Although I was confused at the start of this comic, after
clearing things up a little in class, I was able to come back and read the rest
of it in a new light. And I have to say, it was pretty cool. I even liked the dual narration by the end of it; the juxtaposition of Daredevil's and Punisher's mindsets showed me which character I empathized with more. And honestly, that was the weirdest thing about this comic for me... I really found myself agreeing with the Punisher more than Daredevil.
Needless to say, we are inclined to think that morally, it is not right to kill another person. Even though that is how the Punisher decided to fight crime, I think that his arguments were much more realistic and practical than Daredevil’s. Sure, in a perfect world, Daredevil’s ideas could come to light. If you just rough someone up a bit, make sure they suffer a little for what they did, maybe they will realize the error of their ways and decide to change. However, that’s honestly not at all the way people work.
Needless to say, we are inclined to think that morally, it is not right to kill another person. Even though that is how the Punisher decided to fight crime, I think that his arguments were much more realistic and practical than Daredevil’s. Sure, in a perfect world, Daredevil’s ideas could come to light. If you just rough someone up a bit, make sure they suffer a little for what they did, maybe they will realize the error of their ways and decide to change. However, that’s honestly not at all the way people work.
It’s really hard for people to change; they have to really want to. You can’t force someone to change the way they think and the way they live their lives. It’s nice to think that people are inherently good… but are they? In the comic, I feel like this question is highlighted a lot…
and the answer is arguably not on Daredevil’s side. For instance, a lot of the plots
that Jackal and his henchmen formulated could not have gone on without the paid
help of others. Save for the woman visiting her husband in jail who clearly did not
know she was part of any plot – a lot of these regular “inherently good” citizens
were willing to tell lies for money. I’m sure they didn’t think of the
implications of their lies… but still. Is lying for money an inherently good
thing…? I would think not.
Additionally, the Punisher was the only one getting any
results. At the end of the comic, we hear from Mary’s letter that crime had
skyrocketed after the Punisher was put in jail. Obviously, crime goes down if
there are less criminals around… However, I think that it’s possible some criminals “came
out of hiding” once they heard the Punisher was in jail. Sure, that’s a lot of
speculation… but if I were a criminal and knew there was a random guy around
that would not just put me in jail, but kill me at any moment, I might decide
not to commit a crime. Take away that extra fear and of course, crime would
increase.
I don’t know… I mean, I’m honestly still not 100% convinced
and on Punisher’s side. But really… is punching a murderer in the eye and
throwing him in jail going to make him change? I really don’t think so. I
mean, look at the Punisher. At the end of the comic, he had been beaten up by Daredevil and put
in jail. I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t take him saying that “this
time, there will be no compromises. No mercy. This time, I’ll get it right” (page
148) to mean he’s learned anything.
Alyssa, like you I lean more on the side of Punisher than Daredevil. I think Daredevil is very naive in his ideology that all you have to do is put a bad guy in jail and he’ll see the error of his ways. Obviously that doesn’t work because the more of Hammerhead’s men that get thrown in jail, the angrier Hammerhead gets and that only increases the crime, aggression, and fear within the city. Although I don’t agree with Punisher’s methods, his results should be noted. Also, like I mentioned in class, Punisher was a soldier. Eliminating threats to civilians and cities was his job. How is it that we are okay with him taking care of crime in other countries but when he’s doing the same thing in his own city we question his humanity and call him a monster? Hmmm….just a thought.
ReplyDeleteI found myself liking the methods of the punisher a bit better, like both of you, but like the Daredevil I've always hoped that people are inherently good. Although I always try to see the good in people, sometimes there's just not that much good in them. Even Daredevil-sure he's trying to help eliminate the criminals, by is his method of doing so really GOOD? Stephanie, you also bring up an interesting point-how come when the punisher kills people in another country it's okay, but when it's in our own country it's not? I don't really have a solid answer to this question, but I will say I guess it has to do with what he's fighting for. Across the globe, we justify his actions for prep texting our country, but when he's here & supposedly protecting our city, it appears like much more of a selfish act, like he's actually getting some pleasure out of it rather than just doing it to help others.
ReplyDeleteHey Alyssa, I agree with a lot of the points you mentioned. It really hard to not want to agree with Punisher throughout this comic. Honestly, him killing people did get results and people don't really change. There are a lot of evil people in the world in which putting them in jail won't change their mindset. Maybe people aren't actually inherently good but really we tend to force ourselves to think that everyone has some sort of good within them. That's what makes Daredevil so naive. If the Punisher was a little less reckless in his killings I think that he would be seen as more of a hero like Batman.
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