idea of the mother. As mentioned before, a
common theme is the absent mother, which “Mother,” the computer, represents: she exists as a
mere voice, a controlling voice that never physically manifests, therefore remaining an absent
mother. Further, she abandons her crew by relinquishing her protective duties. More generally,
though, the mother figure and ideas associated with motherhood emerge elsewhere in the film.
Ripley and the Alien represent two contrasting notions of the role of mother and maternal
instinct. The Company for whom Ripley works provides rules and constructs within which its
employees on the Nostromo conduct themselves—a symbolic representation of social paradigms.
Thus, Ripley is an example of a mother figure performing intrinsic motherly qualities within a
socially accepted model. She displays these qualities throughout the film in her concern for the
safety of the crew from the moment they land on the desolate planet—a concern that evades the
rest of the crew. Ripley decisively orders Kane to stay in quarantine for twenty-four hours,
standard procedure, before he enters the ship after the face-hugger attaches itself to his face. Her
sole concern is to protect the crew as a whole; Ash and the others disobey her decision—an
ultimately fatal decision for all but Ripley. Her devotion to the cat Jones further reveals her
maternal nature; she risks her life to ensure Jones is safe in the escape pod. The alien represents
a violent, primal form of mother. Her associations with reproduction and birth reveal her
femaleness, yet her femaleness is clearly disassociated with Ripley’s cultural instilled maternal
nature. The alien relentlessly searches for hosts for generative and nutritive purposes, destroying
all but her children in the process. The blood imagery, primitive nature, and physical darkness of
the alien figure contribute also to the mystery and complexity attached to femininity and
menstruation. Finally, the scene where Kane finds the field of eggs in the abandoned ship refers
yet again to the female reproductive process. The room itself is similar to a womb with its
“tropical” temperature and the dark cavernous features. Ultimately, this womb is a caustic, evil
source of nurturing, protecting and incubating a force of nature, the face-huggers, that injects
eggs of its own into a host for incubation. This incubation ends in the death of the host and birth
of the creature. The cavernous, womb-like room in the abandoned ship becomes a negative
association with the idea of femaleness and motherhood, contributing to a much explored theme
in literature and art—the Gothic Mother.
The Face-Hugger
The scene with the face hugger is filled with rape imagery and eventually leads to an
alien birth. The movie takes the traditional roles of pregnancy and reverses them, turning Kane
into the carrier for the fertilized alien. When the crew is able to examine Kane and the attached
face hugger, they discover that the two are disturbingly connected. The face hugger has not only
latched onto Kane’s face but has also inserted some sort of alien-like penis down his throat. After
further examination they discover this appendage is also keeping Kane alive and to remove it
would kill them both. In this way the member acts not only as a fertilizing mechanism but also as
a life source. The scene is reminiscent of a rape and Kane has taken on the role of the victimized
female. The alien attacks him without warning and then forces himself into Kane’s body.
Mysteriously the alien removes itself from Kane’s face and everything seems normal. He is able
to return to his routine and his bodily functions have recovered. However, it is soon discovered
that Kane is not alright but has become impregnated by the alien. In a bizarre and painful labor
scene the alien is birthed. Kane thrashes about in pain and clutches his stomach where his
immense pain is emanating from. This is not a traditional birth as an alien is being birthed in a
man’s body and soon the alien explodes from Kane’s abdomen and escapes into the cabin. This
violent birthing leaves Kane a bloody and weakened man who dies almost immediately. The
bloody and painful birthing scene echoes the child labor and delivery of a woman. The attack of
the face hugger transforms a masculine space into a feminine one. Kane’s body becomes an
incubator for an alien life form and subsequently he dies from its violent expulsion.
The Idea of Otherness
Although there is no doubt that the ultimate “other” within the film is the figure of the
alien itself, one can argue that Ash is a flawless emulation of “other”-ness. Within studies of the
Gothic, the other is demonstrated as a figure, a person, who is seen as unlike the norm, so
therefore “other,” but often the differences between the norm and the other, the characteristics
that separate the two are often complex and not immediately apparent. Take the example of
Count Dracula, where for a decent amount of text it is obvious that he is not “normal,” but what
he is beyond normal is hard to identify. In this way, the character of Ash, who externally appears
human but is internally composed of mechanical and technological devices as opposed to organs,
blood, and veins, creates a thorough exploration of the figure of the “other” in Gothic film and
literature, as he is not human, but in his “other”-ness he is somewhat unidentifiable.
In the attack on Ripley by Ash, the film Alien fleshes out the subject of gender within its
divide between the two sexes. Within the climax of the attack, Ash rolls up a magazine and tries
to force it down Ripley’s throat, essentially attempting to choke her to death. This creates distinct
imagery of oral sex. In Ash trying to overpower Ripley in this way, despite Ash’s true existence
as a robot because at this moment both the crew and the film’s viewers see him as a man, the
film sees to distinctively play out the stereotypical gender roles of males and females in a sexual
context, in which the male is the dominant figure and the female is passive. At this point, other
workers on the spaceship come to save Ripley, and in the end destroy Ash. Upon their attack on
Ash, he emits this white, milky liquid. This is no doubt to call upon imagery of ejaculation and
ejaculatory fluid, and in doing so seems to further depict the role of men as agents of sexual
action and women as the receivers of that action.
Ripley vs. Lambert
In Ridley Scott's 1979 film Alien, the female sex is represented by two crew
members, Ripley and Lambert. Throughout the film, they both face difficult
challenges, and their reactions to these obstacles both go with and against the
typical gothic female character. Lambert dramatizes the role of a stereotypically
weak woman that often graces horror screens, while Ripley plays an unfamiliarly
strong female role for a gothic-styled narrative. The film uses these two
character foils to further highlight Ripley's achievements, especially regarding
her defeat of the alien.
The women's personalities show these characteristics the best. Lambert
complains a lot at the beginning of the film to the point where the men she is
with tell her to shut up. She also does not volunteer to go on any missions that
would subject her to danger and is the first to suggest they turn around at the
sight of the unknown space ship. She also does not wish to stay and reclaim the
ship, but rather prefers to try and escape on the shuttle. Towards the end of the
film she completely evolves into the hysterical girl stereotype and depends on a
man to take care of her. Ripley, on the other hand, turns into the exact opposite
by the end of the film. She takes charge and clearly gives out orders to try and
get the remaining crew to safety. She never allows a man to take care of her
unless ordered to by a senior officer and questions Ash when she knows he is
wrong. Lambert simply stands aside and lets the men handle it all.
The most telling factor about these women's personalities are the different
ways they handle their final face off scenes with the alien. They are both trapped
in similar situations against the alien, however, Lambert completely freezes.
Even with the help of a man, she once again exemplifies a horror movie
stereotype, and this is the reason she perishes. Ripley uses her head, and
although she is clearly just as frightened, this strength helps her defeat the
alien. Seeing Ripley's fight scene almost directly after watching Lambert's scene
helps increase the challenges Ripley overcame to become the heroine. Also, the
two women's sex are played up during their scenes with the alien to perhaps
show the audience that there does not have to be the same “type” of girl in the
horror genre. Ripley was “sexed up” when she encounters the alien because she
wore her underwear, when before she always wore the same clothes as the men.
The fact that the alien killed Lambert by stabbing her between the legs before
making heavy breathing noises suggests that this might be a strange rape
scene. By juxtaposing Lambert's stereotypical personality with Ripley's strong
one, the film shows that it is alright for horror genres to have strong female
characters who come out on top.
Works Cited
Scott, Ridley. Alien. Twentieth Century Fox, 1979.
Martindale, Andrew Henry Robert. "Gothic Art and Architecture." History World International.
N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar 2010. <http://history-world.org/gothic_art_and_architecture.htm>