"Vanishing Hitchhiker" Urban Legend - Free Essay Example

Conspicuously, there happens to be an assortment of ways in which the “Vanishing Hitchhiker” has transformed in comparison to the Western version and the version narrated by the Khasi community. Principally, it was believed Beardsley and Hankey initially gathered the American and the non-American descriptions of the vanishing hitchhiker in 1942. Subsequent to the initial versions, in 1981, Jan Harold Brunvand revised urban legends to a fresh, erudite breadth; Brunvand deliberated on an approximated fifteen accounts of the vanishing hitchhiker legend in his study. The majority of them embraced the relentless narrative rudiments of the borrowed sweater, the motorway, the vehicle, the desertion, and, ultimately, the discovery. Lastly, in 2002, the vanishing hitchhiker tale appeared in Shillong. This was consequent to the murder articulated at commencement. Apparently, it was undoubtedly evident that there were copious disparities of comparable ghost stories chronicled in Shillong ever since 1970.

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Shifting further, both anxieties and fears involving the communities are explored adequately through the narrative. Specifically, this has been undertaken to aid the robust emotional reactions that have been evoked in diverse individuals. Some of the explorations of these anxieties and fears include the following:

1. Revulsion
2. Astonishment
3. Revolt, and also
4. Women violence

Actually, the majority of the elements in regard to the narrative tend to remain similar. Nonetheless, the majority of them do not reflect on a corresponding moral story. An assortment of elements provides the moral lesson that the act violating women's rights and privileges ought to be curbed. In contrast, others offer lessons about the facets of socio-economic structures that are depicted to be dependent on administrative policies and, more so, the infrastructural progression.

The manners in which the transformations are transpiring with regard to the Khasi community are reflected in the particulars of their versions of the Western narrative. Precisely, as the changes occur, they are still carrying with them the various elements that can be said to have originated from the Western story. In essence, they are reflected in correspondence with the theme of ghostly behavior depicted by the commencing narrative.

By analyzing the community's version of the narrative, we can learn that there is an imperative and differentiating characteristic of the Khasi community. Specifically, this happens to be the matrilineal structure of descent, which, to a very great extent, is very predominant presently. Comprehended in this particular setting, the narrative of the vanishing hitchhiker turns out to be an expressive plea for awareness. In a community that admires the domicile of women as the instrument, through which in-group and kinship are drawn, formed, and well-defined, the narrative of a young lady executed by her husband undermines the ideologies which the Khasi community is formed. Apparently, this is not to depict that the predicament of violence against women was not pre-existent.

In conclusion, it is undoubtedly noticeable that this particular narrative of Vanishing Hitchhiker has transformed enormously over time. Besides, it has played a significant role in the evocation of various traditions and norms to individuals of the Khasi community despite the diverse modifications of the narrative that transpired.