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Following the success of Man of Steel back in 2013, the Warner Bros. DC Extended Universe arose in contention against the astronomically popular Marvel Cinematic Universe, debuting 5 years prior. Several installments into both franchises later, and fans of either universe have been wrought into conflict about which fabled fiction reigns supreme. Online forums have become battlegrounds for comic book nerds and movie casuals alike, to assert that their cinematic depiction of superheroes is superior. Whilst some fans argue on the grounds of box office profit, and others preach that their heroes would be victorious in actual battle, from a narrative perspective there is a clear supremacy between the two. Amidst the visual spectacles and prodigious Hans Zimmer music scores that the DC Extended Universe boasts, the character development of the individual members of the team in the MCU's Avengers (2012) is head and shoulders above the current cinematic iteration of the Justice League. Potentially being an example in a narrative storytelling 101 class for future creative writing students, here are a couple examples of why Marvel's narrative is 'better' than DC 's:

Blurring the Lines Between Main and Minor Characters

Typical incarnations of the Hero's journey revolve around one central protagonist who sees a need, fulfills the quest, and is changed because of it. This narrative structure has been recycled throughout the decades, to the point where the outcome is predictable. Even franchises built around a cohort of heroes, the Hero's journey seems to be primarily concerning one member of the team. Han Solo may have risen above his life as a smuggler to become a hero of the Rebellion, but Star Wars: A New Hope is ultimately about Luke destroying the Death Star. Hermione Granger may have grown to be a capable witch at Hogwarts, but the Harry Potter franchise revolves around the namesake character's campaign against Voldemort and his Deatheaters. The 'lord of the rings' Sauron ultimately had to be defeated by Frodo Baggins casting the ring of power into Mount Doom, but it could be argued that Aragons' journey from being Strider in the Prancing Pony, to leading one fractured half of the Fellowship to save Rohan, to claiming his identity as King of Gondor upon reforging the shards of Narsil, is what leads to Middle Earth's defeat of Sauron's armies. A stark contrast against this narrative precedent in modern literature is George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. Martin's magnum opus is notoriously hard to explain within a reasonable amount of time, which is arguably a testament to the complexity of its narrative, an interwoven web of high-fantasy epics and political plot-lines. It's most underrated attribute is its blurring of main and minor characters, something which the Marvel Cinematic Universe has also accomplished, albeit less discreetly.

Each addition to the MCU is arguably it's own stereotypical rendition of the Hero's Journey, Thor is about Thor, Iron Man is about Iron Man and Captain America: The First Avenger... you get the idea. The masterclass of the MCU is through it's culmination installments, the 'Avenger' films. Marking the end of each 'phase' of the MCU, they converge the storylines of each of the titular protagonists into one cinematic epic, in which all the characters are tested and transformed. Steve Rogers overcomes his past soldier lifestyle to adapt to battling extra-galactic enemies. Tony Stark uses his engineering prowess not to make WMDs but to save humanity. Bruce Banner overcomes the unpredictability of the Hulk to consciously use it to his advantage. Thor learns he is not head and shoulders above everyone in the universe and humbly works with a team to defeat his brother. The Avengers doesn't tell the story of one main character with a cast of minor characters arising to the occasion, but a team of individuals who each have their own contribution to make to fulfill the quest.

The structure of the DCEU lacks this interwoven complexity. The debut movie for the DCEU entails the rise of an extraterrestrial orphan who mistakenly found his way to earth, was raised by its inhabitants and subsequently protects its new home against antagonized members of its own species (not to be confused with Goku from Dragonball, a Japanese manga emerging some 30 years after the original comic book). The sequel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, released 3 years after, chronicles the world's reaction to the emergence of a god-like being in the form of Superman, alongside the struggles of a seasoned Batman, who ultimately come to conflict over whether humanity should attempt to control this god-like figure. However, this conflict is dissolved by Superman having to defeat a genetically engineered monster created by Lex Luthor, effectively diminishing the attempt at solidifying another titular character whose importance could rival that of Superman's, and instead cementing Superman's sole significance to the city's salvation, and the movie's plot.

Justice League introduces a ensemble of heroes, each with their own tragic backstories, Barry Allen's quest to restore the honour of his father, Arthur Curry's rise to becoming the true king of Atlantis, Victor Stone's struggles with walking through life as a spontaneously updating cyborg, with only Diana having a previous instalment in the franchise to flesh out her story, alongside Bruce Wayne from the Batman v Superman. So how do all of these character's plot arcs converge in their cinematic union? Through having to resurrect Superman, in order to defeat the might of Steppenwolf. Despite having a team comprising an Amazonian World War heroine, the most advanced cyborg mankind had seen at the time, the future king of Atlantis and the one human being who stood toe to toe with Superman, their plan revolves around recruiting someone else. Where The Avengers develops its characters through their own individual contributions to defeating Loki, Justice League confirms that the only character in the franchise that can save the day is the Hero's journey personified, the comic book Jesus, the walking deus ex machina himself, Superman.

Incremental Superteam Formation

The assembling of the Avengers in the 2012 film was developed incrementally through a combination of the effect each individual had on the shared universe, alongside a third party's stake in their potential use for mankind. Steve Rogers became Captain America through the American army's attempt to create a supersoldier to defeat the Nazi threat of WW2. The rise of Hulk originated from a failed attempt at replicating this supersoldier process through gamma radiation. Tony Stark is already a prominent figure for the American military, having developed weapons for them during their campaign in the Middle East through his company, Stark Industries. Only Thor's origin stands in isolation, having being exiled from Asgard to Earth, unexplained in the movie and could almost be assumed to be pure luck. It is the exile of Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, also to Earth, that gathers the attention of the military, who initially investigate what to them is an other worldly object. Each individual hero had an impact on their universe's timeline of Earth, established through their own movie.

The post-credits scene of the original Iron Man film, the first film in the emerging franchise, establishes that a mysterious figure called Nick Fury is attempting to recruit Iron Man into the 'Avengers Initiative'. By the 2012 film, it is established that Nick Fury has been gathering extraordinary individuals investigated by the military to form a team to combat any alien threat. From the post-credits scene of the first film, the ground work for an epic franchise was laid. Each story was able to be told individually, and the narrative did not suffer from having to shoehorn in an attempt to connect any plot-line mid-movie entry. Each subsequent installment were not chronological sequels, but divergent storylines that deepened our understanding of the superhero team, not through flashback scenes like in other franchises, but through full-length adventures of their own, to build our bonds with the characters who would ultimately unite to become the Avengers.

The formation of the cinematic Justice League lacked the patience of individual installments. The 2017 film detailed how the death of Superman triggered the rise of Steppenwolf's quest for the Mother Boxes, of which Diana as Wonder Woman came to know of through a message from her Amazons after Steppenwolf assaulted their home island. She makes her way to an old friend of hers, Bruce Wayne, and together they seek to find and recruit other 'metahumans' in an attempt to defeat Steppenwolf. A good portion of the second act of the film revolves around the attempt to form this team to combat an ancient god, only to devolve into attempt to resurrect someone else to defeat the threat by the end of the second act.

Bruce Wayne effectively becomes DC's Nick Fury, but instead of having access to information about extraordinary individuals through working for a top-secret sect of the military (S.H.I.E.L.D), Bruce Wayne is able to discover metahumans through hacking top-secret military information because he's rich. Diana and Bruce Wayne effectively become Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr from X-Men: First Class, recruiting different metahumans in their own dedicated scenes, except unlike Charles and Erik they happen to score three from three in their attempts. Bruce appeals to Arthur Curry's previous interactions with Steppenwolf, Victor's father's death while working on the Mother Box sparks his interest in the team and Barry joins the team because he needs friends. While the potential for each DC character's growth and depth is not to be disregarded, Marvel's patient incremental development of each hero far outshines the attempt in Justice League to establish the significance of its characters.

These two examples illustrate the key narrative distinctions between the two films. Justice League's attempt at establishing a film franchise through effectively chronicling Superman's ability to save the planet pales in comparison to the incremental character development of the Avengers from a storytelling perspective. Whilst not often rewarded by box office revenue, the creative development of a story is integral to forming an effective relationship between the viewer and the characters, and taking the time and effort to establish this relationship ultimately pays off regarding viewer satisfaction. Something that Avengers has harmoniously executed, and that Justice League has not.

What do you think? .

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Avengers 2012 vs Justice League 2017: A Lesson in Narrative Storytelling

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Following the success of Man of Steel back in 2013, the Warner Bros. DC Extended Universe arose in contention against the astronomically popular Marvel Cinematic Universe, debuting 5 years prior. Several installments into both franchises later, and fans of either universe have been wrought into conflict about which fabled fiction reigns supreme.

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The fairytale genre is one of the most well-known. It's the first one most of us are introduced to as children, and whether we know it or not, it's our first exposure to many tropes and archetypes. Fairytales have many conventions in common, such as clear delineations between heroes and villains, the use of magic, and the use of tests the hero must pass to prove worthy of achieving a goal. However, even if a fairytale doesn't use one of these tropes, chances are it will use another common one: the lack of a mother or mother figure. In almost every classic fairytale, the hero or heroine has no biological mother, often due to her death. While this isn't heavily discussed in most stories, the lack of a mother has a significant impact on every fairytale hero or heroine, for good or ill.

Cinderella

Say the word "fairytale," and Cinderella likely comes to mind immediately. The story has been a favorite for generations. It has undergone countless retellings in books, film, and other media, and been critiqued from almost every angle. Most critiques focus on Cinderella's desire for a prince and whether she is a positive female role model. Yet not much attention is paid to what shaped her desires or influencing ability. Cinderella grows up without a mother, which arguably shapes her more than any event in her life, including her triumph at the ball.

Readers and viewers know Cinderella's mother died, although how is not specified in many versions. The 2015 live action Disney remake shows the mother succumbing to an illness, perhaps tuberculosis if we go by her constant cough. Other versions state she was ill for a long time without specifying the sickness, but most versions simply show Cinderella growing up with a single father. This arrangement persists for an unknown period until the father, who travels frequently, brings home a stepmother and her two daughters.

The word "stepmother" immediately connotes "villain" for fairytale aficionados. According to the SurLaLune annotated version of Cinderella, the stepmother figure is always "associated with jealousy and cruelty." According to masculine psychology, she is "a symbol of the unconscious in a destructive role," and according to Jungian psychology, she is the archetype for a destructive mother or inner tyrant. "Better a serpent than a stepmother," Euripidies said in 437 BC, and in Cinderella's case, he was correct. Cinderella's stepmother instantly takes over the household, using her new husband's absence to her advantage. She privileges her biological daughters over Cinderella, abusing and demeaning her stepdaughter at every turn. She gets away with it because during the story's time period, the house was considered a woman's domain. Cinderella's father would not have paid much if any attention to what took place there.

In making Cinderella a servant, the stepmother strips her stepdaughter of her rightful place as lady of the house. She does not provide instruction on running a household correctly as a biological mother might have. Cinderella has no opportunity for education or socialization; her stepmother does not teach her the social graces a lady of her time would need to know. Instead, Cinderella's position in her own household is that of scullery maid. She does "the meanest work of the house"-scrubbing floors, emptying chamber pots, and most famously, cleaning chimneys. With every chore, Cinderella's stepmother silently sends the message, "You are not a lady. You do not deserve the role you were born into. I am in control, not you." In the 2015 remake, Lady Tremaine drives this home with the declaration, "A ragged servant girl is what you will always be." Indeed, Cinderella apparently has no way to escape her new role or change her future.

Cinderella is not hopeless or helpless, though she appears to be. Her lack of an attentive mother figure has stunted her emotional, educational, and social growth. Yet in most versions, she doesn't seem aware of that stunting. If she is, she doesn't let it affect her kind, patient attitude, or her dreams for a better future. Without a mother, Cinderella has learned if she wants to be a lady, she'll have to teach herself. Much of that teaching comes from inner strength. She remembers she is a gentleman's daughter, even when her father dies, leaving her with no family other than her abusers. That memory informs her every word and action. She may not know how to dance properly, set a fancy table, or converse in multiple languages, but she does know how to be kind. She knows how to treat those less fortunate, tackle hard work with grace, and conduct herself no matter who is in her company. In many versions, Cinderella treats the prince as a person rather than a royal, perhaps because she lacks a noblewoman's traditional education. For his part, the prince finds this refreshing and attractive.

Most versions don't give Cinderella's mother much, if any, time to teach her daughter these crucial lessons. What is there shines through, however. The adversity Cinderella faces from the woman who was supposed to step into her mother's nurturing role only enhances her abilities.

Snow White

Like Cinderella, Snow White suffers under the wrath of a wicked stepmother. In the Disney version, the stepmother, also known as the Evil Queen, does make Snow White a scullery maid, but this is not her ultimate plan. The Evil Queen does not simply want to humiliate Snow White; she wants to murder her. The Queen has long been "the fairest in the land," but Snow White has taken the title. This is partially because Snow White is beautiful; she's described as pale-skinned with "lips red as the rose" and "hair black as ebony." Such a striking combination is rare in fairytales, where many princesses are blue-eyed and fair-haired. It's also rare genetically, making her more of a marvel. Like Cinderella though, Snow White is mostly "the fairest" due to her kindness, gentleness, and patience. The Queen cannot or will not emulate these traits, and seeing them acted out day after day rankles her. In many adaptations, such as Once Upon a Time's version of Snow White's story, the princess' goodwill earns her the love of her kingdom's people, increasing the Queen's thirst for blood and vengeance.

If Snow White's biological mother had lived, would the princess be the focal point of murderous plots? Readers and viewers might say yes, but evidence suggests otherwise. In the original Grimm fairytale, Snow White's biological mother was the villain. Rather than nurturing her flesh and blood, she chose to murder Snow White because the princess stole her mother's beauty. This puts Snow White at a distinct disadvantage over Cinderella. She has never had a loving mother of any description. Whether biological or a stepmother, the only female figure she knows and trusts does not even want her alive. As for Snow White's father, he is barely mentioned; like Cinderella's father, he dies early in the tale.

Snow White is left with no one to trust, no one to care for her, and no one to nurture her. She must fend for herself from an early age; the Disney version paints her as young as fourteen. She ends up living in a cottage of seven dwarves - all men - who cherish her but expect her to be their housekeeper and caretaker. The dwarves' intentions are not sexual. In the Disney version, Snow White thinks of them almost as her children. In Once Upon a Time, the dwarves act as overprotective brothers, and cannot have relations with Snow White because their culture demands they remain celibate. That said, it is disturbing for Snow White to seek refuge exclusively with men once she's on her own. This suggests that while she knows how to do house chores, she has no concept of what it means to embrace womanhood. She's never been taught that women are fundamentally different from men, or that there are things women know that men are not meant to probe into. Without a mother figure, Snow White arguably doesn't truly know she's a woman.

This deficit comes to the forefront when Snow meets her prince. The tale of Snow White, especially its Disney adaptation, has long been criticized because its heroine begins a serious relationship with, and ostensibly marries, a man she just met. They've never had a real conversation, and Snow's first kiss occurs when she is comatose. In other words, though lovingly, the prince takes advantage of her weakened state. Yet Snow White never questions any of this. She doesn't get to know the prince or ruminate on what life with him would be like. She accepts him because he's handsome and seems kind. Arguably, she also accepts him because he is male, and she has absorbed the message she needs males to survive. Readers or viewers are meant to understand Snow White will be okay, even happy, with her true love, but in real life, the story doesn't translate well. Her lack of a mother has taught Snow that she can't make it on her own - that in fact, without a man, she is in constant danger. Unlike Cinderella, whose motherlessness makes her stronger, Snow White becomes emotionally weaker, constantly floundering in a world too big, complicated, and frightening for her to navigate.

Belle

Belle, protagonist of Beauty and the Beast, is a third motherless fairytale heroine. In many versions of her story such as the SurLaLune annotation, Belle (or Beauty, as she's sometimes known) never mentions having or missing a mother. The mother's absence goes unexplained in many incarnations of the story, although more modern adaptations have given her a backstory. Whether or not her mother has a backstory though, Belle is always given an attentive father. Belle and her father are always close; if Belle has siblings, she is painted as her father's favorite.

Belle's closeness with her father gives her a distinct advantage over Cinderella and Snow White. She is one of the only fairytale heroines, especially in the Disney canon, who has a close relationship with a biological parent. Readers and viewers can infer this connection gives Belle more security, although her story doesn't delve into that. This security gives Belle room to develop not only kindness and patience, but a definite sense of personhood and self-respect. In her book Captivating, author Stasi Eldridge explores this concept more fully. She argues that all girls want to be "the Beauty" worth rescuing, whether or not they act like "damsels in distress," so to speak. This desire to be the Beauty often starts with the father. Eldridge explains girls often will twirl, dance, or otherwise perform in front of their fathers. Daughters want their fathers to affirmatively answer their hearts' question, "Am I pretty, Daddy?" Here, "pretty" means both physically beautiful and inwardly valuable. Belle's father consistently gives her an affirmative answer, even when others do not. Thus, Belle grows up knowing she can do and be whatever she is meant to, because she is treasured in her father's eyes. She might well miss her mother, but Belle recognizes Papa doing his best to fill that void. She rewards him with unconditional love, loyalty, and intuitive understanding of what he needs.

Her strong sense of security and understanding of men serve Belle well when she encounters the Beast. At first, the Beast rebuffs Belle's attempts to be patient and subservient with him. As befits his animalistic personality, he roars, stomps around, intimidates others, and insists on his own way. In many versions of Beauty and the Beast, he also treats Belle as a servant, or at least underappreciated subordinate. Belle eventually reaches her limit and lets the Beast know she won't tolerate his temper. Yet she doesn't do so with petty anger. Instead, she stands up for herself as she has learned to do with the help of a wise and caring dad. In short order, Belle also mixes firmness with compassion. She learns to see the good in the Beast because her father, and perhaps her mother, were there to teach her how to look for the good in everyone. Belle is a prime example of a motherless heroine whose other family has stepped up to continue the lessons Mom did not get to finish teaching, and she flourishes because of it.

The Little Mermaid (Ariel)

So far, we have examined two heroines whose motherlessness has shaped them for good, and one whose lack of a mother figure has negatively influenced her. Our last heroine, the Little Mermaid, has a different relationship with motherlessness. The Little Mermaid has gleaned positive and negative traits from her lack of a mother figure.

In the original Hans Christian Andersen story and some other adaptations, the Little Mermaid has something of a mother figure in her dowager grandmother. Grandmother is a source of wisdom for her granddaughter, answering her questions about humans and teaching her the differences between humans and mer-people. Additionally, Grandmother is a source of encouragement. She knows her youngest granddaughter longs to see the human world, as each mermaid gets to do on her fifteenth birthday. Yet because the Little Mermaid is the youngest, she has the longest time to wait. Her grandmother understands the Little Mermaid's frustration but consistently encourages her to be patient. In the adaptations of her story where her grandmother is present, the Little Mermaid has ample opportunity to cultivate that patience, as well as kindness and prudent curiosity. In addition, the Little Mermaid's grandmother plays a much bigger role in these adaptations than her father, acting almost as a parent rather than a grandparent. She provides her granddaughter a much-needed female confidante, as well as the courage she needs to act on her desires once she is old enough to see the human world for herself. Grandmother cannot ultimately save the Little Mermaid from her fate; the Little Mermaid still despairs because her prince does not love her, and commits suicide. However, her grandmother's presence arguably gave her a fuller life and nobler motives than are seen in other adaptations.

More recent adaptations of The Little Mermaid, most notably the Disney version, eliminate the grandmother and any trace of a mother figure. In the Disney version, our little mermaid, called Ariel, has six older sisters, as in the original tale. However, they pay her little to no attention and do not provide sisterly guidance when it comes to the human world or anything else Ariel might need help understanding. The only guidance Ariel gets is from her father, King Triton. Triton is well-intentioned and loves his daughter dearly. Yet he is responsible for an entire kingdom, leaving him little time to help Ariel grow up. More importantly, his negative experiences with humans give him deep-seated prejudices that blind him to Ariel's need for knowledge and a life outside her sheltered sea palace.

By the time we meet Ariel and Triton in Disney's The Little Mermaid, Ariel is sixteen, headstrong, and independent. Without consistent parental guidance or rules, Ariel has learned to navigate the world largely on her own. She is unfailingly curious, possessing an admirable zest for life, and sees the world as a huge yet fascinating and wonderful place. She is fearless, exploring shipwrecks and facing sharks with enviable confidence. Like Belle, she may miss her absent mother, but is comfortable in who she is even without her. Unlike Belle though, Ariel has not absorbed unconditional love or security from her father. If anything, she has learned her father is an adversary because he keeps her from fulfilling her goals. Thus, her admirable independence, confidence, and fearlessness are not tempered with appropriate caution. They quickly become rebellion and recklessness.

Ariel's lack of a mother or mother figure has also left her unable to distinguish needs from wants, or communicate those properly. She has subconsciously absorbed the message, "Look out for yourself and take what you want no matter the cost. No one else will do it for you because no one else understands you." Consequently, Ariel and Triton constantly butt heads. "Do you think I want to see my youngest daughter snared by a fish-eater's hook?" he laments. Yet Ariel doesn't see this question as loving or protective; she sees it as more evidence of unreasonable prejudice. Triton only drives the knife in deeper when he rages at Ariel and destroys all her human treasures, including the statue of Eric, the prince she claims to love. Ariel breaks down, and throws herself into the grasp of Ursula the sea witch, arguably because she is desperate for someone, anyone, to understand her point of view.

With a mother figure, Ariel might have been saved from the travail that results. A mother, grandmother, or aunt might have shown sympathy and offered to be an intermediary between Ariel and Triton. Moreover, the grown woman in Ariel's life might have urged her to think through what she was doing. "Yes," this figure might have told Ariel, "independence and knowledge is important, but not when your means of getting it hurts someone else. Yes, first love feels wonderful and it's possible Eric could love you, too. However, you both need time to figure out how you feel." Without such a person in her life, Ariel continues to navigate the world as a rebellious, angry pseudo-orphan. She continually makes poor choices and others, especially Triton, pay the price. Ariel gets what she wants eventually-a chance at love and the ability to make a self-determined decision about the rest of her life. She and Triton make up, and the kingdom seems happy with her choice. However, viewers are left to wonder how much Ariel has truly grown. Does she possess the maturity she wanted her father and others to credit her with, or is she still a selfish and headstrong girl? Opinions vary, but it is not far-fetched to say Ariel will continue to flounder as an adult because she missed out on crucial guidance during her formative years.

The Final Verdict

Many fairytale protagonists, especially females, lack mothers or mother figures. How this lack influences them is often up to the writers of their stories. Some protagonists come out of motherlessness much stronger, while others make choices that indicate they suffered from this lack. However, it cannot be denied motherlessness shapes beloved fairytale characters in ways that are sometimes less than obvious. They may be absent, but fairytale characters' mothers often carry the strongest presence in any story. The lessons with which they leave their children, no matter how briefly those lessons were taught, inform everything those children do, even from beyond the grave.

Works Cited

Andersen, Hans Christian. "The Little Mermaid."

Disney, Walt prod. Beauty and the Beast. Walt Disney Films, 1991. Film.

Disney, Walt prod. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Walt Disney Films, 1937. Film.

Disney, Walt prod. The Little Mermaid. Walt Disney Films, 1989. Film.

Eldridge, John & Stasi Eldridge. Captivating. Nelson Books: April 5, 2005.

"Inner Tyrant: The Evil Stepmother Archetype." August 20, 2013. https://livingintheforest.com/2013/08/20/inner-tyrant-the-evil-stepmother-archetype/

Sur La Lune: The Annotated Beauty and the Beast. http://surlalunefairytales.com/beautybeast/index.html

Sur La Lune: The Annotated Cinderella. http://surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/index.html

Sur La Lune: The Annotated Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/sevendwarfs/

"The Wicked Stepmother." http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/at-the-interface/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/porterewpaper.pdf

What do you think? .

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Missing Moms and the Fairytale Characters Living Without Them

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The fairytale genre is one of the most well-known. It's the first one most of us are introduced to as children, and whether we know it or not, it's our first exposure to many tropes and archetypes.

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Analysis of "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" (Robert Frost)

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Analysis of "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" (Robert Frost)

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The Fault in Our Stars: What It Teaches Us About Death 

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The Fault in Our Stars: What It Teaches Us About Death 

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Mostly, we ignore death.

John Green, the author of The Fault in Our Stars, and I each served as Episcopal chaplains in children's hospitals, in places where tragedy and our mortality cannot be avoided. Chaplains need to know how to play. They should also understand how to listen to and speak with dying children and their parents. Green's novel (now a movie) confronts the question at the heart of this encounter, one which we all must eventually face: how do we honestly talk about life while remaining fully conscious of our death.

Green's main characters Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus Waters meet at a support group for teenagers with cancer in a church basement described by the group facilitator as "literally in the heart of Jesus." They joke about this ("I thought we were in a church basement, but we are literally in the heart of Jesus"). They point out the other awkward adult efforts to pity, comfort or coddle them with "cancer perks."

So often literature about teenagers becomes mired in superficial questions about popularity. This novel hardly addresses that topic. Instead the poetic language and intelligence of the characters about the painful truth of their situation sets it apart. Urgency compels them to get right to the point, to say what they really feel in a way that is too rare in ordinary life.

Hazel and Augustus fall in love. Together they decide what death and life mean. On this path they confront two different ways to talk about mortality.

In Augustus' home his parents have framed needlepoint sayings or "encouragements" hanging on the walls. "Home Is Where the Heart Is," "True Love Is Born from Hard Times," "Family Is Forever," "Without Pain We Couldn't Know Joy." His well-meaning parents refuse to acknowledge the genuinely tragic elements of life. This false optimism seems shallow and hollow. In talking about heaven they merely raise more questions than they answer.

Most of us have experienced this. Well-meaning people in hospitals say, "Everything happens for a reason," or "God has a plan for you," and it just makes matters worse. In our hearts we cannot help but ask what kind of plan and what kind of God dictates that a child die of thyroid cancer before her seventeenth birthday?

Those who have read authors like Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins will recognize the second more cynical attitude exemplified by Green's character Peter Van Houten (the fictional author of the fictional work An Imperial Affliction).

At first, Hazel feels attracted to Van Houten's nihilism. She reads his novel over and over recommending it to Augustus while longing to speak with its author who seems to understand her situation so well. At their first meeting Van Houten summarizes his view saying to Hazel, "You are a side effect of an evolutionary process that cares little for individual lives. You are a failed experiment in mutation."

Ultimately, Hazel describes Van Houten as among the "miserable creatures who scour... the earth in search of something to hurt." She loves great poets like Sylvia Plath, Emily Dickinson, T.S. Eliot, Wallace Stevens and Robert Frost who surprise us with the mystery at the heart of our life. Hazel concludes that our experience of love, gratitude, awe and beauty are the reasons why Van Houten is not simply cruel but also mistaken.

Can there be a middle way between these extremes? Not forgetting our death, can we remain true both to the tragedy and beauty of our existence?

In our society communities which recognize our mortality are rare, but most Episcopal churches I know face death and exemplify this middle way. Communities like this act as containers for hard questions and for being honest about our situation. People can share their doubts in these churches. We do not have to agree about what we believe in order to care for each other.

Most people in their beliefs find themselves somewhere between Augustus' parents and Van Houten. At their best they are humble about their faith and generous to those who hold different views. They value love and kindness over belief. The language of awe and beauty has a hold on them as they try to remain faithful to the extraordinary gift of being alive.

I do not want to spoil the surprise of what happens to Hazel and Augustus, but I can tell you what they come to think. Augustus respected the work of churches. He did not believe in a heaven where you ride unicorns, play harps and live in a mansion made of clouds. But he did "believe in Something with a capital S," that when we die "something becomes of us."

Perhaps Hazel as the narrator has traveled the greatest distance in her understanding of death and life. In the end she agrees with her father that something about the universe wants to be noticed. Furthermore she says, "I felt that I owed a debt to the universe that only my attention could repay..." She says, "Maybe some people need to believe in a proper and omnipotent God to pray, but I don't."

This book brought back many memories of friends I lost at the children's hospital. I remember their faces, their fears and unique beauty. Tonight at dinner I reminisced with an old friend in his forties now dying of bone cancer. We have different beliefs but a great deal of love for each other. He told me, "I am not afraid of dying. I am afraid of not living now."

We did not ignore death tonight.

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Mostly, we ignore death. John Green, the author of The Fault in Our Stars, and I each served as Episcopal chaplains in children's hospitals, in places where tragedy and our mortality cannot be avoided. Chaplains need to know how to play. They should also understand how to listen to and speak with dying children and their parents.

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Harry Potter: The Remarkably Unremarkable Main Character

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Harry Potter: The Remarkably Unremarkable Main Character

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Harry Potter: two words. Two words are all it takes to gain recognizable attention; two words are all it takes to for potter-heads everywhere to raise their metaphorical wands-some literally. Harry Potter is a series of stories, seven books, eight movies, is unforgettable and praised around the world, but, what is it that makes the unremarkable Harry Potter as the main character so remarkable that he could power through seemingly impossible undertakings, impact generations and have such worldwide media success? When we first meet our notorious Harry Potter, he is an eleven-year-old neglected orphan boy being raised by his unloving, overly social- conscious Aunt Petunia, her husband Vernon, and their spoiled son Dudley. Going from Harry the muggle boy under the stairs to Harry the wizard, the "Chosen One," does his normalcy and relatability hinder or empower him as the main protagonist of J.K. Rowling's series?

In the beginning pages of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, we are introduced to a young Harry Potter, the unremarkable eleven-year-old 'muggle':

Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put the milk bottles, not that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley.... He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!" (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 17)

All he knew was his miserable life of living in a tiny closet, at the foot of the stairs of his Aunt and Uncle's home. He knew no real compassion or love. He knew not of magic, dragons or Quidditch. He knew nothing of his parent's true lives or unfortunate demise. He is essentially a muggle just as is explained to him in chapter four: "A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call nonmagic folk like them [referencing to the Dursley's]. An' It's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on" (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 53)

The Dursley's in their desire to remain completely ordinary raised Harry without empathy or nurture; they left Harry unable to explore his creativity and imagination or question any 'magical' oddities that he may have experienced or accidently caused. "Rowling emphasizes the preeminence of the imagination of childhood and the need for children to question and dream. The lack provided him [Harry] with an urgency for a compensatory endowment of magical power" (Natov 312) As he was raised, Harry embodied the typical characteristics of the orphan archetype:

The Orphan [archetype] understands that everyone matters, just as they are. Down-home and unpretentious, it reveals a deep structure influenced by the wounded or orphaned child that expects very little from life, but that teaches us with empathy, realism, and street smarts. [...] To fulfill their quest, they must go through the agonies of the developmental stages they have missed. Their strength is the interdependence and pragmatic realism that they had to learn at an early age. A hazard is that they will fall into the victim mentality and so never achieve a heroic position. (Jonas)

Because he embodies this archetype, Harry becomes eager for any attention in childhood and a 'thirst' to prove himself worthy of life lost by his parents. Enter dozens of owls and letters, a secluded island with a broken-down house, and Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts, the deliverer of the life changing sentence, "Harry-yer a wizard" (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 50) Harry is mostly thrown into a world full of magic and possibility/impossibility. Being neither fantasy nor reality, the wizarding world unites elements of the extraordinary- to components of a present world in which the uncommon exists, side by side, with the common elements of regular mundane 'muggle' reality.

For a boy who was never allowed to question and develop his imagination, he then must walk into the wizarding world-where everyone knows his name, with his mind free of judgment and welcome the wonders that are magic. Furthermore, he doesn't understand why he is considered famous, "Everyone thinks I'm special [...], But I don't know anything about magic at all. How can they expect great things? I'm famous, and I can't remember what I'm famous for." (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 86)It wasn't until his eleventh birthday that he discovered he was special. He grew up feeling powerless when in reality he was just condemned to his current miserable life due to his potential to be powerful. "Like most orphans, Harry has little sense of having any power at all." (Natov 310)

Harry goes from an invisible, unremarkable boy to a famous highly talked about celebrity known as the-boy-who-lived. A brave young Mr. Potter enters Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with a stomach full of butterflies and an excitement of the unknown. We are present as he meets his first friend, discovers his first enemy, and pushes his stubbornness to the brink when he unknowingly attempts to sway the Sorting Hat's house placement of him: "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind, either. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes-and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting... So, where shall I put you?"[Sorting Hat] [...] "Not Slytherin, not Slytherin." [Harry (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 121) Though he was considered for other houses, Harry embodied all that makes a Gryffindor- a Gryffindor. He shows bravery, chivalry, determination, and courage in abundance throughout the many trials and hardships of the series plot points.

For example, he shows all traits multiple times within the pages of the fourth installment of Harry's story, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but he also shows plenty of wit and luck. The first task, in the Goblet of Fire, was a test to do just that: test courage. Thanks to his friends, even with their disgruntled attitudes, Harry discovered the first task involved stealing an egg from a live and a rather angry dragon. He then uses his skills to his advantage by using a summoning charm to retrieve his Firebolt broomstick. Though Harry fetched the egg on his own in the actual task, it was an effort of many that got him prepared for the point. Hermione's unwavering support, Hagrid's infatuation with dragons, and Moody's suggestion to use his superior flying skills to his advantage. The second task again shows teamwork and friendship, but it also highlights Harry's chivalry and determination.

The first task, in the Goblet of Fire, was a test to do just that: test courage. Thanks to his friends, even with their disgruntled attitudes, Harry discovered the first task involved stealing an egg from a live and a rather angry dragon. He then uses his skills to his advantage by using a summoning charm to retrieve his Firebolt broomstick. Though Harry fetched the egg on his own in the actual task, it was an effort of many that got him prepared for the point. Hermione's unwavering support, Hagrid's infatuation with dragons, and Moody's suggestion to use his superior flying skills to his advantage. The second task again shows teamwork and friendship, but it also highlights Harry's chivalry and determination.

"Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching, ponder this;
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And recover what we took,
But past an hour - the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back." (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 463)

Harry's success is an aftereffect of other individuals' assistance in figuring out the second task in the Triwizard Tournament: Cedric instructs him to take a bath and offers him the use of the prefect's bathroom. A spying Moaning Myrtle tells him to open the egg under the water like Cedric had, and Dobby-kooky, darling Dobby, gives Harry the gilly weed allowing him to breathe underwater. Outside help is particularly critical as Harry enters the Black Lake, an unexplored place where he doesn't truly know what he will find or face. What he didn't expect was to see his two best friends Ron and Hermione along with his crush Cho and another young girl underwater. Harry was determined to save all the taken, not just Ron. Harry was the first to arrive and the last to leave with both Ron and Fleur's sister in tow.

Besides seeing Harry in extreme situations, such as the tasks presented in The Goblet of Fire, we also get to see the ordinariness and relatable side of Harry throughout the seven installments. Goffman suggests there are two types of emotional 'extreme' performances: the sincere and the cynical. A performance that is sincere is when the performer [in this case protagonist] and the audience [readers] won't have any doubts about the 'realness' of what is portrayed. The cynical would ultimately have no concern in the conception they have of himself or of the situation; they'd have no belief in his own acts and no ultimate concern with the beliefs of his audience (Goffman 10). Harry is sincere in every situation. We see Harry's first crush when he asks Cho Chang to the ball, "wangoballwime?", And even more awkward first kiss. Harry experiences the rush of flying a broom and playing Quidditch. He's impulsive and breaks the rules- breaking into the restricted section of the library whilst hiding underneath his invisibility cloak after curfew. He's relatable in his procrastination of homework and complete distaste for exams-ugh. It's Harry's imperfections that make him relevant, but it's his heart and friendships that bring him success.

Strange circumstance can bring people together, defeating a mountain troll in the first year, sharing sweets on a train, having a body-bind curse placed upon you, or even seeing the skeletal winged thestrals (after witnessing death) pulling the carriages. Friendships have many ways of manifesting:

Luna had decorated her bedroom ceiling with five beautifully painted faces: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville. They were not moving as the portraits at Hogwarts moved, but there was a certain magic about them all the same: Harry thought they breathed. What appeared to be fine golden chains wove around the pictures, linking them together, but after examining them for a minute or so, Harry realized that the chains were actually one word, repeated a thousand times in golden ink: friends. . . friends . . . friends . . . (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 417)

Harry uses his friendships to balance out the pressures of being famous and being ordinary. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are the primary 'friendship' throughout the series. Ron is the poor pure-blood who comes from a family of many siblings. He's not used to being seen as just 'Ron' but rather as just another 'Weasley.' He's naturally selfless, headstrong, and a bit impulsive. His light humor makes him lovable and relatable. Hermione, on the other hand, is an only child of two muggle parents, a mudblood. She's determined to learn and perfect all she can about being a witch and succeeds in being dubbed "The brightest witch of her age." She depends on her cleverness and knowledge to be the voice of reason within the 'Golden Trio.' The friendship of the trio is tested a tried over the pages of seven books and eight movies, yet no matter the obstacle, their loyalty, and love for one another, no matter their differences, always prevails.

William Styron wrote, "A great book should leave you with many experiences and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading." He makes an impactful point. Reading a good piece of literature can transport a mind to live, breathe, and feel as the characters in the book do. We live their lives with them, learn from their mistakes, our hearts can even break for them. Reading helps your mind travel away; it can keep evil and negative thoughts at bay, it can enable you to view things using fantasy, it lets you express yourself and become a piece of its world. Whatever the literary merits of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, critic Harold Bloom wrote, "Rowling's mind is so governed by clichés and dead metaphors that she has no other style of writing," it is the ability of the books to engage young audiences that will be their enduring legacy. Since the publication of The Sorcerer's Stone in 1998, kids have discussed, dissected, and debated the books with a critical eye. Anyone who has listened to Mugglecast, a podcast for Harry Potter lovers, must acknowledge the close textual reading of every single chapter of the series, and fan fiction sites abound in an efflorescence of, albeit channeled, creativity-not to mention the billions of dollars between 2001-2011 grossed by the eight Harry Potter movies. The books have taught children to read, to think, to write and to criticize, all hallmarks of free expression (Olukotun).

Harry is one in a long line of many YAL characters whom are thrust into a word of wonder, take a young Percy Jackson, from Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, for example. Percy is the protagonist of his series where he no sooner finds out that he's a demigod son of Poseidon, he is forced to jump through metaphorical hoops to prove his innocence after being accused of thievery by his Uncle Zeus. Percy must learn how to fight and protect those he loves not only from the real-world threats but those of the mystic-world as well. He proves himself to be gifted and remarkable throughout his quests, but unlike Harry, he relies solely on what makes him special rather than what makes him 'human.' Could this be why the book to movie adaptations failed to largely gain in box office success? "Literature with complex, developed themes and characters [like Harry] appear to let readers occupy or adopt perspectives they might otherwise not consider; and it seems that Rowling might get at the beautiful, sobering mess of life in a way that could have a meaningful impact on our children's collective character" (Stetka). Even though fiction is based on imaginary worlds and characters, through reading and relating, we can experience other possibilities, and a life beyond our own-all seven books in the Harry Potter series allow the reader this experience. Staying up till midnight waiting in line for the release of the newest books, skipping school to stay home and read cover-to-cover in a day, we are the Harry Potter Generation.

Harry is as remarkable as he is unremarkable. He's your average teenager making friends, going to school, and struggling through adolescence one year at a time. We see him struggle and we see his triumphs. "The great irony of existence is that what makes life worth living does not come from the rosy side. We would all rather be lotus-eaters, but life will not allow it. The energy to live comes from the dark side. It comes from everything that makes us suffer. As we struggle against these negative powers, we're forced to live more deeply, more fully" (McKee and Fryer). We see his bravery as the sword of Gryffindor presents itself to Harry after he travels into the Chamber of Secrets to save Ginny from the basilisk Tom Riddle controlled. We witness his petty feud with Ron after his name being chosen out of the Goblet of Fire. But we also see Harry, Ron, and Hermione create Dumbledore's Army a prohibited defense against the dark arts training club in retaliation against Dolores Umbridge. "Harry [is] an outsider, an orphan who wants to belong, and we all want to belong. He finds at Hogwarts the home he never had. That really touches a chord. The core values are loyalty and friendship and trust and courage" (Katz). He may not be as wise as Albus Dumbledore, as powerful as Voldemort, or as ambitious as Gellert Grindelwald but Harry has heart. Dumbledore makes a point to reassure him, "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities" (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secret 333). After all life has thrown at him, he still possesses empathy and compassion in abundance. It's his love of life and friendships that make him such a remarkable wizard/man.

Works Cited

Goffman, Ervin. The Presentation of Self in Everyday. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Social Sciences Research Centre, 1956. PDF.

Jonas, J.J. The Twelve Archetypes. n.d. 7 February 2017. <http://www.uiltexas.org/files/capitalconference/Twelve_Character_Archetypes.pdf>.

Kaplan, Jeffrey S. "Young Adult Literature in the 21st Century: Moving Beyond Traditional Constraints and Conventions ." The Research Connection. The ALAN Review, Winter 2005.

Katz, Gregory. Harry's Logistical Wizard. 17 November 2005. 9 February 2017.

McKee, Robert and Bronwyn Fryer. "Storytelling That Moves People." n.d. insightdemand.com. 23 Feb. 2017. <http://insightdemand.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/HBR-Storytelling-That-Moves-People.pdf>.

Natov, Roni. "Harry Potter and the Extraordinariness of the Ordinary." The Lion and the Unicorn 25.2 (2001): 310-327.

Olukotun, Deji. "The Banning of Harry Potter". 7 Novemeber 2012. 8 February 2017. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deji-olukotun/the-banning-of-harry-pott_b_1864502.html>.

Riordan, Rick. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. New York: Disney Hyperion Books, 2006.

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secret. Scholastic Inc., 1999.

-. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. First Edition. Scholastic, Inc., 2007.

-. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Scholastic Inc., 2000.

-. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. First American edition. Scholastic Press, 1998.

Stetka, Bret. "Why Everyone Should Read Harry Potter: Tales of the youn wizard instill empathy, a study finds." 9 September 2014. Scientific American. 18 Feb. 2017. <https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-everyone-should-read-harry-potter/>.

Styron, William. The Art of Fiction No. 5 Peter Matthiessen and Plimpton George. 1954.

What do you think? .

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Harry Potter: The Remarkably Unremarkable Main Character

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Harry Potter: two words. Two words are all it takes to gain recognizable attention; two words are all it takes to for potter-heads everywhere to raise their metaphorical wands-some literally.

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What Batman Can Teach Us About Depression

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What Batman Can Teach Us About Depression

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Possibly the most well known fictional character besides Superman, Bruce Wayne, a.k.a The Batman, will hold a spot in history forever. With his hell-bent desire to rid Gotham City of filth and corruption, Batman is the epitome of rough justice. Resembling the size and magnitude of New York, Gotham is home to bankers, drug dealers, and everything in between.

Since his debut in 1939, billionaire philanthropist (and occasional playboy) Bruce Wayne has struck fear in the hearts of villains such as The Scarecrow, The Penguin, and everyone's' favorite, The Joker. Batman does much more than just punch these criminals into Arkham Asylum though, as he provides hope for those in need of something to believe in. When the bat-symbol shines in the night, fearful citizens can be reassured that Batman is coming. However, that light in the sky also serves as a warning. A warning that evil is afoot once again.

The Dark Knight can show us that righteousness can indeed rise out of the ashes of sin. He also teaches normal people like us, who don't wear capes to work, what it feels like to battle depression.

The Sad Man Behind the Mask

Everyone knows the story of how Bruce Wayne became the Batman. Like most superheroes, Bruce went through something so traumatic that his life would never be the same again: witnessing the death of his parents. After this, a very lonely boy made a promise. In 1939, the comic Batman Wars against the Dirigible of Doom showed a grief stricken Bruce kneel over his bed saying "I swear by the spirits of my parents to avenge their deaths by spending the rest of my life warring on all criminals." That was nearly eighty years ago, but the story remains mostly unchanged. The young boy began his journey that would turn him into Gotham's Dark Knight. It might be easy to pass off Bruce's method of coping as heroic and extraordinary, but his response may be slightly more normal than one would think.

There are numerous coping strategies that victims of psychological disorders, such as depression, use in order to get through each day. A common coping strategy is denial; in which someone refuses to acknowledge the harmful things affecting them. Bruce Wayne, however, is not the type of person to deny anything.

Instead, he appears to use the strategy known as sublimation. Sublimation is the concept of acting out unacceptable impulses by converting these negative thoughts into acceptable behaviors (Cherry 2016). In Batman's case, he desperately wanted to avenge his parent's deaths, but literally doing so would be illegal. Instead, he trained his body and mind to peak perfection in order to fight crime. I know what your thinking. How is this any more acceptable? He is still breaking the law by becoming a vigilante! But to Bruce, this behavior is not only acceptable, it's justice. That depressed and angry boy was able to use his raw emotions to transform him into a modern day Gothic Hercules.

Yes, one could say this drove him to become obsessive towards his mission, but one could also argue that sublimating his grief into crime fighting helped him get through his depression and he ultimately came out physically and mentally stronger.

When someone is traumatically hurt, it's probably a good idea not to become a vigilante running around saying in a gravelly voice, "I am the night." Sublimation, however, can be beneficial in a more practical way. An example of this is boxing. Someone with built up aggression can take this anger out while learning to spar, and thus using it as a release. Another example could be writing poetry to vent out some negative or depressive thoughts, and all while putting these thoughts on paper and making them tangible. Whether its boxing or poetry, sublimation can be used to turn unacceptable impulses into acceptable behaviors. Although Batman ended up becoming a crime fighting war machine, he also used this coping method to rise above his hopeless situation.

A Death in the Family (and beyond).

Batman was able to cope with the death of his parents, but nothing prepared him to deal with something many would consider worse: the death of a child. The year was 1988 and Batman: A Death in the Family took a dark twist. In a shocking and groundbreaking turn of events, Jason Todd, the second Robin Boy-Wonder, was brutally murdered by The Joker. Like I said, this was the second Robin, and Jason was much different than his predecessor, Dick Grayson. Whereas Dick blurted out cheesy one liners like "Holy Armadillo, Batman!" or my favorite "Holy hole in a donut, Batman!" Jason was much more serious.

His father a low end criminal, and his mother a victim of drug addiction and eventual overdose, Jason was on the streets becoming a petty thief when Batman found him. Although Jason, like Dick, wasn't related in any way to Bruce, he raised him as his own son (I'm assuming Alfred dealt with the complicated adoption paperwork). Batman now had a new Robin, and things were back to normal. Well, as near to normal as comic books would allow.

In a painful yet captivating story, Jason found out that his biological mother was actually alive, and went in search of her. However, Batman and Robin stumbled upon yet another of the Clown Prince of Crime's schemes; the Joker was back on the scene, and this moment would become a cornerstone for comic book tragedies. After his own mother betrayed young Jason to the Joker, and while Batman was off stopping the mad clown's plot, the Joker had a vulnerable and defenseless bird to play with. But the Joker decided this game needed a plot twist.

Wielding a crow bar, the Joker beat Jason repeatedly, all while showing his iconic smile. "My! But that was fun," the Joker said after he was finished. "Kind of messy though." Satisfied, he then left the boy tied up, and blew up the building he and his mom were in. Batman arrived only to witness the explosion, and immediately he began blaming himself. "Why didn't I see that you were too young for this kind of work," Batman thinks to himself as he rushes onto the scene. " How could I have been so stupid? " And then when Bruce finds his adopted son, he realizes he is too late. "I've lost him."

Like anyone who has ever had to bury their child, Bruce Wayne grieves for the late Jason Todd. He even begins to cut off those who still matter to him. When Alfred suggests calling Dick, the original Robin, Batman refuses. "No help from now on," he says turning his back on the sad butler. "That's the way I want it." Bruce has his eyes set on revenge.

Then when Superman confronts Bruce, as he contemplates killing the Joker, things escalate. As consuming grief turns to blind violence, Bruce attempts to punch the Man of Steel, but only accomplishes in nearly breaking his hand. Batman seems to have lost reason and common sense.

After a night of rougher than usual justice, Alfred points out to Bruce that "since master Jason's death, your attention to detail has been...unimpressive to say the least." Bruce remains quiet during his mentor's attempt to reason with him. "It seems, sir," Alfred continues," that you now do all your thinking with those sadly bruised and battered knuckles... I do not intend to spend the rest of my life playing nurse." Bruce looks down and refuses to acknowledge Alfred. The butler exits the room, leaving the Dark Knight to sit in his own darkness. Bruce does the only thing he knows to do, and dons the cape and cowl leaving the concerned butler to watch from an upstairs window.

It is interesting to point out the latest adaptation of this story. In the 2016 film Batman v. Superman, an aged Bruce Wayne shows a grim and almost hostile attitude throughout the movie. One scene in particular shows Bruce looking at a glass case with Robin's costume, and on the costume is spray painted "HAHA jokes on you Batman." This is a clear throwback to the Joker's murder of Jason Todd. Could this be another reason why Batman became, in this movie, a more ruthless and dangerous hero? In this story, maybe Batman never really recovered after Jason's death. Maybe this was one joke Batman couldn't put behind him.

The Light in the Dark

After burying his son, Batman continues his mission of ridding Gotham of criminals, and becomes obsessed with hunting down Two-Face. His now overly aggressive fighting style is a reflection of his inner torment, and his brewing regret at letting Jason die. If it wasn't for Nightwing (a.k.a Dick, the original Robin), Alfred, and Tim Drake (the soon to be third Robin), Batman would have literally worked himself to death.

The comic is titled Death in the Family, but ultimately it is his family that brings Bruce back to life. After this rag tag group of tight wearing superheroes and a cranky old butler defeat Two-Face, Bruce realizes that maybe Batman does need a Robin, and that this Tim Drake could fill that void. "I want to take this one day at a time," Bruce tells his family.

The light for Batman, and his saving grace, became his faith in those he loved. Although the road was cold and dark, he didn't have to travel it alone. For the first time since Jason's death, Bruce opened up to those closest to him. Love couldn't bring back Jason, (he'll come back later though because no hero dies forever in the comic book world) but it did allow a superhero to feel "normal" once more.

So what can we learn?

Batman embodies what it means to be committed and resilient in the face of adversity. However, the sun goes down on every horizon, and death is one bad guy Batman can't defeat. Although Batman was able to cope with his parent's death by bettering himself and becoming the hero Gotham deserves, even he couldn't handle his grief alone. What Batman shows us, is that anyone can suffer depression. Bruce Wayne, who has more money than most people could even dream of, isn't impervious to despair. Batman, who rarely shows emotion and is depended on for his courage, couldn't handle losing a son.

Batman shows us that yes, we can find methods to cope with our grief, but ultimately we will meet a roadblock that derails us faster than we can recover. These coping strategies may end up dooming us as we struggle to find normalcy in a chaotic world. Depression tends to make us force those closest to us farther away. It darkens our days and stretches out our nights.

Batman shows us, however, that family can help. Lifting a boulder becomes easier when you aren't the only one lifting it. Although it may seem so far away, the dawn will always come. "But if you are willing to try," Batman tells his small family, "we'll try." Under the suit, under the mask, and under the symbol of the bat, lies a man. And any man willing to try can become a super hero.

What do you think? .

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What Batman can Teach Us About Depression

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Possibly the most well known fictional character besides Superman, Bruce Wayne, a.k.a The Batman, will hold a spot in history forever. With his hell-bent desire to rid Gotham City of filth and corruption, Batman is the epitome of rough justice. Resembling the size and magnitude of New York, Gotham is home to bankers, drug dealers, and everything in between.