A Righteous Kill?

One of the more complex characters of the Marvel Universe is the Punisher (Frank Castle). Although he attempts to bring peace to Hell's Kitchen, his methods are somewhat unorthodox in comparison to other superheroes. For example, he has no moral quarrel with killing people as long as they are deserving of such a fate in his mindset. A former soldier, the Punisher's unique approach to instilling justice is the polar opposite of his counterpart, Daredevil, who prefers to let the legal system judge the individual's innocence. Daredevil's moral code prevents him from killing. As the Punisher states, "I'm not like him. I'm a soldier. Trained to kill" (Lapham, 17). The actions of the Punisher within the comic leads one to question his/her own morality as to what is correct in a situation of vigilante justice. Are there limitations in the pursuit of justice? Is there such a concept as a righteous kill? Personally, I do believe that in certain instances killing is permissible. However, the constant path of killing appears to have taken its toll on the Punisher, forcing him to view death as the only option in the end.

So far, the Punisher has been lucky with the victims that he chooses to terminate. Most people would agree that the individuals within his sights lacked innocence and escaped justice for too long. However, when he accidentally shoots a bystander during his altercation with Daredevil, the Punisher feels remorse for the individual because of his perceived innocence (Lapham, 20). Like Daredevil, the Punisher possesses a moral compass himself, directing his actions. He would call this moral barrier "the line" (Lapham, 20). To the Punisher, he has already determined his target's guilt and views the finality of death as the only punishment he/she deserves. The problem with the Punisher's ideology is that no one is fully innocent. Therefore, anyone could be his next target. In fact, by completing the killing, one could make the argument that the Punisher is no saint either because of the path of vengeance he undertakes as a result of his family's murder. His method is a final solution to a problem that never ceases to exist.

But is the Punisher justified in his actions? Since his victims are involved in heavy criminal activity, most people can push aside his deeds since that means there is one less criminal on the streets of Hell's Kitchen. Daredevil's methods work for a short period, but eventually, the criminals he puts behind bars find their way back to the same activity they pursued before their arrest. The Punisher believes that he is on a righteous cause. However, at this point, I consider him beyond the point of saving, revealing no strain of humanity within his being.

https://i0.wp.com/fusion.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/daredevil_titulka_53.jpg?resize=1600%2C900&quality=80&strip=all

I pledge that I have neither given nor received any unauthorized aid on this assignment. Anthony King

Sources:

Lapham, David. "Daredevil Vs. Punisher (2005) #4." Marvel.com. Marvel Comics,13 Nov. 2007.

             Web. 27 Nov. 2016.

Punisher vs. Punisher

Daredevil vs. Punisher: Means and Ends is basically a story about Punisher fighting himself. He is struggling with his demons and tries to fix himself through what he calls justice. During the first three issues, we experience Punisher struggle to maintain his control. He had to keep reminding himself to stay focus and forget about all the stuff that might jeopardize the mission. When he meets Mary, he can no longer stay focus. Once he sees Mary’s face he can no longer suppress the memories.

Of course what he is doing is not ethical. Killing people, even if they are scum, is still bad. Last class we discussed how Rick from The Walking Dead went from “You kill? You die” to “You kill--you live.” He did it out of necessity, he needed to commit those horrible acts in order to survive. In Bishop’s article there is a quote from Rick to Carl “I do things… a lot of bad things, to help you, to help you and all the other people in our group… That’s the world we live in now… but Carl, you need to never forget… when we do this things and we’re good people… they’re still bad things… You can never lose sight of that. If these things start becoming easy that’s when it’s all over. That’s when we become bad people.” (Bishop 83). There is no doubt that Rick is a good guy, we sympathize with him and we understand why he is doing it. We may even admire his courage and his dedication to his family.

Punisher on the other hand, he is a bit hard to sympathize with because he is not doing it out of survival. I don’t even think he is doing it just to protect the city and bring justice. He has selfish reasons. He is trying to fill the gap his family left. He is trying to bring justice for his own family.

Punisher is trying to release the pain and anger in him. He may not want to admit it, but he enjoys the killing. I think it scares him how much he likes it. It feels good to kill the bad guys. Does that make him a bad person? No it does not. It is very easy for him to kill them because he has a reason. Those criminals have lost all humanity according to Punisher. He is not going around killing people, he is killing monsters. He is killing people who deserve to be killed. He is in control about who he kills. If he loses control, tragedy will strike like it did here:

He starts firing… he is trying to control it… and then…

He lost it. Look at his face. Imagine all that pain being released from his body. Imagine how he must feel after all this time suppressing everything. Imagine how good it feels to pull that trigger and let those bullets flow. Imagine how it feels to lose control. But of course, that comes with a price.

Now look at his face. Look at his pain. He knows why he has been hiding this side. He knows why he cannot let go. Imagine how horrible it feels to pull that trigger and let a bullet hit an innocent man. Punisher did not enjoy that and it was not easy for him. He hated himself for shooting an innocent man. He sees himself becoming the type of person he hates. That is why he is not a bad guy. He is just a man who does bad things. Punisher is complex. He is not a bad guy, but I cannot say that he is a good guy. All I can say is that I sympathize with him, but I know that he will not be able to control himself forever. Eventually and unfortunately, he will be a bad guy. He will never be satisfied and he may not care about who he kills.

Sources:
Bishop, Kyle W. “Battling Monsters and Becoming Monstrous: Human Devolution in The Walking Dead." Ed. Marina Levina and Diem-My T. Bui. Monster Culture in the 21st Century: A Reader. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, an Imprint of Bloomsbury Plc, 2013. 73-85. Print.

Heaven and Hell

Understanding the way Hollywood operates, it is no surprise that the basic storyline of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has been adapted and modified into various forms. One is naturally drawn to the plot based on its suspense and otherworldly depictions of the internal battle within Dr. Jekyll. Perhaps the most popular example of the story being modified for another purpose lies in the portrayal of Gollum/Smeagol in The Lord of the Rings. While reading this story, I found myself envisioning the iconic representation of Gollum by Andy Serkis. Also, there is even an upcoming film dealing with similar themes, albeit to an extreme level, called Split. Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Split clearly draws influence from the plot of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but features an individual suffering from 23 different personalities. Obviously, the major themes incorporating mental illness, drug addiction, and personal accountability remain developments popularized as a result of this book.

While reading the text, I pondered over one of the more interesting motifs revolving around the internal struggle between good and evil. As Dr. Jekyll states, "...all human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil" (Stevenson, 45). This theme truly dives into the crux of this class's purpose. As we have discussed form our previous reading, Frankenstein, everyone possesses the ability to be either a hero or monster, committing good or evil acts based on the distinction. The instance with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, though, reveals a particularly different scenario since both personalities are polar opposites of one another. "My two natures had memory in common, but all other faculties were most unequally shared between them," said Dr. Jekyll (Stevenson, 48). The distinctiveness between the two personalities remains an intriguing allegory for the forces of good and evil within each individual.

In heavy metal music, arguable no band has held a more legendary status than that of the genre's founders, Black Sabbath. One of my favorite songs from this group has lyrical content dealing with the concept of personal good and evil. From the 1980 record of a similar title, the song "Heaven and Hell" actively portrays the dichotomy surrounding this theme. Ronnie James Dio's lyrics for the song include, "Sing me a song, you're a singer, Do me a wrong, you're a bringer of evil, The Devil is never a maker, The less that you give, you're a taker" ("Heaven And Hell Lyrics"). In the song, the concept of Heaven and Hell (i.e. good and evil) are inherent within all people. Throughout the course of our lives then, each person decides whether they act upon the good or evil that lies underneath. The essence of this track parallels a similar theme found in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

                                          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEic8-jq39Y
                                          

                                          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idn50Xj_CiY

I pledge that I have neither given nor received any unauthorized aid on this assignment. Anthony King

Sources:

"Heaven And Hell Lyrics." -Black Sabbath. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2016

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Extended Edition). Dir. Peter Jackson. New Line Home

    Video, 2006. DVD.

Split. Dir. M. Night Shyamalan. Universal Pictures, 2017. Film.

Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. New York: Dover

    Publications, 1991. Print.

Dangerous Curiosity

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, like Frankenstein, has a variety of themes. One theme that I noticed over and over again is that curiosity is dangerous. These people seem to be consumed with curiosity and the desire to seek information. Mr. Utterson is an introvert who usually keeps to himself, but he for some reason became obsessed with finding Mr. Hyde and his relation to Dr. Jekyll. I kept thinking to myself, why the hell is so obsessed? Let it go man! I understand that Mr. Utterson is usually “the last reputable acquaintance and the last good influence in the lives of downgoing men” (1), which clearly shows throughout the novel, but he hasn’t talked to Dr. Jekyll in a long time and it is truly none of his business! His curiosity gets the best of him and ends up consuming much of his time and got him into this strange situation that changed his life forever.

Mr. Utterson tries to find Mr. Hyde, “if he could but once set eyes on him, he thought the mystery would lighten and perhaps roll altogether away” (8). But that rarely happens! Curiosity will get you in trouble, it does not solve anything. There are many times when you have been so curious that you become obsess, and then once you find some answers, you are still not satisfied. So what do you do? You go and find some more answers, and that just leads to trouble. The power of curiosity is so strong, we as humans do not limit ourselves. We want to know more and more, we let curiosity consume our everyday life. We want reasonable/logical explanations and we want them at all costs.

Dr. Lanyon gave in to his curiosity and guess what? He died. At first, all he had to do was help his friend and then go on with his life. But no, he had “gone too far in the way of inexplicable services to pause before [he saw] the end” (40). Even though Mr. Hyde warned him about what he can possibly witness and how it may change his life dramatically, he still decided to seek an explanation. He thought he was prepared, he thought that there was nothing to fear. Why are we so curious? Why do we always need an explanation? Why can’t we let go of things?

Dr. Jekyll believed that “man is not truly one, but truly two,” (43) for he felt like he lived a dual life. He believed that there was part of him who was just like any other man, and the other part was “pure evil,” (45). He was curious of that evil side, he wanted to see what would happen if he separated the two. His curiosity caused such chaos and death. Just because he could do it, it does not mean he should have, we discussed this with Frankenstein. He created a monster, whether he wanted to or not, that is what he did. And why did he create this monster? Because of curiosity!

When is it okay to give in to the curiosity? When do we go too far? How do we know we’ll go too far? We don’t. “It is one thing to mortify curiosity, another to conquer it,” (24) we may be able to suppress our curiosity for a while, but it is hard to control it. We will always want answers, but we have to make sure that we are prepared for the consequences. But that does not mean that we have to stop being curious, instead let’s be curious and cautious. If you are curious, look for answers, but if you reached answers that can be potentially dangerous, stop! Know your limits.

Feeling 6'2"

My friends constantly make fun of me because I often forget how short I am. I swear I'm not that short and you can be damn sure I'll reach that top cabinet... one way or the other. My height doesn't always match my personality and what I think I can do doesn't always fit with my physical abilities. In my mind I'm 6'2" and unstoppable.

Stephen Asma's article made me realize a lot about myself and that I'm not the only shortie who thinks she can dunk a basketball. He mentions that humans have this funny way of imagining how they will react in life-threatening moments. His example of a the knife attack in the 90's is a great explanation. We can all easily sit here and say "why didn't anyone stop him?" but really, when was the last time you were attacked with a hunting knife? We sit in class and criticize literary characters for their actions and decision but what would we have done? If I created a monster like Frankenstein, I'm pretty sure my reaction wouldn't be all that different. I probably would've run away faster honestly.

So while I mentioned that I often feel larger than life-sized, its not a constant thing. Story time: My parents house is in the middle of nowhere. I was home alone one dark winter evening when my cat freaked out and scared the shit out of me by running through the house slamming into cabinets. So naturally "burglar" comes to mind and what do I do? I grab a pair of scissors and the biggest knife we had and I scoped out the house. Turns out there was the biggest black bear in Western PA on our front deck. So now I'm standing in a dark room, suddenly feeling very small, holding a kitchen knife against the biggest animal I've ever seen. Let's just say, its a really good thing I wasn't born in a time where killing large animals was required to survive.

How does my little anecdote correlate to Asma's monster theories? If someone would have given my that situation as a hypothetical, I would have given a reasonable and logical response to handling the situation. But when theres a giant freaking bear outside your house and all you've got is a knife, you suddenly really start to question your flight or fight skills. And what if there was a burglar? I'm 5'2" and not Jason Bourne (surprising right?). My planning basically stopped at "knife" but it sure seemed like a good idea at the time.

Monsters (and big ass bears) exist to remind us that we aren't invincible. They force us to think about how we would react in a certain hypothetical situation so that when a situation does arise with real life monsters, we can at least hope we react in the best way possible. "No one likes to imagine oneself a victim." Monsters are around so that we never forget that anyone, anyone, can become a victim and no one really knows how they'll react.