Who Does Adam and Eve Represent In This Scene? (Max Payne 2 Ending Spoilers)
When I first played the game, I assumed Max was Adam and Eve was Mona, with the visual separation of them by the chandelier (?) being the classic separation symbolism (not sure what it's actually called). That kinda bummed me out since if so, that would make the sole survivor ending cannon.
sumed Max was Adam and Eve was Mona, with the visual separation of them by the chandelier (?) being the classic separation symbolism (not sure what it's actually called). That kinda bummed me out since if so, that would make the sole survivor ending cannon.On my second playthrough on the Hard Boiled difficulty I thought the symbolism was a weird choice since Mona wasn't in this level at all. It made no sense to include a symbolism for Max and Mona's separation a whole level after Mona was shot and a whole cutscene before she died.
On my 3rd on Dead on Arrival I realized Eve wasn't Mona and that I was reading it wrong. It was Vlad. Always has been.
Playing the game with the typical mindset of hero and heroine makes it seem like Max is the hero and Mona is the heroine. They are the 1st and the 2nd heroes of the story, in that order. And in a strictly technical sense that still holds, you get to play as Mona so she is the 2nd hero in the story.
But focusing more on the story and less on level design, it is actually Vlad that is with us on every step of the way. He orchestrates our actions and influences them more than Mona does. He is the catalyst of everything that happens in this game, and looking back with the knowledge that he was working for Woden, many points in the first game as well.
His own words confirm this: "I was supposed to be the hero." He views himself as the hero -because he is. He waged war on half of the inner circle and won. He got all he wanted. He is the hero of his own game, the protagonist. (Also while the game focused on Max is an FPS, a game following Vlad would be an RTS.)
How does this apply to Adam and Eve? As Max says: "Like brothers caught on opposite sides of a civil war. His words." Instead of gendering Adam and Eve and reducing them to lovers, looking at what the symbolism represents at its core is a state of separation. With Vlad's death, his and Max's brotherhood ends. They are no longer "brothers on opposite sides", one dies while the other keeps living. Vlad's story of conquest of the inner circle ends. The story where he was supposed to be the hero ends with his death.
But anyways, all the knowledge I have on symbolisms are from listening to tour guides on various museums so it's possible this is a wildly inaccurate read of the scene. What are your thoughts?