They do not enter the Room because they realize that its power does not grant what they say they want, but what their subconscious truly desires, exposing their innermost, potentially monstrous selves. Throughout the journey, the Stalker tells the cautionary tale of Porcupine, a previous guide who entered the Room to save his brother, only to receive immense wealth instead because his deepest, unconscious desire was greed; Porcupine subsequently hanged himself out of shame. This revelation paralyzes both the Writer and the Professor. The Writer understands that his creative block is tied to a deeper, uglier vanity he cannot face, while the Professor, who initially brought a bomb to destroy the Room to prevent it from falling into evil hands, realizes that humanity's capacity for destruction is already inside him. By sitting on the threshold in the pouring rain, they choose the safety of ignorance over the devastating self-knowledge the Room demands. The film shows us that the journey was never an outward quest to change their lives, but an inward mirror that they were ultimately too terrified to look into.■