I think his role is made clear not only be his willingness
to see people as generally good – I feel that sort of optimism is central to
the character of a hero these days, and heroes that don’t possess a similar
mindset are few and far between – but also where he ends up at the end of this
six-part series. That is to say, he continues on his merry way doing
Daredevil-things. But what about Frank?
Well, The Punisher ends up in prison – which is extremely
fitting. To be frank, pun intended, The Punisher is a monster. A wild animal.
And wild animals get put into cages for the safety of others. However, doing
good or doing what is right is not solely within the purview of heroes.
Monsters like Frank do “good” on a few levels:
First of all, within the context of the comic there’s no
denying that “the system” is highly flawed, and Frank helps remedy that issue
by working outside of the system. He serves to cross the line other heroes are
not willing to cross in order to get the job done, and permanently removes
threats to society from its confines – the only thing protecting them from
punishment is plot-armor. Here’s an analogy: Biologically speaking, a “good”
cell is programmed to kill itself if it ever becomes unviable for the good of
the macro-organism. Cancerous cells, however, typically lack this property, and
continue to wreak havoc and propagate until they’re dealt with or the body can
no longer function. Additionally, the body doesn’t always recognize them as threats.
So, like a really good white blood cell, Frank hunts these cancers down and
ends them in an effort to remove the cause of the degradation of his society. Unfortunately,
that kind of behavior is regarded as more or less intolerable by society – the
sliding gray-scale of society also makes it impractical – and Frank’s an
unstable person that makes mistakes.
Additionally, and let me jump back to number five of those seven
theses from Monster Culture for this one, The Punisher and characters like him
serve as a call-to-arms for the heroes of their stories. They unveil the
ugliness of their settings, and challenge the righteous to step up their game,
lest their more merciful methods be left by the wayside.
In short, Frank’s a monster that eats monsters. He’s not
acceptable by society’s standards – and wouldn’t the world be bleak if he was –
and he’s not really a hero, regardless of the good he sometimes does. However,
he does keep the line between the common folk and the other monsters in check,
and offers heroes a look at just how bad it can really get…
Y’know, I think Nietzsche had a quote about hunting
monsters.
Resources:
Cohen, Jeffrey Jerome. "Monster Culture: Seven
Theses." From Monster Theory: Reading Culture.
Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1996. 3-25.
Lapham, David. Daredevil VS Punisher: Means and Ends. Marvel
Comics.
The shark analogy was particularly effective. The Punisher is undeniably the monster of Daredevil and Punisher, but it's hard to call him evil or the villain. Ultimately, he and Daredevil are two sides of the same coin. Only difference is that Daredevil believes in inherent goodness, while Punisher has a nihilistic view on humanity (as your Nietzsche reference implied).
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