What superheroes would say about Huck Finn

Superheroes would have many different opinions of Huckleberry Finn.  And here is what they hypothetically could have been:

Iron Man: Well, Huck is a stupid character. I mean, come on, make up your mind kid, are you a good guy or a bad guy. I mean Jim was an idiot, but at least you know he had a sense of morality. The real heroes of this story are the Duke and the Dauphin. I mean the guys scammed a whole town and made some serious money! Now that's genius.

Spiderman- I don't know man I just read it for school.

Captain America- Personally, I commend Huck for making tough decisions in morally difficult situations. Society's standards have taught him one thing, but he uses his feeling and experiences to make decisions he believes is right. I believe we saw a boy turn into a man.

Batman- I didn't like Tom. The boy was a villain. He craved the thrill of adventure so much that he would risk the lives if others for his own personal pleasure.He reminds me of the Joker.

Superman- I think every character had good in them. I believe Tom was just misunderstood, and he did not mean harm to those around him. He was the product of his upbringing. And in the end I think we should all have sympathy for those kind of children. In regards, to the Duke and the Dauphin, well obviously they did not have enough confidence to be who they really were. We should have allowed them to be rehabilitated through therapy.

Huck Finn the Anti- Hero

An anti-hero is a hero who helps or saves people for his/her selfish reasons. Deadpool is the face of anti-heroism in the Marvel universe because he does not help people for the good of others. For example, in his feature film, the only reason he took down a bunch of bad guys was to find the guy that pretty much gave him his abilities, but also made him ugly. Basically, he killed a bunch of villains to be pretty again. That is a perfect example of the intentions of anti-heroes. By this definition Huck Finn can be considered an anti-hero, because of his relationship with Jim. He travels with Jim across the Mississippi river, not to help Jim escape slavery and find his family, but rather to have help in his own travels and escaping his father. When he finds Jim he states, "I was ever so glad to see Jim. I warn't so lonesome now." (Twain 52). This quote exhibits Huck's true desire to travel with Jim. When Huck is asked if he is harboring any runaway slaves, and he lies to save Jim, he does because he believes he would feel bad if he had given him up. This is another scenario where Huck helps Jim but for his benefit. Unlike Deadpool, Huck seems to change the reason for his actions. He sends the coast guard to help the sinking ship because he genuinely feels bad for the murderers that are going to die. I believe Huck is only an anti-hero because he struggles with morality and cannot define right from wrong. As opposed to Deadpool, who is really just a scumbag.

Proctor-Man

John Proctor reminds me of Batman. Not in the literal sense, seeing as how I doubt John Proctor has ever fought the Joker, yet they are both tragic heroes. John Proctor's fatal flaw is how important his name is to him. He refuses to betray his friends when asked to sell them out to the court, because he cannot sign his name to the document for the town to see or his name would be tarnished, and he would have to live with the guilt. Batman has a fatal flaw as well, and that his inability to kill. This does not seem like a bad thing, but when bad guys are constantly trying kill him and the many civilians of Gotham, it would help he didn't focus on arresting them rather than finishing the job. In  many iterations of Batman, his refusal to kill has been his downfall, as it much harder to detain an insane criminal with super powers, rather kill him/her/it, believe it or not. Batman's and John Proctor's fatal flaw make them great characters, and tragic heroes respectively.
Not only are they both tragic heroes, but I would describe them both as role models. John Proctor is role model because he cannot sell out his friends to the court, because he will not be able to his children, "how to walk like men in the world," (Miller 207). For this reason, John Proctor is a role model to his kids because they can see he did not show cowardice in the face of death, and would not betray his friends. This is similar to Batman because he pretty much does that every day. He runs into danger to protect the lives of the innocent, there is no greater role model. He was every little boy's hero, simply because he is Batman.

 

Comics and Religion

Religion and superheroes are two topics that most people don't relate, unless someone reads comics religiously. Get it? Anyway, they are more similar than people think. Consider how they both have  impacted the culture of the world. Comics were created to entertain, and they have been very successful. Every year new movies are made about superheroes, and they take up much of the media. The success of these movies is immense, which shows how popular and revered they are in our culture, similar to the widespread acceptance of church and religion. Superheroes such as Captain America are created to show how to be a good person and put others before oneself. These comics are similar to early Puritan writings which were written to exemplify the benefits of religion and show how to live a good life in the eyes of God, though using different tactics. Early Puritan writer, Jonathan Edwards, uses fear in "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" to convince sinners to follow God and live a life without sin by describing the mighty power of God and torments of Hell, through threats such as "God has many different unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the world and sending them to hell." (Edwards 22-23) . This is juxtaposed to the cultural influence of Captain America, who is a role model to comic fans and a perfect representation of how to be a morally good person. They also use similar tactics to tell morally influential stories. In comics there is always a good and bad guy, and the good guy always winds because his intentions are pure. These stories can be related to biblical stories which always convey a moral ideal, such as the juxtaposition of God and the Devil, or David and Goliath. Religious writings and comics both influence culture by using stories and rhetorical devices.

Christopher Columbus and Spiderman

I'm sure there is confusion as to how Spiderman and Christopher Columbus relate. Christopher Columbus, to my knowledge, had no super powers. Despite obvious differences, they have similar stories, yet opposite roles. Spiderman was the unsung hero of his town. He did not take credit for his actions, and continued his life as a teenager in high school with no social life and deals with an onslaught of bullies. Not to mention, Spiderman is vilified by the local paper, though he is innocent and only trying to help people. So how does this relate to the story of Christopher Columbus you ask? Well, Spiderman is kind of like the Native Americans that Christopher Columbus encountered when he "discovered" America. The Native Americans, just like Spiderman, have been falsely represented. They were not so happy to give up their land, as we have been taught. Instead, Christopher Columbus, who unlike Spiderman, has been painted as a hero, slaughtered many Native Americans. As stated by Christopher Columbus in his Letter to King Ferdinand of Spain he "took some natives by force". Spiderman only takes criminals by force, yet in his story the people believe he is the villain, and Christopher Columbus was revered as a god, and his story spoke of his heroic journey to discover America. Spiderman relates to the Native Americans because he has been falsely and unfairly represented, just as the Native Americans have been falsely represented throughout history. Christopher Columbus is the opposite of Spiderman, who is a good guy that everyone thinks is a jerk and Columbus was a jerk that everyone thought to be a good guy. Seriously, he was a scumbag. Stop teaching our kids about his heroics. Teach them about Spiderman.