I'm not sure what the proper response actually is here.
If Argus is killed, is the human form dead? Or is it a symbolic shedding of a crappy upbringing? If the Beast kills him, does he then truly become a beast by nature? If he doesn't, is he too cowardly? Is there a third option where the Beast sacrifices himself? (I don't see any good coming of that, but it's an option...)
And where, I wonder, is Beauty in all of this? As much as BirdMom gave some pretty sage advice, I'm not sure Beauty won't show up before this whole thing is resolved. Though hopefully she stays away long enough for the Beast to male his own choice.
Its very strange to see him yell at himself. But at the same time he probably needs to face this. The doubt, self loathing, everything vented in him, he's probably tried to avoid.
eh... not sure if this will end well :/ and that feeling that something is "off" is even stronger than before. Ms Megan, are you about to pull a fast one on us?
Now see, I don't actually think the thing that Argus is talking to is his "evil side," as things are rarely that simple. I think he represents- not Argus' humanity exactly, but all the things that Argus had hated about humans and being human when he had proclaimed his hatred of fickle human hearts in favor of an animal's loyal one.
Argus hated that humans could let their emotions rule them and he hated himself for being fallible and human enough to fear his mother and never stand up to her. To Argus, being human means being "weak and pathetic" in the sense of being easily heartbroken, of giving in to fear, to even betraying loved ones and morals to satisfy passions like lust and greed.
And yet, the whole of Argus' arc in his story has been rediscovering humanity through Beauty and his relationship with her, seeing that there's more to being human than the selfishness he's been subjected to, learning that what makes him human isn't good or bad, it simply IS.
This is Argus facing the choice to accept his own human flaws and emotions or reject and "destroy" them forever.
I don’t think Argus has ever forgiven himself for attempting suicide, taking the “easy way out” from a situation that he later discovered (or came to believe) was nowhere near as hard as some people have it. And we don’t know what kind of mess he left behind. Maybe his mom was free to continue her plans with no one to even come close to stopping her. Or maybe Argus decided that Oresteshad some pretty great ideas and we're dealing with an entirely different mess.
But yes, I think this is Argus battling his shadow and either learning to accept and forgive his past self or keep on being a divided soul.
What's that old saying? No good can come of fighting oneself?
I think Naomi hit several nails on the head.
But i wonder if there's something else here: what if it's not just accepting his human flaws and emotions...
What if its also accepting that humans are BOTH beasts and humans? That one doesn't exist without the other, no matter what we may think?
Or... what if that human Argus is Argus's HEART and the castle is offering it to him, to either accept or destroy?
On the one hand, "killing" his old self could symbolically mean becoming someone new, but given the story's emphasis on loving and accepting yourself, I don't think the Beast killing his human side is the solution here. He already tried it once, and all it did was perpetuate his misery. Forgiving himself, on the other hand, is something he hasn't tried yet.
