Darkness refers to the lack of light.
Darkness arises from the lack of lighting . When light cannot be perceived in a certain environment, it can be said that the place is dark. For example: «What are you doing eating in the dark? Turn on the light so you're more comfortable" , "The darkness of this street scares me" , "I'm going to turn on the lamp since I can't find the clock in the dark" .
The etymological origin of this word is found in the Latin term obscuritas . And that, in turn, derives from obscurus , which is the result of the sum of two components: the prefix ob- , which is used to indicate "opposition " , and the Indo-European root skeu- , which can be translated as "hide" .
Darkness Perception
It is important to note that the absolute absence of light does not exist due to the physical conditions of the universe : what we call darkness is, therefore, a situation of low luminosity in which the human eye cannot detect light.
The sun is the natural source of light that eliminates darkness. When night comes, human beings must resort to artificial lighting to counteract the darkness. In ancient times, however, it was illuminated by fire.
The concept and the terror
It must be said that, in our current world, darkness is associated with the dark, the dangerous or the hidden . And that perception has been given to us since time immemorial. Thus, for example, in Egyptian mythology it was already established that this darkness was what reigned in the underworld.
In the same way, in the Christian religious tradition the devil, hell and Satan are elements that are related to darkness.
For all this, it is easy to understand that the idea that darkness is negative, bad and dangerous is also established in our culture. Thus, in literature and cinema, horror films mainly take place at night, when there is no light, and the most sinister characters are those who emerge when the sun goes down. This would be the case, for example, of werewolves or vampires.
An example of the latter is the film « The Darkness» . It is a 2005 British production, directed by John Fawcett . This tells the story of the disappearance of a young woman and the visions that her mother has from that moment on. These are apparitions and details that make him think that his daughter has actually been dragged to the underworld.
The idea of darkness is linked to darkness.
Darkness on a symbolic level
It is possible to understand darkness on a symbolic level. In this case, darkness is associated with sadness , anguish or darkness . On the other hand, happiness and joy are linked to light: "He was a man of great darkness, very withdrawn," "After the death of his children in an accident, darkness took over the actor," "I lived years of great darkness because of drugs .
Also in a symbolic sense, darkness is linked to the lack of understanding or knowledge , in opposition to light (reasoning, science ): "The human being remained in darkness for centuries," "The encyclopedia was the first tool massive against the darkness .