Myth And Legend: Twin Peaks And Its Meanings
Twin Peaks is a treasure trove of themes and motifs. Using this one community, and this single crime, David Lynch and Mark Frost create a space in which many things are mused upon, and questions are rarely answered definitively.
In general terms, Twin Peaks can be viewed as a consideration of the nature of evil. Evil takes many forms in this town, which makes for unsettling viewing, since it’s the nature of humans to seek to identify and label evil in order to protect against it. Bob is a spirit of pure evil – he feeds on fear, and exists only to collect souls and satisfy his own bloodlust and need for control. But, the need for control is the driving force behind all of those engaged in criminal activity in Twin Peaks – the rest of whom are real people. Leo Johnson, for example, is a brutal, sadistic man who tortures his wife and terrorizes his business associates. He’s even seen assassinating a minah bird.
Jean Renault, his brothers, and those associated with them and with One Eyed Jacks are all various kinds of evil. They each profit from the addictions of others – whether those addictions are to drugs, power, or sex. They also profit from the cycle of abuse, and what is essentially people trafficking – as the Madam of the brothel recounts the way in which Ben Horne manipulated and coerced her into the sex trade by forcing her into drug addiction – and that she’s since perpetrated the same abuse against other girls ever since. Then there’s Windom Earle – a mad genius obsessed with the power he imagines he can harness from the Black Lodge, and steeped in beliefs in black magic, and the perception of evil from within the perspective of ancient Tibetan religious practices. Earle is yet another manifestation of the nature of evil in Twin Peaks, but he also lends himself to the recurring theme of duality.
Duality is dominant throughout Twin Peaks – a place where things, and people, tend to occur in pairs as alternate versions. Windom Earle, for example, can be seen as an alternate version of Agent Cooper – both are highly intelligent FBI men traumatized by the death of a woman, but one harnesses methods and knowledge of black magic to succeed, while the other employs a Tibetan Buddhist approach of light and positivity. While one seeks to gain entry to the Black Lodge in the pursuit of power, the other has been searching for the White Lodge in pursuit of understanding. This type of mirroring is also reflected in the fact that doppelgangers exist in the Black Lodge.
Clearly, there are the obvious doubles – the twin mountain peaks towering over the town; the two halves of the heart-shaped necklace; the Double R Diner; the existence and subsequent murders of both Laura and Maddy; the double lives being led by almost everybody in the community – whether the motivation for such is criminal or romantic; and of course, the two ‘Lodges’. But, there are many more subtle instances of pairing to be found. There are two ledgers for the Packard Mill to facilitate fraud, for example. There are two diaries written by Laura Palmer. There are two potential fathers for the baby conceived by Sheriff’s receptionist, Lucy Moran (Kimmy Robertson). There are the two personas presented by FBI Agent Albert Rosenfeld (Miguel Ferrer) – initially hyper-masculine and aggressive, before revealing deep respect and love. There are the two ways in which a DEA Agent presents herself/himself – first as Denise Bryson, then as Dennis (David Duchovny). There are even ‘two worlds’ mentioned in a poem recited by Spirit Mike, when questioned about Bob by Agent Cooper.
“Through the darkness of future past,
The magician longs to see,
One chance out between two worlds,
Fire walk with me.”
This concept of duality is further borne out by the fact that the townsfolk all watch the same soap opera, titled Invitation To Love. The soap opera is a distraction from the melodrama in their own lives – much of which is soap-like in nature – and which in turn serves to distract them from the evil lurking in the woods. But, this layered approach to the melodrama turns the theme of duality into a theme of alternate worlds, or alternate dimensions. Each character in Twin Peaks has two paths open to them at any one time, and the route they take determines the outcome of their specific melodrama. This, too, is reflected in the theory that the White and Black Lodges are representative of alternative dimensions. It could be argued that this theme of duality is meant to remind us that reality is ultimately unknowable in any definitive sense.
