Joe Kavalier Character Traits
Contemporary Literature 2
March 6, 2013
Traits shared by many superheroes demonstrated by the two main characters Joe Kavalier and Sam Clay
This paper shows that the two main characters in the novel “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” named Joe and Sam demonstrate traits shared by most superheroes. The novel written by Michael Chabon and published in 2000 won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction in 2001.
The novel is about the two cousins Joe and Sam who start writing comic books. Joe escapes from Prague and wants to earn enough money to save his family. The two of them have to go trough lots of troubles to get to their success. For example they have bosses who don’t want to pay them as much money as they deserve. Joe also keeps getting into fights with Germans. He wants to fight them and feels bad that he doesn’t do more to help his family and all the other Jews. While Joe meets a girl named Rosa …show more content…
and starts dating her, Sam find out that he is homosexual. After Joe’s brother dies on a ship that was supposed to bring him and lots of other Jewish children to America, Joe joins the navy hoping to fight Germans. Instead, he is sent to a lonely island in the Antarctica where he barely survives. Rosa finds out that she is pregnant and her and Sam are getting married – both as a cover up to be accepted in society (Rosa is pregnant without being married and Sam is gay). Sam and Rosa try to appear as a nuclear family, but they can’t hide all the secrets from the son Tommy. After Joe comes back he lives in the Empire State Building without letting anyone know. Tommy helps in reuniting the trio and Joe moves in with them. Shortly after that, Sam’s homosexuality is revealed on TV. This makes their efforts to live like a “normal” family even more complicated. In the end Sam leaves to Los Angles.
When Joe gets introduced to the story he demonstrates lots of traits shared by most superheroes. Superheroes usually have a special motivation for their actions. Joes motivation is to escape from Prague and free his whole family. He wants to save them from the Nazis. Another similarity Joe shares with superheroes is his “super” power. His power is the ability to escape. He is an escapist and most humans never learn the skills you need to be one. Joe also is deemed to have an otherness to his personality similar to superheroes. Joe’s otherness comes from being placed in a new country where he is not “normal”. As the story develops, Joe gets more part of the society and gets accepted and is seen as “normal” and typical American. As Joe gets more assimilated into society, Sam becomes more of an outsider. He gets the otherness, because it is revealed that he is homosexual.
Joe has some talents that are not typical. For example he has artistic talents, radio talents, lock picking, and the ability to perform highly acrobatic stunts. Josef’s cultural otherness stems from his different appearance and his accent among other differences.
Most superheroes have a dual identity. At the beginning of the story they both don't have a dual identity but as the story goes on, Joe's second identity is the escapist. He shows his magical skills at parties. Sam kind of has a second identity, too. He is gay and he doesn't want to reveal that to everyone. He goes on vacation with his friend Tracy Bacon and other homosexual people. After the police find them and a policeman rapes Sam, he tries to give up this second identity by refusing to go to Los Angles with Tracy Bacon and refusing that he has feelings for Bacon.
At the beginning of the novel only Joe has superhero traits because Sam has to stay relatable for the reader. It is easier to relate to someone who seems "normal" and like the reader themselves than to someone who seems more talented and more special. Sam also acts like an alter ego for Joe during the novel. Sam often only acts like a Sidekick. Lots of superheroes have sidekicks or alter egos and Sam acts like it first for Joe, to help him getting into the comic business and becoming more American. Later he acts as a sidekick for Tracy Bacon.
Another trait that most superheroes share is a costume.
Joe wears his costume only sometimes. He wears it when he performs at parties, for example Bar Mitzvahs, and shows his magic tricks.
Most superheroes have one arch-enemy. For Joe Carl Ebling from the Aryan-American League becomes the arch-enemy. The other arch-enemy is Germany but he never really gets in contact with a Nazi. The only time he kills one is when he is enlisted in the Navy. He joins the navy only to kill Nazis but this fails because he is being sent to a lonely island in the Antarctica. Later on Carl Ebling, known as the Saboteur, plans an attack on Joe while he performs as the Escapist.
Sam’s enemies at the beginning are Anapol and the other men from Empire Comics, because they don’t give him the money and the position he thinks he deserves. Later on his enemy is the police, because they find them with other gay men and want to arrest him. One of the policemen rapes him and that is one main reason why he stays in New York instead of going to Los Angles with Bacon and writing a
script.
The two of them both have a time in their life where they are not fully integrated and accepted in society. Most superheroes share this trait. Sam is threatened by society, he can’t live the life he wants to live; he can’t reveal that he is gay. At the end he moves to Los Angles where his homosexuality is more acceptable. He starts accepting the fact that it is not going to work out for him to pretend to be “normal” and live in a “nuclear family”. In the beginning Joe is threatened by the German Nazis because he was a Jew living in Prague. He escaped but could not save his family.
Most superheroes do something remarkable that people remember over a longer amount of time. The remarkable thing Joe did was to save the Golem. It meant a lot to the Jewish people and gave them hope. Both of them helped to start the Golden Age of the Comic Industry. After they watched the Citizen Kane they changed their Comics.
Joe and Sam both demonstrate lots of traits shared by most superheroes to show what big impact they had on the comic industry. They also make the book more interesting. One of the two main characters usually was more “normal” than the other one, to make it easier for readers to relate to the story.
March 6, 2013
Traits shared by many superheroes demonstrated by the two main characters Joe Kavalier and Sam Clay
This paper shows that the two main characters in the novel “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” named Joe and Sam demonstrate traits shared by most superheroes. The novel written by Michael Chabon and published in 2000 won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction in 2001.
The novel is about the two cousins Joe and Sam who start writing comic books. Joe escapes from Prague and wants to earn enough money to save his family. The two of them have to go trough lots of troubles to get to their success. For example they have bosses who don’t want to pay them as much money as they deserve. Joe also keeps getting into fights with Germans. He wants to fight them and feels bad that he doesn’t do more to help his family and all the other Jews. While Joe meets a girl named Rosa …show more content…
and starts dating her, Sam find out that he is homosexual. After Joe’s brother dies on a ship that was supposed to bring him and lots of other Jewish children to America, Joe joins the navy hoping to fight Germans. Instead, he is sent to a lonely island in the Antarctica where he barely survives. Rosa finds out that she is pregnant and her and Sam are getting married – both as a cover up to be accepted in society (Rosa is pregnant without being married and Sam is gay). Sam and Rosa try to appear as a nuclear family, but they can’t hide all the secrets from the son Tommy. After Joe comes back he lives in the Empire State Building without letting anyone know. Tommy helps in reuniting the trio and Joe moves in with them. Shortly after that, Sam’s homosexuality is revealed on TV. This makes their efforts to live like a “normal” family even more complicated. In the end Sam leaves to Los Angles.
When Joe gets introduced to the story he demonstrates lots of traits shared by most superheroes. Superheroes usually have a special motivation for their actions. Joes motivation is to escape from Prague and free his whole family. He wants to save them from the Nazis. Another similarity Joe shares with superheroes is his “super” power. His power is the ability to escape. He is an escapist and most humans never learn the skills you need to be one. Joe also is deemed to have an otherness to his personality similar to superheroes. Joe’s otherness comes from being placed in a new country where he is not “normal”. As the story develops, Joe gets more part of the society and gets accepted and is seen as “normal” and typical American. As Joe gets more assimilated into society, Sam becomes more of an outsider. He gets the otherness, because it is revealed that he is homosexual.
Joe has some talents that are not typical. For example he has artistic talents, radio talents, lock picking, and the ability to perform highly acrobatic stunts. Josef’s cultural otherness stems from his different appearance and his accent among other differences.
Most superheroes have a dual identity. At the beginning of the story they both don't have a dual identity but as the story goes on, Joe's second identity is the escapist. He shows his magical skills at parties. Sam kind of has a second identity, too. He is gay and he doesn't want to reveal that to everyone. He goes on vacation with his friend Tracy Bacon and other homosexual people. After the police find them and a policeman rapes Sam, he tries to give up this second identity by refusing to go to Los Angles with Tracy Bacon and refusing that he has feelings for Bacon.
At the beginning of the novel only Joe has superhero traits because Sam has to stay relatable for the reader. It is easier to relate to someone who seems "normal" and like the reader themselves than to someone who seems more talented and more special. Sam also acts like an alter ego for Joe during the novel. Sam often only acts like a Sidekick. Lots of superheroes have sidekicks or alter egos and Sam acts like it first for Joe, to help him getting into the comic business and becoming more American. Later he acts as a sidekick for Tracy Bacon.
Another trait that most superheroes share is a costume.
Joe wears his costume only sometimes. He wears it when he performs at parties, for example Bar Mitzvahs, and shows his magic tricks.
Most superheroes have one arch-enemy. For Joe Carl Ebling from the Aryan-American League becomes the arch-enemy. The other arch-enemy is Germany but he never really gets in contact with a Nazi. The only time he kills one is when he is enlisted in the Navy. He joins the navy only to kill Nazis but this fails because he is being sent to a lonely island in the Antarctica. Later on Carl Ebling, known as the Saboteur, plans an attack on Joe while he performs as the Escapist.
Sam’s enemies at the beginning are Anapol and the other men from Empire Comics, because they don’t give him the money and the position he thinks he deserves. Later on his enemy is the police, because they find them with other gay men and want to arrest him. One of the policemen rapes him and that is one main reason why he stays in New York instead of going to Los Angles with Bacon and writing a
script.
The two of them both have a time in their life where they are not fully integrated and accepted in society. Most superheroes share this trait. Sam is threatened by society, he can’t live the life he wants to live; he can’t reveal that he is gay. At the end he moves to Los Angles where his homosexuality is more acceptable. He starts accepting the fact that it is not going to work out for him to pretend to be “normal” and live in a “nuclear family”. In the beginning Joe is threatened by the German Nazis because he was a Jew living in Prague. He escaped but could not save his family.
Most superheroes do something remarkable that people remember over a longer amount of time. The remarkable thing Joe did was to save the Golem. It meant a lot to the Jewish people and gave them hope. Both of them helped to start the Golden Age of the Comic Industry. After they watched the Citizen Kane they changed their Comics.
Joe and Sam both demonstrate lots of traits shared by most superheroes to show what big impact they had on the comic industry. They also make the book more interesting. One of the two main characters usually was more “normal” than the other one, to make it easier for readers to relate to the story.