II. The Figure The beast of the title was never a single, stable thing. Sometimes it appeared as a creature of the night: long-limbed, luminous eyes, a silhouette that suggested both predator and protector. Other times it was metaphor—an unruly art film, a controversial photograph, a song with a bassline like thunder. Those who called it beautiful felt its danger as an allure; those who cried foul traced its edges and found their own reflections in the jagged mirror.
