Entering the Underworld
From the moment you enter, you are "disoriented" (Niwa). The maze is completely dark and the elevator muddles if "you are going up or down or even moving" (Imp). This disorientation is reminiscent of all our other underworlds. We are thrown in without any preparation or warning of what is to come, "ushered in" and then dropped "off on whatever floor" the operator decides (Niwa; Imp). We enter unprepared and are forced to adapt or die. We are lost, and any thoughts of the first world are useless. When I entered the McKittrick, I knew that my thoughts were no on the Uber drive over, but on just trying to survive, and maybe understand assuming the first task went well. The presence of these entrances forces us to embrace the McKittrick and cast aside our prior world. It causes a sense of urgency and obligation; we do not slowly dip our toes and opt in when it suits us, but we are forced to gather as much as we can, whether that is information, direction, or courage.
The entrances prepare us for the upcoming experience, not by spoiling its surprises and secrets, but by preparing our minds for the McKittrick. I know that going in, I had a plan to stay with a friend, and without any such entrances I would have followed through with that plan and potentially ruined my experience. However, with the pitch black elevator disorienting us and the elevator operator specifically keeping me separated, I was forced in alone but ready to experience all there was in the world, which should be the goal of any underworld.
