Hope and The Spiral vs. Rage and The Hunt
Hope is concerned with belief, even in improbable ideas. It is concerned with many possibilities, saying 'yes' to anything. Rage is concerned with shutting down beliefs and criticising improbable ideas. It is concerned with a single truth, saying 'no' to anything else.
The Spiral is concerned with madness - believing in something that isn't true; being unsure of which reality/possibility is the right one. The Hunt is concerned with the chase and becoming prey - focusing on a single person or thing and chasing it forever: having a one-track mind.
Hope and The Spiral
Hope is concerned with unconditional trust, faith and naive optimism - saying 'yes' to anything because it will turn out alright in the end, so why worry? It thinks that even in dire circumstances, there's a light at the end of the tunnel. The Spiral is concerned with things related to the impossible - never-ending fractals, doors that open to places they shouldn't. It relies on people's uncertainty on whether those things are truly impossible. Those that 'won' against the spiral (like Michael and Helen) got through to the end of the tunnel by sheer determination and hope: Michael used his map and brute-forced his way through, and Helen never gave up trying to escape. Those that enter the Distortion willingly have hope that it will be safe on the other side.
The Spiral's opposition is cold, hard truth, as represented by Rage. The Distortion is permanently altered by Gertrude using a completely accurate map of its corridors, and in the Monument domain, academics tried to puzzle out the underlying truth behind the ever-shifting maze. Rage's truth is resisted by The Spiral's lies and deceit.
Rage and The Hunt
Rage is concerned with unconditional fear, refusal and despair - saying 'no' to anything that goes against its truth. It thinks that everything will turn out wrong and bad. Complete pessimism compared to Hope's complete optimism. The Hunt is concerned with being chased down - the idea that once you are hunted, there is no getting out. The focused predator never stops hunting, and the terrified prey never stops running: the only end or outcome is a negative one. When Daisy and Julia hunted each other, they didn't stop until they had completed their goal - they refused to do anything else.
Characters related to The Hunt have a general theme of fear and worry, even when not directly dealing with the Entities. Basira and Daisy are both sectioned police officers, with Section 31 causing fear among other officers. Regular officers don't want to interact with sectioned ones, with them even waiting until a sectioned officer arrives to deal with the paranormal as not to get sectioned themselves. Julia Montauk deals with fear herself, having a phobia of the dark for a long time, and fear from others, who become afraid of her when they learn about her father. Those in the Forest domain in Blood Ties keep hunting each other as they are extremely paranoid; choosing a new victim based on tiny worries and suspicions and doubts. This all relates to Rage's concepts of paranoia and fear of events not turning out well.
The Spiral and The Hunt are opposites in this system due to the above reasons. The Spiral wants you to believe in anything and everything it shows you, and The Hunt focuses on one thing and ignores everything else.
