The Beast Within

We all know the beast within us all. That darkness which feeds into our most intrusive and irrational thoughts. The side of us that we don’t let many people see. The Beast Within takes shape in a monologue; a one-sided conversation with the grieving heart, and the being up above. The Creator. The Controller. The Beast. Whomever or whatever you see fits. In this battle between faith and his own thoughts, a man finally opens up and lets his true self speak. Shedding strips of the beast within, the hopeless path of the grieving process leads him to ask questions and search for his own answers. However, not all fairytales have a happy ending. The death of a loved one can tear any individual into pieces. Like a beast upon his prey. In this case, the beast serves as our overthinking, self-sabotaging thoughts, and the prey is simply ourselves. This monologue gave me the opportunity to explore my own thoughts and feelings in a period where everything in my personal life took a drastic turn. In a moment where tensions were at a constant high, I used this piece to express my story. A confrontation that allowed me to release my own beast from within. Through the themes/imagery of religion and the beast often seen in medieval romances, The Beast Within bears witness to the relationship that bonds a man with his faith, and the transgression that follows in the darkness of his own mind.

Kyle Vieira