Crave Bits

Tag: Literature

  • 10 Things You Didn’t Know about Batman!

    10 Things You Didn’t Know about Batman!

    The enigmatic Bruce Wayne, one of the world’s most favourite superheroes of all time, has had an exciting lifetime in his comic publication history and in numerous animated and live-action film as well as television adaptations. While Gotham City and the rest of common civilian folk know Wayne as a rich playboy, living as a bachelor in his huge mansion after the loss of his parents at a young age, few really know his secret identity. When night falls, the Dark Knight dons the very symbol that had frightened him for his entire childhood, becoming the Batman and striking dread into the hearts of his enemies. Legendary director Christopher Nolan is credited with bringing the caped crusader back from the shadows and onto the Hollywood top grossing films’ box office in the much loved trilogy featuring Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), The Dark Knight Rises (2012). Here are some interesting and rather unknown facts you might not know about your beloved superhero:

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    1. Bruce Wayne is originally an industrialist, billionaire, philanthropist, and heir to the multi-national Wayne Corporation that originated in the 17th century under the aegis of his great-great-grandfather Alan Wayne.

    2. The concept art for Batman was created by Bob Kane at National Publications, the predecessor of DC Comics, as a response to the success of Superman in Action Comics.

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    3. The iconic black cape of Batman which is shaped like batwings was added by Kane who was inspired by seeing Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci’s handmade sketch of a prototype ornithopter flying machine. Finger made further additions to the costume, using gloves, removing the initial red accents, giving Batman his signature black cowl and a cape instead of wings and a mask, which also led the superhero to be dubbed The Dark Knight by his fan following.

    4. Contemporary 1930s popular culture provided most of the inspiration regarding much of Batman’s look, personality, methods and weaponry, drawing inspiration from various characters from pulp fiction and newspaper headlines, such as Zorro (created by Johnston McCulley in 1919), The Phantom (created by Lee Falk in 1936), and The Scarlet Pimpernel (created by Baroness Emmuska Orczy in 1903) most notably among many others.

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    5. Think Tony Stark aka Iron Man is the perfect “genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist” slash superhero sans his suit? Think again. With a superhuman “force of will” that characterizes the indomitable American spirit, Batman is an expert interrogator, a perfect human specimen with honed agility, endurance, strength greater than Olympic athletes and Chinese acrobats combined, the ability to withstand any form of mind control and massive inhuman amounts of pain through practiced meditation, master of a hundred and twenty seven martial arts, an exceptional weapon-wielder and marksman, a stealthy detective and infallible strategy planner, and has studied various disciplines which include computer science, chemistry, engineering, astrophysics, biology, and forensics.

    6. Bruce Wayne’s first name came from Robert Bruce, the Scottish patriot. Bruce, being a playboy, was a man of gentry. Bill Finger searched for a name that would suggest colonialism and tried names such as Adams, Hancock, etc. in the process before finally borrowing from “Mad” Anthony Wayne (the fiery General in Chief of the Legion of the United States from the 1700s) the perfect surname for Batman’s civilian identity.

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    7. Before fighting supervillains like The Joker and Ra’s al Ghul, Batman single-handedly brought down the organized crime syndicates that plagued Gotham City, which included low-level gangsters to powerful mob bosses such as Carmine Falcone and Salvatore Maroni.

    8. Batman, while not being imbued with any superhuman powers, makes up for it with his extensive physical and mental training and an inexhaustible range of weaponry and gadgets, which makes him just as powerful as any other powerful superhuman, and even divine superhero and superheroine in the DC comicverse. However, Wayne’s oath to avenge the murder of his parents is tempered with a sense of justice, and it is noteworthy to mention Batman’s “no-kill policy” which involves him serving justice in his own right (if he does not hand over a villain to the authorities), but without the heinous act of taking someone else’s life. This fact was explicitly stated in The Dark Knight Rises film by Batman (played by Christian Bale) while in combat along side Catwoman (Anne Hathaway).

    9. The Dark Knight, released in 2008, is one of the best contemporary reflections of the confusion and destruction that surrounded the collapse of the Twin Towers in New York City by terrorists on September 11th, 2001, as Batman’s enigmatic archenemy, the Joker, waltzes into town, and creates problems of epic proportions for Gotham. The Joker does not aim to steal money, gain political power, or even kill the superhero, but only to demonstrate to him the weak foundations of society, as he conspiratorially mentions, “When the chips are down, these ‘civilized’ people will eat each other. You’ll see. I’ll show you.” In an iconic scene of the same film, the camera pans over the lone, grim figure of Batman standing alone in the midst of a burnt down police precinct, the still flaming wreckage of which is arranged to uncannily resemble the ruins of the World Trade Centre buildings.

    10. While the levels of anarchy shown in the final Batman movie echo the market crash of 2008, it is also heavily influenced by Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities, which is set in the backdrop of the French Revolution in the late 1700s, with the final monologue borrowed directly from the last words by the novel’s protagonist: “I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss. I see the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy. I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts, and in the hearts of their descendants, generations hence. It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.” Bane, in this context is often compared to the fictional Madame Defarge and the Russian dictator Joseph Stalin, a figure who though rose to power, did so by corrupt methods and hence is not a figure to be trusted.

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    Bonus fact: While all comic lovers know Batman’s favoured armoured gadget-laden black car as the “Batmobile”, it is never explicitly referred to by this name in any of Nolan’s films save the official scripts. This automobile has undergone many changes in its appearance and features over the years, and Nolan’s era saw the Batmobile being modified from the Tumbler, a product designed by Wayne Enterprises’ Applied Sciences Division as a bridging vehicle for the military.

  • What They Write When They Write About Food?

    What They Write When They Write About Food?

    Food in Literature

     

    It all started when I was reading J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit where one can find description of food and feast on every third page. The word-ly delights guided me to see the divine connection between food and literature.

    Well, this reference of food in literature is not new at all. It has been there since the very beginning of written and verbal art. Homer’s Greek epic Odyssey has extensive descriptions of sacrificial food and wine in every chapter. Early Roman literature is full of food and festivity. Bible too is not untouched by this. Remember that bread and wine miracle?

    In literature, food is not only a means of survival but also a medium of interaction in society, a plot twist, reunion, symbol of change and what not. Food, in general, is a reflection of culture as a whole. No doubt writers have utilized this device of representation to their best.

    tea

    “Take some more tea,” the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.
    “I’ve had nothing yet,” Alice replied in an offended tone: “so I can’t take more.”
    “You mean you can’t take less,” said the Hatter: “it’s very easy to take more than nothing.”
    … Alice did not quite know what to say to this: so she helped herself to some tea and bread-and-butter.

                    This has been my favourite way of asking people have some tea. Alice comes to terms with the world around her through this little tea party. Lewis Carroll has effectively used food, in both of his books Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, to represent as well as critique on social behavior and ideals of Victorian society.

    Queen said. “The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday—but never jam to-day.”
    “It must come sometimes to ‘jam to-day,’ ” Alice objected.
    “No it can’t,” said the Queen. “Its jam every other day: to-day isn’t any other day, you know.”

                    As we are talking about a society’s critique, Tolstoy’s opinion of the excesses of nineteenth-century Russian aristocrats can be seen in Anna Karenina where the characters Levin and Oblonsky share a meal of three dozen oysters, soupe printanière, turbot with sauce Beaumarchaise, roast beef, poulard à l’estragon, parmesan cheese, macédoine de fruits, vodka, champagne, and two bottles of Chablis.

    A person’s eating habits also shows his character. In world’s most unread classic, James Joyce’s Ulysses, the protagonist Leopold Bloom’s description is like this:

    Mr. Leopold Bloom ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls. He liked thick giblet soup, nutty gizzards, a stuffed roast heart, liverslices fried with crustcrumbs, fried hencods’ roes. Most of all he liked grilled mutton kidneys which gave to his palate a fine tang of faintly scented urine.

                    Our protagonist is a man of tremendous appetite and similarly in later part of the story, we can hear his belly grumbling. As the story ends and he reaches his home, all he asks his wife to do before falling asleep at her feet is to make him some breakfast.

    One of my favourite story A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens also has a special role of food in it. First when the Second Spirit brought Scrooge to Bob Cratchit’s dwellings and at the end of the story when Scrooge sent a turkey to Bob Cratchit’s place.

    “Do you know the Poulterer’s in the next street but one, at the corner ?” Scrooge inquired.
    “I should hope I did,” replied the lad.
    “An intelligent boy!” said Scrooge. “A remarkable boy! Do you know whether they’ve sold the prize Turkey that was hanging up there?—Not the little prize Turkey: the big one?”
    I’ll send it to Bob Cratchit’s,” whispered Scrooge, rubbing his hands, and splitting with a laugh. “He shan’t know who sends it. It’s twice the size of Tiny Tim. Joe Miller never made such a joke as sending it to Bob’s will be!”

                    In Scrooge’s story it is shown as a first step towards change. Still my all-time favourite dining table moments are following:-

    First would be the Harry Potter’s feast in Hogwarts. For both Harry and reader it was the most amazing experience. A new world for Harry, where his life truly begins.

    Hogwarts-Feast

    “He had never seen so many thing he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.” (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, J. K. Rowling)

                    Last but not the least, we will go back to the starting point, that is, Tolkien’s The Hobbit which is full of Hobbit-love for food but the best isthelittle feast right at the beginning of story which decides the future of Bilbo Baggins.

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    Already it had almost become a throng. Some called for ale, and some for porter, and one for coffee, and all of them for cakes; so the hobbit was kept very busy for a while.
    A big jug of coffee had just been set in the hearth, the seed-cakes were gone, and the dwarves were starting on a round of buttered scones, when there came- a loud knock.
    “Now we are all here!” said Gandalf, looking at the row of thirteen hoods- the best detachable party hoods- and his own hat hanging on the pegs.
    “Quite a merry gathering!I hope there is something  left for the latecomers to eat and drink! What’s that? Tea! No thank you! A little red wine, I think for me.”
    “And for me,” said Thorin.
    “And raspberry jam and apple tart,” said Bifur.
    “And mince-pies and cheese,” said Bofur.
    “And pork-pie and salad,” said Bombur.
    “And more cakes- and ale- and coffee, if you don’t mind,”
    called the other dwarves through the door.
    “Put on a few eggs, there’s a good fellow!” Gandalf called after him, as the hobbitstumped off to the pantries. “And just bring out the cold chicken and pickles!”

    There are so many references that it is impossible to put together all of them. So the story ends here. Next time you pick up a book, pay attention to the food too as it tells a story in itself.