Loner, lover, hero. Superhero reads Hemingway.
Anna Koronowicz
Abstract
The first issue of Superman was published in 1938. Although not the first of
superheroes, Superman soon became the epitome of the genre. Other masked
heroes soon followed: Batman, Flash or Captain Marvel, to name a few. However,
as unique the concept of the superhero may have been, the very construction of the
character was already deeply rooted in narrative. A close look at Superman or
Batman reveals a number of familiar features – those of the Hemingway code hero.
Both superheroes and the code heroes are loners and outcasts. Superman is a sole
survivor of Krypton, Batman lost his parents when he was a child. Even though
they have friends and work in a team, they remain isolated. Just like Hemingway
code hero they have a “safe place” where they can be cut off from the world.
Superman has Fortress of Solitude, Batman has his Batcave.
A code hero is a ladies’ man. He would be worshipped by a good woman but could
be hurt and dominated by a dangerous one. Superhero often saves his love interest
from danger and equally often fights a femme fatale. Batman’s stormy relationship
with Catwoman is but one example of the trope.
Finally, both a code hero and a superhero are men of action. They cannot stand still
and refuse to be inactive. Hemingway’s Santiago and Bruce Wayne from Batman:
The Dark Knight Returns face similar challenges fighting their old age. They
overcome obstacles and refuse to fade away.
On the basis of the comparison it can be stated that there exists a certain model of a
hero in the American culture. This shows how closely the popular culture is
connected to the so called highbrow literature.
Key Words:
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1. First Subtitle
When a superhero character appeared for the first time he was not a completely
new creation. When Joe Schuster and Jerry Siegel introduced the character of
Superman in 1938 he was a new concept, but only as far as a comic book character
is concerned. The creation of the first superhero gave birth to the whole new comic
book genre and new heroes with special qualities, such as Batman, Spider-man or
the Incredible Hulk. In terms of the superpowers, these characters presented a new
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approach to storytelling which soon became the main feature in construction of a
possible comic book hero and is still present today when major comic book
publishing houses re-invent the old heroes’ origins. However when it comes to the
terms of the construction of the character, a comic book superhero is not entirely
original.
It is worth observing that the American culture is relatively young in
comparison to its European counterpart. The European mythology was not fully
integrated into the new continent, the Native American myths were too alien and
the group of various nationalities which was to become the American nation had to
design its own mythology. In the American mythology the important part is played
by a lonely hero, a courageous man who is not afraid of any danger, a gentleman, a
ladies man, a tender lover. That was the way in which the myth showed the
pioneers, the brave men like David Crockett, whose actions created America. This
type of a hero, an archetype, a topos, has entered the American culture, both high
and low. In the times a superhero was created, the similar type of a hero could be
found in the Untouchables’ Eliott Ness, the lonely gunslinger from westerns or
Humphrey Bogart’s characters in movies like Casablanca. The science fiction
genre was just developing and heroes like Flash Gordon came into existence. The
Superman in his birth was not a sole representative of a heroic type, he was just
another embodiment of the American macho.
The term ‘macho’ should not be understand as it is commonly used, referring to
a type of man who boasts about his manhood and is always ready for a fight. This
term is not used in its pejorative meaning. When referring to a macho type, we
mean a manly character, a strong personality, a character who does not shy from
action and is not deterred from his goal by a possible danger to his life. At the same
time a macho takes pride in his masculinity and physical strength. He knows his
way round, he is a man of many trades. He is also a loner, he prefers short time
relationships to a long term ones. Attractive to women, he knows how to please his
lover but is virtually unable to form a firm relationship. Such characters can be
found in Ernest Hemingway’s novels and short stories but also they are common in
today’s American popular literature and movies. Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt and
Wachowski’s Neo are only a couple of names which can prove that there exists a
topos of the American hero. The inclusion of Hemingway states that this archetype
is not limited to the lowbrow culture.
It may be a problematic statement that both high and low culture envisage the
same archetype of a hero. In order to prove that the topos of the hero exists in the
American culture, this paper takes two seemingly completely different types of
heroes and drives a comparison between them. The superhero represents the
lowbrow culture while the Hemingwayesque hero comes from the highbrow
literature. While it cannot be stated that one inspired the other, there are immense
similarities between them. They both live to act and do not fear death. They exhibit
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similar problems with women and have trouble finding ‘a good woman’ to love.
Finally, they are both compulsive loners, often silent and withdrawn.
A character in a work of fiction can be revealed in a number of ways. These
include description, analysis or conversation; however, one of the most popular
methods is revealing a character through action. Action is, as Robert Penn Warren
states in his Understanding Fiction, “a central fact in fiction” (656) hence
presenting characters on the basis of their actions would seem the proper way of
doing so. Hemingwayesque hero’s domain was action. Action was what defined
him as a man and, at the same time, kept him alive. It was the need for action that
forced Santiago out to the sea to fish for the marlin. It was the need for action that
made Robert Jordan fight in a war which was not his. The absence of action
equaled lack of aim in life. That, subsequently, resulted in stillness. And stillness
was almost equal to death for a Hemingwayesque hero.
The first issue of Superman, published in June 1938, had a cover featuring the
superhero lifting up a car as if it was a child’s toy. This immediately showed what
the scope of the comic book would be, what would be the prime feature of
Superman’s stories. The action was the thing that shaped the hero and drove the
plot. Through his actions Superman was proving that he was not a villain but a
hero: in the first issue he saved a woman from an electric chair, helped a battered
wife, and aided Lois Lane, his alter-ego’s work colleague, who accidentally got
herself into trouble with a terrible brute. It is evident from this short description of
the first Superman issue that even though the earliest stories did not feature
complex plots and thrilling adventures, they were primarily based on action. What
is more, the superhero himself is contrasted there with his shy and timid alter-ego,
Clark Kent, who did not act when Lois was in danger and was consequently called
a coward.
Batman, a superhero created by Bob Kane, who made his debut in the pages of
Detective Comics #27 in May, 1939, faced a comparable problem: in his real life a
millionaire playboy, Bruce Wayne had to pretend that he was indifferent to crime
so as not to be linked with his secret identity. In Batman. The New Adventures
#408, Bruce Wayne allows himself to be beaten by a street crook who has stolen
somebody’s wallet. Vicky Vale, his girlfriend, sees the event and that is one of the
reasons Wayne chooses not to act. As a common person he is not able of taking
action. Therefore, being active as opposed to being passive, is the crucial factor in
defining the superhero. Similarly to Hemingwayesque heroes, superheroes must
perform various deeds to be called ‘super’, just like the old man Santiago was
entitled to the name of a hero only after his daring venture in search of the marlin.
Francis Macomber can be called a hero only after his literary final act of courage.
Superheroes, as a rule, cannot stay still, cannot allow themselves a pause. Mila
Bongco has rightfully observed that a “superhero narrative is simple and formulaic,
held together by rapid action of one such character or a group of such characters”
(91). Action is what keeps the plot from falling into short, unconnected stories. For
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Batman, action was the most important issue in life. Orphaned in childhood, Bruce
Wayne swore vengeance and decided to fight with crime. Under the cover of the
darkness, he would put on his black cape and catsuit and prowl the city in search of
law breakers. Without that he would succumb into madness of stillness, become
haunted by the memories of his parents’ violent death in the hands of a street
mugger. Batman’s motivations bring into mind another characteristic of a
Hemingwayesque hero:
The hero is not saving society or an ethical ideal or a damsel in
distress. He is saving himself. . . . It is his emotional and spiritual
self, betrayed by a universe which has lost its purposiveness, that
needs rescuing, and the only rescuing agent is himself. (Gurko
236).
Batman, through the acts of crime fighting, saves the victims involved, but he
undertakes these tasks in order to save himself from madness. The universe has
deprived him of a happy childhood, a thing as vital for mental development as
breathing. To bring back the order into his confused life, Bruce Wayne becomes
Batman and fights crime in Gotham city. However surprising it may sound at first,
the prime motivation behind Batman’s actions is his selfishness, the need to take
care of his own life. And this makes him so very much like Hemingwayesque
heroes, much more than Superman, who has always been somewhat too perfect.
Batman can also be a perfect example of night restlessness, which seems to be
one of the features of a Hemingwayesque hero. S. J. L. Goldbraith observes that a
Hemingwayesque hero harbors fear of night:
Night is a difficult time for the Hemingway hero or code hero
because night itself—the darkness of night—implies, suggests, or
symbolizes the utter darkness that man will have to face after death.
Therefore the code hero will avoid nighttime. This will be the time he
will drink, this will be the time he will carouse or stay awake. (81)
This will be the time—for Batman— when he will dress up in his dark cape
and go into the night to fight crime. “The Batman…becomes alive with the night,”
writes Jenette Kahn, “it is then that he can drop all pretense, then that he can stalk
his prey. When he pursues criminals, his senses are at their keenest, his reflexes
most acutely tuned, his mind a cutting edge, his courage and daring and stamina
untinged by fear” (Vaz 132). Sleeping seems to close to the ‘sleep of death’ for
both the Hemingwayesque hero and a superhero who is Batman. Batman simply
lingers through the day as Bruce Wayne only to embrace the life to the fullest in a
bat costume.
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Hemingwayesque hero, being a fully developed masculine character, naturally
needed the companionship of women. The sexual side of human behavior was
never absent in Hemingway’s works. It served an important purpose in building up
the character, making him more human. Therefore a Hemingwayesque hero would
love with the same passion he fought his battles. He would also love fast, in an
always rushed manner, just as he lived his life. Robert Jordan’s relationship with
Maria was short but extremely intense, because the shadow of death was looming
above their heads.
As long as it is possible to talk about a Hemingwayesque hero as of a sexual
being, applying the same term to a comic book superhero would at first seem odd.
First of all, comic books were designed for children. In this context a hint of
sexuality would be inappropriate. The Comic Code, introduced in 1954 after the
publication of Dr. Fredrick Wertham’s book, Seduction of the Innocent, set out the
rules for comic publishers. It is still being used, although not as strictly as in the
past. The Code limited the possibilities of showcasing sexual content in the comic
books, but, naturally, did not eradicate the sexuality completely. The creators
simply found different ways to picture the issue.
The physical appearance of both the Hemingwayesque hero and the superhero
is not insignificant. The hero in Hemingway’s fiction used to be quite handsome,
attractive in a manly fashion. Be it slender bullfighter or sunburned hunter, the
hero attracted the sight of the opposite sex. It was Maria who noticed Jordan and
found him attractive. The superhero’s good looks are his landmark. It is not a sheer
coincidence that the first two superheroes, Superman and Batman, are very similar
in physical appearance. They are both tall, even a bit taller than a regular human
being. They have a broad chest and slender hips. Their muscles, first resembling
those sculptured on Greek statues, in the course of graphic development became
excessively huge. They both have square jaw, blue eyes and black hair. In the
standards of comic book drawn characters, they are definitely handsome. This may
sound too straightforward, but physical attractiveness is closely connected with
sexuality. By introducing a handsome superhero and have him rescue women in
need, the comic books have hinted at the hidden potential of sexual relationships,
forbidden by the Code.
Women in comic books are usually drawn as very attractive, with their
characteristic features strengthened. For example the lips are painted dark red and a
little bit pouted, the eyes are unnaturally big and the nose is relatively small. The
body shape is idealized: the legs are long and slender, the waist is slim and the
breasts are rather large. This version of a female character is as if an emblem of
feminity, the sum of all feminine physical features. She provides a counterbalance
for the ultra-masculine superhero, denying his asexuality. The introduction of an
extremely feminine character and placing her in constant danger, thus prompting
the superhero to rescue her from various perilous events, brings forward the
underlying topos of a knight rescuing his lady. This topos was never asexual.
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The introduction of a female figure into the superhero’s world resulted in the
birth of love interests. Mila Bongco observers that “a superhero usually maintains
an object of love, which renders him more human and personal, and more attuned
to his second identity”(118). Almost every superhero had a love interest, which
was more or less constant. Superman had Lois Lane, Spider-man had Mary Jane
Watson, Hulk had Betty Ross. Bongco notes:
The “girlfriends” of the superheroes are always portrayed as wellbehaved, alert and intelligent. Nevertheless, they are also marked by
extreme vulnerability to harm and hopeless infatuation. (108)
It is true that the female characters that achieved the status of “girlfriends” are
substantially different from the other female characters. For example, they have
developed an incredible ability to get themselves into all sorts of trouble or they are
virtually unable to discover the true identity of the superhero they feel attracted to.
It needs to be pointed out, however, that the phrase “girlfriend” used by Bongco
and adopted by me for the purpose of this discussion, is not necessarily a proper
term. Lois Lane cannot be fully regarded as the “girlfriend” of Superman because
technically she has never dated Superman. The situation is similar with Mary Jane
Watson. The more proper term, in my opinion, would be the “love interest”, as it
embraces both the platonic side if love – present in Lois and Mary Jane – and the
more erotic approach, present in the characters like Catwoman, Elektra or
Wonderwoman.
Killinger writes about Hemingwayesque hero:
Hemingway divides his women into the good and the bad, according
to the extent to which they complicate a man’s life. Those who are
simple, who participate in relationships with the heroes and yet leave
the heroes as free as possible, receive sympathetic treatment; those
who are demanding, who constrict the liberty of the heroes, who
attempt to possess them, are the women whom men can live without.
(89)
Such a woman a man can live without is Mrs. Macomber from “The Short Happy
Life of Francis Macomber” or Catherine from The Garden of Eden. They are both
wives whose actions destroy their husbands in either literal or metaphorical sense.
Mrs. Macomber, bored of her husband, shoots him during a hunting party. The
question whether she did it on purpose or by accident remains unanswered.
Catherine, wife to a young writer David Bourne falls in love with the same woman
her husband loves. This starts off a dangerous game of passion and hatred, in
which the wife begins her transformation into the husband: she cuts her hair in
manly fashion, starts wearing man clothes and write. The mental duel between the
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spouses over beautiful Marita is eventually won by the husband, however his
victory is not certain, as the wife promises she will be back to settle things.
The second category of superhero’s love interests include dangerous women.
These heroines are diametrically different from the reassuring female figures,
mentioned above. They are rather aggressive, they possess either physical strength
or superpower or both. They are not submissive, they want to use their powers or
their sexuality to control the superhero. They do not need being rescued by the
superhero, they are able to take care of themselves. These female characters
provide the sexual tension, which was rarely present in the previously described
cases. Into this category fall Catwoman or Elektra, who to some extend can be
described as comic book super-villainesses. They represent the destructive female
force, the tempting Eve or Lilith, whereas the previously mentioned good women
could be described as the variations on Virgin Mary
Another interesting observation comes from the fact that superheroes rarely
marry. Even though the Comic Code stressed the sanctity of marriage, superhero
marriages are not common on the pages of comic books. The love relationship
usually stays in the state of mutual attraction between the superhero and the girl,
resulting in a sort of an anti-climax. However, there are some married superheroes:
the most famous couple being Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman from
Fantastic Four. Richard and Susan Reed were married before the accident that gave
the superpowers happened. They were married at the starting point of the story.
That is an important factor, as according to Umberto Eco, Superman’s stories (and,
accordingly all superhero stories) are based on a plot which does not “consume”
itself. In his The Role of the Reader, Eco focuses in one chapter on the “Myth of
Superman” and verbalizes an interesting point: “If Superman Married Lois Lane, it
would of course be another step toward his death, as it would lay down another
irreversible premise” (114). As Eco observes, the change in life of a superhero
naturally leads to a chain of events that reach far into the future: if a superhero
marries, he starts a new life, can have children and, eventually, grandchildren. This
places the time of superhero, which till the moment was a conveniently undefined
present, into a slipstream of events which logically should lead to the character
aging and dying. This is described by Eco as the “consumption” of the character.
In Hemingway’s world love could never bring happiness to the characters; it’s
aftermath being, as Waldhorn says “always an ache, whether of frustration,
disillusion, or death” (25). The most perfect of Hemingway’s renderition of love,
the feeling between Robert Jordan and Maria, finishes with his death. The love of
Lieutenant Henry and Catherine Barkley ends with hers. Killinger describes the
notion of love in Hemingway’s world with great accuracy:
That is the way love is in a man’s world, and Hemingway’s
world is such a man’s world that it has been called a place where
heroes are known specifically by their genitals. It is a world where
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love can never be satisfactory for the Jake Barneses, because the
Brett Ashleys can never be absorbed by castratos, where true love
exists only when a Catherine or a Maria or a Renata renounces
herself in favor of her man, and where love can never mean
everything to the hero because, to live authentically, he must remain
alone in the presence of death. (96)
The hero must remain alone, he cannot have strong emotional ties to anyone.
Love, beautiful and needed as it is, can be put aside by the hero whenever the
situation calls for it. Hemingwayesque hero has been first and foremost a loner, an
individual closed in his heroism. This is not different in the case of a superhero. He
resigns from love and chooses loneliness in order to be more apt to fulfill his
mission. In a world of danger and threat, love both gives strength and adds
weakness; builds motivation and creates the weakest point in the superhero’s
armor. Therefore, to be able to defend the world the superhero must be able to cast
his personal affections aside and become a lonely man, just like the heroes of
Hemingway has always been.
Leo Gurko observes that “Heroism is a lonely act, and heroes are essentially
lonely men” (229). In order to show the qualities of a hero, he must not be
shrouded by the background characters. The hero ought to be special, more
developed whether in terms of personality or physical appearance. On ancient
frescos and many a stone relief, the hero, usually a demigod, is always taller than
the rest of the figures. But the actual, physical alienation is not the core of Gurko’s
statement. Heroism is a lonely act, because of the repercussions that may follow
any extraordinary deed.
Batman was originally created a loner. Quite complex psychologically,
traumatized by the shell shock of his parent’s violent death, he is not able to form a
typical relationship with any other human being than his faithful butler, Alfred
Pennyworth. In this he resembles Hemingwayesque heroes, who generally seem to
be emotionally impaired. Destroyed within by traumatic past experiences, they
cannot tie themselves to anybody or anything for a time longer than the initial
outburst of passion. Living, loving and dying on the edge, they have little time and
opportunity to cultivate anything deeper. As Gurko observes:
[Hemingway heroes] tend to be snobbish, touchy, clannish, and
nearly always in a state of tension. They are not above moments of
cruelty. They are almost obsessively self-preoccupied. They live in
perceptual imbalance, depending too much on themselves in a world
which has withdrawn its support from them. (238)
Bruce Wayne fits the description perfectly. Coming from the top of the society,
well educated, well bred to be exact, he isolates himself even from the members of
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his own class. For those around him, he seems a weird example of a wealthy
philanthropist, who can spend millions of dollars on poor children or modern cars.
To know him is desirable. To get to know him is impossible. Self-preoccupied, he
secretly builds up his body, forms it into a desirable shape with almost lethal
training programs. Dressed in the suit of the bat, he is cruel and merciless for those
who defy the law. When he is on the action, he depends on himself – that is on the
only fully competent person he had ever known – rather than on any help from the
outside. In the depth of his loneliness he knows for certain that he is all by himself
with no one to turn to. The tension and uneasiness rise, making him more alienated
with each passing day.
Even Superman needs a place where he can be alone with his thoughts. A safe
place, a haven. Such safe places, “good” places are sought by Hemingwayesque
heroes, but not many manage to find them. As Waldhorn points out, “there are a
few good places, Nick will learn, where reality is tolerable even though fantasies of
immortality must be abandoned” (55). But there are no “good” places for Robert
Jordan or Fredric Henry. In those places, a hero can rest and gather strength. It is
the place of escape from other people, who often tend to be over-invasive. Fredric
Henry had a safe place when he had Catherine. Together they managed to separate
themselves from the chaos of war or, as Gurko formulates it “create their own
universe, more intense and exalted than the one they abandoned” (232). For
Superman, such place is the Fortress of Solitude which he had build for himself in
the Artic wastes. Batman, similarly to Superman, has a “good” place of his own. It
is his Bat Cave, situated under his mansion. It is a dark place, “huge, empty, silent
as a church” as Bruce Wayne calls it himself in Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns
(19).
The “good” place does not provide the stillness of a grave, the one the hero
fears, but the peacefulness of a safe haven. It is a place safe from death and danger,
a rejuvenating place. As mentioned, not every hero created by Hemingway had
such a sanctuary and not every superhero has one. As loners by choice, the heroes
engage themselves in the most dangerous missions without the fear of hurting
anyone they care about. They know all too well the pain of losing a loved person:
they have all gone through traumatic ordeals or suffered great loses which left
them emotionally crippled. The defender of the planet is as much lonely as a
simple soldier on a battlefield or a bullfighter on the arena. They are all united in
the alienation, in being an individual in a world of copycats. But first and foremost,
they are united in their heroism—and heroism is a lonely act.
Last but not least, the feature that defines the archetypical hero is his silence. In
contrast with flamboyant, talkative male character such as Errol Flynn’s Robin
Hood or Jude Law’s Sky Captain, the macho type is taciturn and darkish. We are
allowed an insight into his psyche via the soliloquies—present in abundance in
comic books—or through the hero’s actions. The fact is that the archetypical hero
does not take pleasure in talking. The gunslinger Shane is rather silent. Bogart’s
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Rick talks little but when he does it has a purpose. The American hero talks little
but to the point.
In this paper we have contrasted two heroic character types: the superhero and
the Hemingwayesque hero, coming respectively from the lowbrow and highbrow
culture. On the basis of the similarities that have been found, it can be stated that
there exists a certain model of a hero in the American culture. This topos of a
lonely hero who acts to save the world, a city or a farm has found its way into the
mass culture and is still strong today. The comic books are still being published;
the publishing houses like Marvel or DC are reinventing the superhero formulas
and trying to tell the old stories in a new way; however, the main features of a hero
stay unchanged. The movies are being produced, both based on comic books or
completely different, in which the archetypical hero fights for justice and freedom.
The American culture is telling the same story with the same main character over
and over again, but this is what the readers and the viewers want. Once a topos
enters a canon it stays there forever. Be it Batman, Robert Jordan, Conan or Rambo
—the lonely hero has definitely secured his position in the American culture.
Notes