Walking Corpses & Conscious Plants: Possibilist Ecologies in ...
Walking Corpses & Conscious Plants: Possibilist Ecologies in ...
Walking Corpses & Conscious Plants: Possibilist Ecologies in ...
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B<strong>in</strong>gham 124<br />
Swamp Th<strong>in</strong>g, whose frozen body is centered between a mass of tubes. Agape with<br />
bullet wounds his body looks, as Woodrue remarks, “...Gray, brittle, tattooed by frost,<br />
quite dead” (Saga 15). Although the other characters believe Swamp Th<strong>in</strong>g was once<br />
human, they deny him the right of burial and treat him as an object to be manipulated for<br />
their own desires. This exploitation is justifiable because it is seen as a means for both<br />
Woodrue and Sunderland to accomplish their own goals; and also because the body of<br />
Swamp Th<strong>in</strong>g which is be<strong>in</strong>g used as a mechanism to achieve these ends theoretically has<br />
no recourse. Personally, I believe that this clear expression of separation between species<br />
is necessary <strong>in</strong> order for the work to be able to beg<strong>in</strong> to approach the necessity of pos<strong>in</strong>g<br />
questions regard<strong>in</strong>g what truly def<strong>in</strong>es communities and the values of its members.<br />
Throughout the course of this issue, the three social functions McCloud identifies<br />
as specifically performed by art seem to appear as thematic motivations (Understand<strong>in</strong>g<br />
167). First, the notion of a game or <strong>in</strong>tellectual exercise undertaken for the purpose of<br />
defeat<strong>in</strong>g challenge seems to manifest <strong>in</strong> Woodrue's desire to outsmart his employer. Not<br />
only does he refer to Sunderland's facility patroniz<strong>in</strong>gly as a “dollhouse”, even<br />
Sunderland's own descriptions of the site are completed us<strong>in</strong>g metaphors contrast<strong>in</strong>g the<br />
complex security systems with simple game equipment: “And I control everyth<strong>in</strong>g from<br />
a console no bigger than a checkerboard” (Saga 14 panel 5). Reduc<strong>in</strong>g the complex<br />
activities and systems considered by these characters to the term<strong>in</strong>ology of simple games<br />
gives readers a greater access to understand<strong>in</strong>g the themes <strong>in</strong>troduced. At stake is an<br />
argument for naturalism and environmental preservation which <strong>in</strong>cludes an immediate<br />
need to reconsider how human identity is wrapped up with the natural environment which<br />
supports and susta<strong>in</strong>s life. By deconstruct<strong>in</strong>g these ideas and relay<strong>in</strong>g them through the