Clay says that Metamorphosis “was never just a question of escape. It was a question of transformation.” This small quip can, in fact, be applied to Kavalier and Clay as a whole. The novel comes down to two elements: The comic book, and its creators. At points, Chabon will go on about The Escapist, the anti-fascist hero created by Joe Kavalier and Sam Clay, his fictional background, his adventures, his goals, etc. Based off of escape artists like Harry Houdini, The Escapist represents the “question of escape” in Clay’s mention.
As previously discussed in class, we had come to the conclusion that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was a story about inhospitably, not homosexuality. The attempted act of the villagers toward the angels was not a representation of sexual desire, rather an act to shame the strangers. Leviticus 18:22 “you shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination” is the law most quoted by anti-gay WORD, and at face value its meaning seems apparent. The film stresses the need for historic framework of the original authors and culture and reputable theologians describing said history and culture lend authority to the documentary. As a small community, ancient Israelites were concerned with the propagation of its people, and the best way for it to grow was to ‘go for and multiply.’ Importantly, the film demonstrates that acceptance within a Christian community is possible.
Instead of the Détente, Reagan wished for a peace built by America’s economic and military power. Ronald Reagan’s policies were based on the ideologies of spreading freedom and democracy around the world to block the advancement on Soviet Communism. He promoted democracy and all its qualities to countries throughout the world including the Soviet Union. His peaceful policies significantly contributed to the end of the cold war. Reagan detested the oppression of Marxism-Leninism and in 1982 he gave a speech at the British parliament during which he expressed the hope that it would end up “on the ash heap of history”.
Wink sees these institutional intelligences as "fallen angels" -- having forsaken their life-affirming mission in order to promote their own interests. Supporting all of the fallen institutions is "The Domination System," a cultural vision in which a dominating hierarchy is the only conceivable source of order and "good" violence is the only defense against "bad" violence. The Domination System plays the role of Satan in Wink's mythological interpretation. The mission of Jesus, according to Wink, is the overthrow of the Domination System. He sees a nonviolent "Third Way" in Jesus' teachings, a way that is neither passive acceptance of domination nor an (ultimately self-defeating) violent revolution against it.
Agent Smith also drives the post-modern view in the film, mentioning that he was sick of the Matrix, an attempt to rebel and tear down the system. Smith knew that the matrix wasn’t going anywhere, that the machines are simply surviving and nothing more, a very post-modern way of thinking. There seem to be a few points of modernism however. Like the joining of the “freed” humans to form Zion and the want to spread the knowledge that you are in fact being fooled by the Matrix. Also Morpheus stands for modernism in his belief in Neo early on and his dream for regaining control of humanity.
The Odyssey vs. The Batman In a 2002 Vanity Fair article, James Wolcott commented that "pop myth adapts, rewrites its own history, reflects contemporary values in an enlarging mirror, and, like Greek myth, cloaks human fears and desires as godly forces and supernatural feats." This holds true for both The Odyssey and the comic book Batman. The narratives are mutually situated in remote places, with parallels and differences between the two, which provide evidence of universal traits within the tales. The Batman, created by Bob Kane, emerged for the first time in Detective Comics #27 and defined a new type of hero in American culture; just as Odysseus entering into an Illiadic world revolutionized Greek heroism.
Because he realizes that Jim is a human he decides to keep Jim’s escape a secret and lie for Jim, Huckleberry Finn shows that he doesn’t live by society’s morals, but that he creates his own. Even though society’s morals are unethical and do not recognize Jim as a human, Huckleberry acknowledges Jim’s humanity. Huckleberry Finn is set in the 1800s when only white people were viewed as humans, and African-American slaves were viewed as property, so it is a very impactful point in the novel when Huckleberry acknowledges Jim as a human. In a conversation between Huckleberry and Aunt Sally discussing an accident on a boat, Aunt Sally says: “‘Good gracious! Anybody hurt?’”(Twain 279).
This connects to a central theme in the novel: “so it goes”. In his mind, no death has a greater significance over another death. Death is merely a fact, not a lesson for others. Therefore he uses the allegory of Adam and Eve as the explanation for how sin began, not to attribute significance or meaning to sin. Notably, Billy saw Adam and Eve in the patina of the boots, not in the shine, connecting to the idea of the fall of man.
Death of Reason and Birth of Beast Order and chaos of human nature in isolation in Lord of the Flies by William Golding Order and chaos, the two initiated and have kept balance the way of the world since the beginnings of civilization. Mankind then established the basis of our culture based on that delicate equilibrium; yet, to the author William Golding, “the universe is a ‘cosmic chaos’ that resist simplistic patterning” (Friedman, 14). We strive to appreciate but also dominate; we try to create justice, but we are willing to sacrifice it for even the slightest material gain; in short, the melting pot of emotions and desires is separated into two opposing fronts, the rational and the irrational. The rational people are individuals who are capable of great achievements, joy, and empathy toward others but who also realize their abilities and limitations; they were the forerunner who incorporated reason into our lives and further developed our abilities to deduct and analyze. Today, however, we can see the number of irrational people grow in such a huge disparity and the reason stems from a common source; rather than a conspiracy many people, it is the effect of many individuals pursuing their own selfish and separate agendas.
How does the idea of trauma as a concept fit into the super hero comics-narrative? 1. Introduction : The central topic of the following essay is the exploration of the concept of trauma and how it fits into the super hero comic-narrative. First, we will get a look into the topic Trauma itself to understand its psychological repercussions which is vital for further understanding why trauma is used in the genre of superhero narratives. The author of a psychological study on the comic-narrative “Batman” written by Michael Brody presents us Sigmund Freud’s and Anna Freud’s notions on the psychic trauma at the hands of the exemplary super hero.