Hi all,
If you haven't heard already, Norman Reedus gave some interesting details about Death Stranding on Dan Fogle's podcast (thanks to u/edeolivita for posting about it). I want to talk about one of the details Norman mentioned, and that is Sam's phobia of being touched. I feel like this leads to a lot of interesting thoughts about Sam's character.
After doing some very light research, I found the term for this particular phobia is called "Haphephobia". The prefix "haphe" is Greek for "bond" or "connection". So it could be literally translated as "fear of connection", which fits with a lot of the themes we've heard about so far (connections, strands, bridges, etc.). According to the Wikipedia page, one of the symptoms of this phobia is cholinergic urticaria, otherwise known as a skin rash. In the cave scene from the E3 2018 trailer, Sam's body starts to form a rash as the Hands get closer to him. His fear of being touched evokes a physical reaction; his phobia produces the symptom of the skin rash. It reminds me of the Kojima Productions tweet on how we would live in a world that doesn't "hold hands" and isn't connected anymore, but on a micro-level.
This makes me think of a few possible implications regarding Sam.
He has a lot of handprints on his body. Assuming from Trailer 3 that these are received every time Sam dies, that seems almost traumatic for someone who fears being touched. I almost wonder if the hands are symbolic of trauma in any way.
If the skin rash is caused by his phobia, what does that say about the mysterious Hands? I'm not saying they're necessarily benevolent (they seem quite frightening), but what is it about their presence that causes such a visceral reaction and how does that factor into both the state of Sam's psyche and the state of the world?
Also, to get really cheesy, connection can be a wonderful thing. Whether it's helping your friend out or on a larger scale, countries being diplomatic to achieve common goals, humanity thrives when we connect and work together. Oddly enough, it sounds like that's what Sam's duty is in the official synopsis ("Sam embarks on a journey to reunite the shattered world one step at a time"). But for someone who fears touch, and on a deeper level, fears connection, that sounds like a very daunting task. I'm curious to see why Sam has this phobia and how that speaks to his character.
Anyways, thanks for reading. I think Norman's comment about Sam's phobia tells us a bit more about his character and how he relates to the world of Death Stranding, and I'm very excited to see how it all fits into the grand narrative.
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