Red Or Blue

I keep coming back to the point that was made the other day about looking into things to closely. The talk of the election and Sarah Palin also popped into my head. This got me to thinking of comic books again(big surprise). A comic book company called DC Comics has recently started a story arc where Superman is being questioned and goaded about which side he sits on in the political spectrum. I don't know but to me this seems like their looking into the comics a little to closely if you ask me. Comics aren't real, they are fictional stories read for entertainment purposes not to know whether or not their Democratic or Republican. Don't ask me why but for some reason intentional fallacy also came to mind.The dictionary says,"Intentional fallacy–noun
(in literary criticism) an assertion that the intended meaning of the author is not the only or most important meaning; a fallacy involving an assessment of a literary work based on the author's intended meaning rather than on actual response to the work. I'm sure that the man the man who invented Superman didn't original intend for him to journey into the arena of politics. This is just what modern day writers have thought might interest readers. To say that characters are not made for political reasons or motives isn't always true either. Captain America is a prime symbol for politics in comic books. Captain America was created around the time of WWII as a result of the war with Germany. In the beginning of the Captain America story he even physically fought Hitler. As different things threatened or happened in America the Captain America comic reflected these events. He dealt with everything from Russia to the Civil Rights movement. This is a great example of art imitating life.

The Ocean

The other day we had discussed metaphors and their various meanings in literature. I remembered this as we talked about looking into things and looking into to closely. It is interesting that we have so many metaphors about the ocean and yet the ocean lacks the ability to come up with metaphors about itself. This is because it is an inanimate object and it has no way to voice its thoughts if it was able to consider and ponder things. If it could though would it come metaphors about humanity or would it come up with metaphors about the stars and the space the occupy or would it explore humanity and its excentricities. This was a random thought that i decided to post take it or leave it its your choice.

Batman the Pharmakos

Pharmakos (Greek φαρμακος) in Ancient Greek religion was a kind of human scapegoat (a slave, a cripple or a criminal) who was chosen and expelled from the community at times of disaster (famine, invasion or plague) or at times of calendrical crisis, when purification was needed(Wikipedia). After coming across the section about pharmakos and related parts of the essay i couldn't help but be reminded of a movie i had seen this summer. The ending of Batman The Dark Knight is a great example how a society, albeit fictional and the circumstances fantastical, create a scapegoat. Basically what happens in the end of the movie is that Gothams district attorney Harvey Dent has been horribly scarred and gone insane. As a result of his insanity he committs the very crimes he once prosecuted. Dent was such a pivotal figure in the war on crime that Batman and Commishoner Gordon agree that Dent's tragic fall and the transgressions he committed must be covered up. Batman agrees to take the fall for all the crimes Dent has committed thus becoming a scapegoat for a greater cause. I am suprised at how often and how well comic book characters fullfill and fall into the different modes of literature. In the movie Batman is shocked that the mob bosses he has been arresting have hired the maniacal Joker to spot him. The Joker murders and maims people trying to get batman to reveal his secret identity. Batman can't believe that the joker goes to the lengths he does just to cause Batman emotional anguish. This is a great example of a passage from The theory of Modes. "The Pharmakois neither innocent nor guilty. He is innocent in the sense that what happens to him is far greater than anything he has done provokes. At first Batman can't see that the crime bosses are afraid of him and in being afraid of him have let loose the monster that is the Joker. Batman seems to be a good example of how literature influences everything from music to movies. The use of Pathos can also be seen in the Batman movie. Batman pscye is in conflict. As Batman he wants to put an end to crime in Gotham City. As Bruce Wayne he wants to live a quiet life with the woman he is in love with. Batman is clearly a person broken by conflict between his inner and outer selfs. Batman is not the only place where examples of Frye's ideas of literature conventions are found but those are ideas for future blogs.

Theory of Modes

As i was reading the Theory of Modes in Frye's Anatomy of criticism i was constantly reminded of how many of the ideas he puts forth are expressed in comic books. For instance in part 1 Frye says" If superior in kind both to other men and to the environment of other men, the hero is a divine being, and the story about him will be a myth in the common sense of a story about a god. Such stories have an important place in Literature, but are as a rule found outside the normal literary categories." I am a huge comic book fan and i read tons of comics and tons of things that people write about comics. Superman is a character that exists outside the normal bounds that most people are capable of. I have read many articles about how the myth and the legend of Superman. Most of these articles are written by critics of the comic book and not the actual writers. The most interesting thing i've ever found about Superman was a pamphlet in a church comparing Superman to Jesus Christ. I read through it and chuckled. These people were using a pop culture icon to help spread their faith. I was amused to say the least by some of the allusions they used to make Superman spread the word of god not fly off to another adventure. In reading Superman you can see where myth, romanticism, and irony play into the five different theories of mode.