Silent Hill 2 & The Town Where We Face Our Sins

Silent Hill 2 is one of the most studied video games ever made. The themes within the story of the game have sparked much analysis and debate from aficionados like myself. The story of James Sunderland remains unique and somewhat controversial. It was controversial back in 2001 when the original game was released, and it remains so in 2024 with the release of the remake. This is because, despite the sociocultural changes in most societies over the past two decades, Silent Hill 2 still tackles topics that have remained taboo across generations. At its core, Silent Hill 2 is about making the player uncomfortable, not only with its visuals but also with the topics that make up the story of James and his wife, Mary.

The sequel to the classic Silent Hill title is somewhat of an outsider. It is purely considered a sequel because of the “2” added at the end of its title. The original game was about a man named Harry trying to find his adoptive daughter in the ghost town known as Silent Hill. The game was just as much about Harry as it was about the town itself, and the history behind it. It feels like a well-rounded story that attempts to provide enough context to make sense of both the location and character dynamics. Silent Hill 2 is not like its predecessor.

The sequel is a much more personal journey, and aside from taking place in the town of Silent Hill, the location itself serves more as a catalyst for the outlandish horror elements. However, the town, as an entity, is both historically and presently irrelevant to the main story of the game. Silent Hill 2 is about James Sunderland, a recently widowed man who receives a letter from his deceased wife, Mary. It is an interesting premise to attract returning players, as many would understand the implications of hearing from a dead person in the town of Silent Hill. In other words, the town is built upon paranormal madness, so there’s really not much that’s impossible. Can a man really reunite with his dead wife? In the context of this town, it doesn't seem like an intangible thing.

The town of Silent Hill serves mainly as a conduit for James’s journey. While everything feels relatively similar to the first game, those with keen observation would quickly notice several changes that seem directed toward our new protagonist. We quickly learn that James and Mary had visited this town previously, and a couple of the locations we explore as James are directly tied to memories from that trip. Other locations are specifically designed to elicit memories or emotions tied to James. At one point, James ends up at the local hospital, and through interactions in this place, we learn that Mary fell terminally ill shortly after they visited the town together. There’s no indication she was treated at the same hospital, but this location in Silent Hill serves the purpose of filling in the background history of James and Mary. We also learn that James truly struggled with his wife’s deteriorating condition. The “nurse” monsters within this location represent the trauma James experienced being in a hospital. But let’s not forget that these “monsters” are also heavily sexualized, which feels like a parallel to Mary’s own journey. Through letters, we learn that Mary had grown concerned about her appearance as her illness took over, and James was also aware of the impact the disease had on his once-beautiful wife. The nurse creatures are a perfect reflection of James’s trauma and frustration following Mary’s death. It’s a nightmare of his own making, and the town is happy to oblige.

Among the other locations in the town, we constantly see reminders placed for James—each one helping to unravel the emotions and details of his journey thus far. It is in this town that we also meet Maria (Mary in Spanish), who looks almost identical to his lost wife. This character is essentially a "phantom" created by the town to trigger James’s longing and attraction to the wife he lost. Ultimately, he fails to save her, just as he did with his wife. Maria is a symbol of attachment that ultimately ends in hopelessness, one that James must confront and overcome.

Ultimately, as players, we discover the truth near the end of the game: James Sunderland killed his wife. I originally wanted this essay to focus on the heavy topic of euthanasia, but after reflecting on it several times, it didn’t seem fully applicable to this story. You see, James kills his wife on her deathbed. I won’t go into the details of how that happens, but for many, it could be considered an act of mercy. This is the central dilemma around euthanasia as a controversial topic. The argument in favor of the act usually revolves around the “victim” requesting release from their suffering. However, Mary never explicitly asks James to end her life. She knows her life will end soon, but from her perspective, the act is more about releasing James from the burden of watching her die. She forgives him for it, even accepts it, but it is ultimately a selfish act driven by a man who can’t bear to feel powerless. There’s nothing James can do but watch his wife slowly succumb to the illness. By killing her, he takes action and attempts to regain control of something he feels hopeless about.

James is a killer, and the town of Silent Hill is there to remind him of his actions. However, the story is not as “black-and-white” as it may seem. The town is not simply here to remind us of the wrongs we commit in our lives, i.e., our sins. It also serves as a path to acceptance, understanding, and even redemption. The town places characters (arguably “phantoms” like Maria) in front of him that serve as allegories for some of James’s fears. For example, Angela seems to be another visitor to Silent Hill, just like James. However, as we get to know her, we learn that she is simply a person unable to accept her past. She is willing to confront the trauma caused by her family and is actively trying to find solace in her circumstances. When we meet James, he is no different. Only a man incapable of accepting things would be willing to believe his dead wife has appeared in a town he once visited with her.

Eddie is a selfish entity who is painfully self-aware. He fully understands who he is. He has accepted his reality, and through his interactions with James, we notice a correlation between the actions of both characters. However, James has a choice: to recognize his faults, be self-aware, and yet not become Eddie. Arguably, James is able to fully understand his situation and himself after understanding Eddie.

Finally, we have Laura, who can honestly be quite annoying but serves as a catalyst for James’s redemption. She, like James, is in pursuit of Mary. She claims to have been a friend of Mary during her final days. Despite being a child, she knows immediately who James is and what he has done or is capable of doing. Many of the story beats between Laura and James lead to major realizations and confrontations. She is arguably “the white rabbit” that James needs to chase down the hole. One could argue that James never fully redeems himself, but after facing the truth of his actions, we see a change in Laura’s attitude toward him. She becomes more open, and in the primary ending, they leave the town together. In my perspective, Laura is the path to his redemption that wraps up his acceptance and understanding of what happened with Mary.

I don’t want to undermine the story of the original Silent Hill game and the lore created for the town in that game. I would love to write about the history and the cult that the town is known for in the near future. With that said, as a long-time fan of the franchise, which is now making a resurgence, it’s clear to me that these games are not about the town, at least not anymore. The town is almost like a “purgatory” for character-driven narratives, usually revolving around major human trauma. Although the town shares some common traits, such as the fog that appears across all the games, it feels like a shifting entity that adapts itself to the protagonist. And that’s honestly where I feel the stories are at their strongest—when Silent Hill is just a portal to the psyche of our protagonist’s mind.