I'm not a fan of the monster metaphor, it blows the power disparity way up and doesn't leave room for reconciliation. Prefer thinking of the author as a pig in

I'm not a fan of the monster metaphor, it blows the power disparity way up and doesn't leave room for reconciliation. Prefer thinking of the author as a pig instead, as in "men are pigs". In this case, instead of feasting sexually, they are gorging emotionally on attention that comes from their status. Seeing "eye-to-eye" is an equal meeting of souls. It gets corrupted by power - the moment might be neutral, but the 2 parties aren't entering on even terms.