Explanation of the characters of Silent Hill 2 and their symbolic significance and relationship to the game’s protagonist – Part Two

Continuing our article:

After discussing Mary, now might be a good time to move on to talking about Maria.

Maria appears to be the complete opposite of Mary in almost everything: she wears provocative, social, and lively clothing, but she can also be sarcastic and harsh at times. As mentioned earlier, Maria is not a real person, but a creation from the town, born out of James’ personal desires but twisted into something harsh.

While the game doesn’t necessarily portray Maria as a good character, most versions of the game include a sub-scenario called “Born From A Wish”, which presents Maria in a slightly better light. This scenario starts with Maria in front of a mirror in a strip club called Heaven’s Night, questioning herself about what she should do. In the end, she decides that facing the monsters outside is better than staying there, and sets off.

In this scenario, Maria stumbles upon an old mansion and meets its reclusive owner, Ernest Baldwin. Through exploring the mansion and talking to Ernest, she discovers that he had a little daughter who died 10 years ago after falling from an upper window. One of the last things Maria does is obtain a bottle of White Chrism (which plays a role in the ending of the main game) and give it to Ernest. One of Ernest’s final acts is to warn her about James, whom she seems to know at this point even though she hasn’t met him yet. Maria opens the door Ernest was locked in to find that he has disappeared.

Then we see Maria walking towards Rosewater Park. She pauses for a moment, contemplating shooting herself, but ultimately throws the gun over the wall and continues walking.

Her expression after discarding the gun is intriguing: she appears completely resigned, as if she doesn’t want any of this, but realizes that there is no escaping her fate.

Another interesting aspect is how the character of Mary seeps into Maria. One example of this is Maria’s concern for protecting Laura. Most adults would probably be concerned seeing a young girl alone in a dangerous place, but Maria seems to be deeply worried about her, as if she already knows Laura. Another example is in her cell in the Labyrinth, where Maria starts talking about the video James recorded for Mary at the hotel, something she shouldn’t know about.

Now that we’ve touched on Laura, let’s move on to discussing her story.