Coexistence and Hope in Fiction
Coexistence and Hope
in
Fiction
The real world is in a constant struggle of coexistence. It has zapped us of hope and has us searching for a figurehead or symbol to rally behind. In fiction, we are often given a long period of fighting amongst alien or mystical races before a final conflict occurs. The conflict often results in the death of someone both sides had reason to care for, or their world is shown to be devastated by all the fighting. Peace and coexistence comes after all lessons are learned from this. What I am proposing with this blogpost is to look at works of fiction and learn from them.
My first example is an elseworlds story written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Alex Ross called Kingdom Come. It begins in a world without hope thanks to fighting which results in America's bread basket being wiped out. There is also a conflict of the younger verses older generation of heroes. Afterwards there is a change but I won't spoil it for you.
What I want you to get from this example is the old ways of the world aren't necessarily bad. And the new are only in a stage of infancy. It isn't difficult for the two to come together by sharing experiences and allowing differences of opinion. The hope we can find is in someday not seeing the world of our parents and grandparents as all bad. Or the world of our present generation being completely lost. I can say from my perspective, those younger than me are like the solar system. Some stars shine brighter than others.
The second example I want to use calls upon Legolas and Gimli. Yes. Everything for me goes back to The Lord of the Rings, but Tolkien is the foundation of all fantasy. The characters mentioned are an elf and a dwarf whose races have been at odds for centuries. Both must learn to work alongside one another through out the books and movies. I think what teaches them coexistence is their competition amongst one another.
Competition teaches teamwork and respect. You might see an opposing team or player as better than you, but you have to admit you had fun. In the case of two of Tolkien's well known characters its a matter of earning respect for one another. To quote a few lines of dialogue from The Return of the King movie.
Gimli: "Never thought I'd die fighting side by side with an elf."
Legolas: "What about side by side with friend?"
Gimli: "Ai, I can do that."
Take those three lines of dialogue and apply them to someone you differ from. Subtract the dying part if you can, but the idea is to be a friend, and to stick by someone after you've resolves differences.
Hope is something you search for in each difficult experience you have. It sometimes comes after all is in ruin while other times it arrives before all is too late. The list of experiences of hope in fiction are endless, and they often come, as I have said, before all is too late. Whether its Spider-man showing up as an apartment is burning or like in Tim Burton's, Batman Returns where Gotham is overrun by the Circus gang, those are the before too late moments. Those are the hope people find in their search. But neither can truly relate to real life, although what we can learn is one thing. A person put themselves on the line to help others, and by doing so, inspired hope.
I wouldn't suggest dressing up in a costume and swinging (or driving) head long into danger is the way to go to inspire (or search for) hope. I'm suggesting you be kind to others while also being proactive in every situation that comes along. Doing this can inspire hope.
In conclusion, I want say there a many differences in our world in the fictional one, but the search for hope and beginnings of coexistence can only begin if someone speaks up.