CHARON

these are all just. personal opinions of course but. chell’s a flute; delicate but strong and upfront. flutes also represent human nature and life/death which can also be translated as chell being the only human alive in p2 (as far as we know) and how she killed then resurrected glados.

i pin wheatley as all the electronic clashes and smashes. electronic/mechanic instruments typically symbolize rage and anger which is extremely fitting.

cave johnson is obviously the brass section lmao. brass instruments usually represent boldness and energy and nobility and excitement and to be more specific, a french horn symbolizes strength and loneliness. triumph and failure. wins and losses.

caroline and glados imo represent the acoustic guitars and harps. acoustics typically mean warmth and humility while strings can mean sorrow and deep sadness. the two go hand in hand. caroline and cave together, however, i pin as the repeated arpeggios throughout the game. “you are not a part of the control group” is a good example. caroline=the 8th note arpeggios that slowly play in the background while cave=the 32nd note arpeggios that build up on top. that’s a metaphor for something lmao

in each song that directly references caroline/glados, there are not only harps/acoustics that eventually warp and distort, there are motifs for other characters. which is funny to think about since caroline/glados both met their downfalls at the hands of someone else. in “there she is” you can clearly hear cave’s 6 note aperture motif (c-e-f-c-c#-b) as the acoustics turn into mechanics. in “you know her?” you can hear “i am not a moron” before the sharp cello (cellos also tend to equal sorrow and sadness). on the flip side,“omg, what has he done”, the song about wheatley destroying all of aperture, opens with harps and a brass section. 

i really wanted to deep dive “potatos lament” but theres just nothing. empty space. i think it’s the most unique song in the game for that exact reason.