For centuries, human beings have been considered the most advanced species on Earth. First, their sophisticated organization and intelligence form part of this advancement. Such superiority can be said to be a human being’s ability to express themselves through arts. Language, as one of the forms of human expression, has not failed to incorporate art in its use and implementation. Precisely defined, literature is the use of language as raw material for arts.
Traditionally, literature is described as a collection of written works (Miller 37). This definition tends to include certain novels, short stories, written poetry, and songs, excluding other forms that use languages such as movies, songs, or web series. In this paper, the discussion focuses on comics as a type of linguistic-visual art, which is not traditionally considered literature, and, therefore, its literary value will be reviewed.
The work of literature mirrors human experiences in their environment and explains the relationship among human beings. Highly acclaimed written works such as William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet have derived their success from their accurate reflection of human experiences and feelings. Literary value refers to literary work’s success in appealing to human experiences or ideas (Miller 100). Literature resonates with the recipient depending on how well the artist uses literary components such as tone, exposition, themes, characterization, setting, and plot. In this research project, analysis is based on the literary value of the comic series Batman: A Death in the Family as the case study.
It should be primarily outlined that Batman: A Death in the Family is a part of The Batman comic universe created by the DC Comics publishing company in 1939 (Kutovaia and Mikhailovskaya 62). Initially introduced as a way to compete with the success of Superman comic books, Batman has become one of the most recognized and triumphant comics in history. The reason to dwell on this universe is the richness of comics’ literary value for the readers, as the story of a hero with no superpowers has already become an integral part of popular culture worldwide. Although comic books initially fail to be perceived as literature, some of Batman’s storytelling elements, including theme, symbolism, and characterization, contribute to the creation of literary value.
When specifically addressing Batman: A Death in the Family, it is of paramount importance to outline some of the literary elements present in the case:
- Theme. The central message of the book’s plot revolves around the murder of Jason Todd, also known as Robin. Throughout the series, Robin was Batman’s sidekick and dedicated partner who served as a part of the superhero family. Thus, once murder is committed by one of the leading comic villains, the storyline becomes closely correlated with the theme of family and fatherhood. Another theme followed in the comic series is the notion of vengeance.
- Symbolism. Considering the fact that Batman contains a storyline that was created and improved for decades, it would be safe to assume that the story itself involves addressing both well-known and story-centered symbols. One of the most outstanding examples of symbolism in comic books is the combination of colors and literary utterances. Indeed, some of the greatest literary works include a color palette as a symbol of the storyline, enriching the plot with red shades when speaking of courage and passion, or black when emphasizing power and fear.
- Characterization. One of the most remarkable literary attributes in Batman: A Death in the Family is the characters’ motivation and history behind every decision in order to eliminate two-dimensional characters from the story. For example, when speaking of Batman, all his actions and feelings are described through the prism of his inner childhood reflections on the loss of his parents.
Considering the aforementioned details, it may be concluded that Batman: A Death in the Family is one of the vivid examples of a seemingly non-literary work that is replete with fictional elements and fundamentals of storytelling.
Frequently, in the continuous pursuit of defining literary art, people fail to notice the beauty of narrative and literature in uncommon places. For example, such artistic fields as cinematography and other areas of visual art are considered deprived of literary value due to the fact that the emphasis is placed on the image rather than words. However, when speaking of the definition of literary value, it is important to outline some of the major features a literary piece should obtain in order to be perceived as such.
Considering the scholarly data on the topic, it may be concluded that a work of art contains a literary value once it resonates with a target recipient in any way through the means of literary devices (Farrell 199). A prime example of such implicit manifestation of literary value is the comic book Batman: A Death in the Family, released in 1988 by DC Comics. The aforementioned piece of lingua-visual art piece contains such literary elements as theme, symbolism, and characterization. The examples of their use with be discussed in detail further in the paper.
Literary Value
Theme
When familiarizing oneself with a literary work, people tend to find the central message and idea upon which a storyline is based. Such an underlying meaning the author is trying to elaborate throughout the story is known as the theme. This element plays an extremely significant role in terms of establishing a connection with a recipient. When speaking of Batman: A Death in the Family, there are two major themes that may be outlined throughout the storyline.
In order to understand them, it is necessary to dwell on some of the precedents leading to the events taking place in this comic book. To begin with, the central event happening in the book is the murder of Batman’s sidekick – Jason Todd (Starlin et al. 130). Since Robin was killed by one of the story’s central antagonists – the Joker, the plot revolves around the idea of revenge, which may be traced back even to Batman’s childhood, as his parents were killed when Bruce was a little boy.
As far as parents are concerned, it would be safe to assume that the theme of family and fatherhood also serves as one of the leading themes of the narrative. Feeling the moral obligation to find the ones responsible for his parents’ death, the main character takes on the role of so-called father, or mentor, for his surroundings (Kutovaia and Mikhailovskaya 63). In such a way, he reflects the urge to protect his closest friends and companions while they are still alive. In fact, the comic book contains a variety of other minor reflections on the theme of family. For example, Jason Todd was killed after his mother betrayed Robin and let the Joker find him. As a result, the mother, who dies with her son, implies the idea of family relationships and betrayal. Batman, in his turn, feels inexplicable guilt for the failure to protect his mentee.
Symbolism
Prior to discovering symbols in the chosen comic book, it is important to outline a proper definition of this notion, as symbolism remains one of the most ambiguous yet significant literary aspects. In terms of this research, symbolism will be regarded as a “mode of expression which, instead of referring to something directly, refers to it indirectly through the medium of something else” (Chadwick 1). Hence, when analyzing the storyline of Batman: A Death in the Family, the following examples of symbolism may be outlined:
- The symbolism of color. When reflecting on the masterpieces of world literature, one may rightfully assume that the vast majority of these works included a color palette as one of the means to appeal to the reader’s feelings. Thus, when speaking of some of the widespread colors used in the literature, the shades of red and black are the ones coming to mind almost immediately. In the context of comic books, the notion of color symbolism is embedded in the graphic support of the text. Still, emphasizing the text with actual colors does not make it less of a literary device. For example, when speaking of the moment when Batman is holding Robin’s dead body is supported by dark red and black colors, implying the feeling of danger, death, and fear (Starlin et al. 131).
- A symbolism of objects. It has been established historically that some objects obtain a symbolic meaning due to their presence in some historical precedents. In Batman: A Death in the Family, Robin’s mother was tied to a pillar with rope almost immediately after acknowledging that act of committed betrayal (Starlin et al. 128). Historically, a rope is a Christian symbol of treachery.
Characterization
One of the central attributes of any literary narrative is the development of personality and motivation within a character. Otherwise, the storyline remains two-dimensional or deprived of the explanation behind actions taking place in the storyline. Such an issue is quite common for comic books, as it is widely believed that a desire to punish villains would be enough to justify the actions of a leading hero. However, as far as Batman is concerned, the justification for his actions comes from a complex characterization of both the protagonists and antagonists.
Thus, when analyzing the events taking place in the Death in the Family, a recipient is able to understand Batman’s rage after Robin’s murder, as he is overwhelmed with a never-ending feeling of guilt for inability to protect both his biological and chosen family, his failure in terms of mentorship. The same applies to the antagonist of the story – the Joker, who, instead of craving fame and material benefit, is driven by a carefully designed ideology of evil action.
To conclude, the realm of literary works is a sophisticated construct that does not have a unified approach in terms of its definition and characteristics. For this reason, when addressing an art piece, it is necessary to analyze the item on the matter of literary value it possesses. In the course of this research paper, it was defined that the notion of literary value should be considered as a means of resonating with the recipient through the use of various literary devices.
On the example of Batman: A Death in the Family, a comic book published in 1988, it was estimated that a seemingly visual material might obtain enough linguistic characteristics to obtain a literary value for the target reader. Hence, the major literary devices used in the aforementioned comics included symbolism, theme, and characterization.
Works Cited
Chadwick, Charles. Symbolism. Taylor & Francis, 2017.
Farrell, John. The Varieties of Authorial Intention. Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.
Kutovaia, Arina A., and Ekaterina V. Mikhailovskaya. “The Myth of Batman: Intra-and Interdiscursive Transformations.” Galactica Media: Journal of Media Studies, vol. 2, no. 3, 2020, pp. 47-88.
Miller, Hillis. On Literature. Routledge, 2003.
Starlin, Jim et al. Batman: A Death in the Family. DC Comics, 2012.