Friday, October 1, 2010

Spidey

While we were all talking about Spiderman the other day in class I had a thought as to a possible link between Peter Parker and old world Judaism.  If you'll recall in Krakow there was the mention that by using Queens this denoted not only Jews but also Old World ties by the names given to the characters.  This being said I wondered if this explains more than it seems to.
Not knowing much about comic books previously I mostly became familiar with Spiderman through saturday morning cartoons (since my daughter loves them).  I always noticed that Peter was always so concerned for Aunt May, even above and beyond most family members are of one another.  I always thought this was due to Uncle Ben's death however I'm thinking maybe there is another link.  What if Spiderman was some sort of protector of the Old World ways and tradition? What if perhaps he was always so concerned for Aunt May because he was concerned more for tradition?
While this idea seems to perhaps be a stretch it is not entirely impossible.  Maybe Peter just feels guilty and that is why he dotes on his aunt, maybe he worries double with his uncle gone too.  I am more inclined to think that above all Spiderman is also a symbol of preservation and tradition.  While he embodies young male Jews he also defends tradition and (on some scale) the faith.

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