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Little Nightmares Character Analysis

!Trigger warning for generational trauma/abuse!

Spoilers for the endings of the first and second games

One thing I find interesting about the relationship between Six and the Lady is how it compares to Mono and the Thin Man's relationship.

To me, Mono and the Thin Man are a metaphor for generational trauma. A child (Mono) is hurt by somebody, usually a parent or guardian (Thin Man), and tries to free themself from the situation. In the case of Mono, it's him trying to get out of the Pale City. Unfortunately, despite their efforts, the child, for whatever reason, grows up to be just like the person who hurt them (Mono growing up to become the Thin Man), perpetuating the cycle of abuse.

Six and the Lady, depending on how you interpret them, can also be a metaphor for generational trauma, but now the abused (Six) breaks the cycle (leaving the Maw). It's safe to assume that in most cases, the previous Lady of the Maw will raise the next Lady to take the job of running the Maw, thus continuing the cycle of trauma and passing it down to the next generation. Though the situation is different with the current Lady and Six, it still ends with Six choosing to stray away from the path that all the others before her chose to walk down. She chose to end the cycle.

Both situations are representations of how trauma and abuse are passed down from generation to generation, but one ends with the cycle continuing on, while the other ends with somebody finally putting a stop to it all.