What is the symbolism (if any) of the alligator puppet show minigame?

[fishinabox]

Ideas?

[cf.barbossa]

The obvoius answer is that it's about death, violent death in particular. All three characters, fisher, shrimper and alligator, live off killing other beings. The theme is reinforced by some of the things you can discover- the dead gator, the grave.

Another theme is dominance. The fisher once kept the gator as a pet. Now, he does what others tell him, either the gator or the shrimper.

Dominance, however, comes as a consequence of violence. In a way, the fisher is reduced to an agent of revenge, of violence, as the only options he has are killing one or the other character. Gator and shrimper a placed more or less on opposite sides of the scene, with only the agent of violence, signified by his rifle, moving between them (or at all, for that matter).

Each of the sites of death I mentioned is close to one of the two "factions", but with sides reversed: the dead gator near the shrimper and the grave next to the gator. This can be understood as each side meaning the death of the other. While the gator does not care about or for the dead, the human does. To him, there is a connection to wealth, heaping material belongings on the grave and turning the gator's skull into a tourist attraction.

I'm not sure what to make of the birds. The crows might again reinforce the theme of death but I have no idea what the egret might stand for, if anything.

Somewhat less obvious is the motive of exploiting and destroying nature and how that turns on humans. After all, the gator only bothers with revenge, a concept not natural to it, because humans have taken its freedom, identity and future. Yet the humans are powerless against the flood, which, after all, makes the gator's escape possible.

This is expanded by the frankensteinian theme of a creation getting out of control and turning on its creator. The gator can be seen as both a force of nature and as a creation of man.

Finally, there are commentaries about justice. The shrimper, having lost his child to the gator, finds killing the gator just. From an "eye for an eye" point of view, that is incorrect, as humans have already killed the gator's offspring. The gator, however, tortures and kills the fisher if the shrimper is slain. No justice there, either, but also not only nature getting back on humans.

[Pink Moon]

Originally posted by cf.barbossa:

The obvoius answer is that it's about death, violent death in particular. All three characters, fisher, shrimper and alligator, live off killing other beings. The theme is reinforced by some of the things you can discover- the dead gator, the grave.

Another theme is dominance. The fisher once kept the gator as a pet. Now, he does what others tell him, either the gator or the shrimper.

Dominance, however, comes as a consequence of violence. In a way, the fisher is reduced to an agent of revenge, of violence, as the only options he has are killing one or the other character. Gator and shrimper a placed more or less on opposite sides of the scene, with only the agent of violence, signified by his rifle, moving between them (or at all, for that matter).

Each of the sites of death I mentioned is close to one of the two "factions", but with sides reversed: the dead gator near the shrimper and the grave next to the gator. This can be understood as each side meaning the death of the other. While the gator does not care about or for the dead, the human does. To him, there is a connection to wealth, heaping material belongings on the grave and turning the gator's skull into a tourist attraction.

I'm not sure what to make of the birds. The crows might again reinforce the theme of death but I have no idea what the egret might stand for, if anything.

Somewhat less obvious is the motive of exploiting and destroying nature and how that turns on humans. After all, the gator only bothers with revenge, a concept not natural to it, because humans have taken its freedom, identity and future. Yet the humans are powerless against the flood, which, after all, makes the gator's escape possible.

This is expanded by the frankensteinian theme of a creation getting out of control and turning on its creator. The gator can be seen as both a force of nature and as a creation of man.

Finally, there are commentaries about justice. The shrimper, having lost his child to the gator, finds killing the gator just. From an "eye for an eye" point of view, that is incorrect, as humans have already killed the gator's offspring. The gator, however, tortures and kills the fisher if the shrimper is slain. No justice there, either, but also not only nature getting back on humans.

This is a very thoughtful response. Thank you.