What does it mean to be human? Is it the air we breathe? The concept of rational, logic thought? Or is our humanity something we cannot even begin to fathom? Alan Moore's celebrated run on The Saga of the Swamp Thing is one of the most poignant analyzes of humanity and self-perception in any written medium. Alan Moore dissects Swamp Thing into the most base parts in his landmark story The Anatomy Lesson. Moore's Swamp Thing is one of the most relatable and human characters you'll ever meet, despite being "a vegetable monster."
Alec Holland was once a scientist working on plant growth biology in swampland, only to have his work sabotaged by dynamite, incinerating his body as it plunged into the swamp. Days later, the Swamp thing rises from its watery grave to live again. The story starts out interestingly enough, at Swamp Thing's death. The autopsy, Anatomy Lesson,reveals that this creature is incredibly human-like, down to the organs and tissue. http://www.comicvine.com/the-saga-of-swamp-thing-the-anatomy-lesson/37-261279/ The scientist, Jason Woodrue, a noted botanist in his field, examines our protagonist to discover the organic structure of this creature and what makes it tick. He describes in surgical detail:
"What are they? His lungs or something? No. They look like lungs, but human lungs have tiny capillary tubes that let oxygen pass through into the blood. That's what lungs are for. These are vegetable fiber. Vegetable fibers are too coarse to allow molecules of oxygen through in that way. These things suck and blow, and they don't do anything else. They don't work. They're not lungs (Moore, 44)."
Woodrue then continues to dissect the creature discovering its brain, heart, and kidneys. These pieces all amount to something that once resembled a man. Though the lungs never worked, and the organs are essentially non-functioning (even in life), the character was once a living, moving, critically thinking creature. Does the physiology make the man? Existentialism is defined in finite yet broad terms by The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: "Existentialism does not deny the validity of the basic categories of physics, biology, psychology, and the other sciences (categories such as matter, causality, force, function, organism, development, motivation, and so on). http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/existentialism/It claims only that human beings cannot be fully understood in terms of them." Human beings are too complex to be defined in terms of biology and psychology, which makes The Anatomy Lesson unique in the analysis of the human condition.
Furthermore, we discover something more sinister under Woodrue's examination. He explains:
"It's dynamite. Five sticks of it.The combined effects of the blast and the reflex muscles in his legs propel him through the door and into the swamp, but Alec Holland is already dead. His body goes into the swamp along with the formula it is saturated with. Once there, it decomposes. Those plants eat him, and they become infected by a powerful consciousness that does not realize it is no longer alive! It was a plant that thought it was Alec Holland (Moore, 48)!" Does this make the Swamp Thing human? Does our consciousness make us human, or the sum of our parts and experiences? The questions of identity and existence are explored in this landmark issue as The Anatomy Lesson discovers the dark truth behind The Swamp Thing.
The issue comes to a roaring climax as Woodrue completes his report and reflects upon what he's discovered. We all ponder what our position in life is and what we're destined to do, but what if our lives were just a dream all along? What if our concept of consciousness and higher-level thinking was all just a charade to understand the concept of humanity? Why are we here? What is our purpose? The tragic nature of Swamp Thing is concluded by Woodrue:
"You see, throughout his miserable existence, the only thing that could have kept him sane was the hope that he might one day regain his humanity. If he's read my notes he'll know that just isn't true. He isn't Alec Holland. He never will be Alec Holland. He's just a ghost. A ghost dressed in weeds (58)."
This crushing realization has a profound impact on Swamp Thing, as it discovers how inhuman it truly is. This also picks at the notion of spirituality and reincarnation, albeit a dark and incredibly twisted one. The existential deconstruction is the key element to the success of this incredible issue. The notions of humanity, existence, spirituality, identity and predestination are all on display as the character is ripped apart, reborn as something more violent and disillusioned. The true death of Alec Holland is the death of Swamp Thing's hope of reclaiming its former life and humanity. This is most evident later when "Alec" reconnects with an old friend: " 'Actually, you know you were underwater for half an hour? You really don't need to breathe anymore?' 'I...never did. It was...only a habit. I...gave it up.' 'how does it feel to just stop breathing?' 'Strange. You realize...just how much...effort...it has been...all along (Moore, 138-139).'"
When Swamp thing finally renounces its humanity after falling into madness, it reflects in a cold, calculated objective manner: "There is a red and angry world. Red things happen there. The world eats your wife, eats your friends, eats all the things that make you human...and you become a monster (Moore, 87)." This is an incredible existential examination in it's bleakest, darkest terms. Moore's Saga of the Swamp Thing examines what it truly means to be human, or what one perceives as being human.
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