The Anti-Hero and “Young Goodman Brown” Anonymous College

What draws masses of fans to midnight premiers of the Batman movies? What factor has made millions of people advent readers of Bruce Wayne, and other figures similar, such as the Punisher? They have no super powers, they must hide their identities from nearly all they come in contact with, and within their stories they are hated by most and feared by all. Even in classic literature, such as Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown”, the readers are inexplicably drawn to the title character in his quest, even though he actively converses with the shadowy figure of Lucifer himself. The main factor that makes these dark, dangerous men of action so appealing is that, above all else, they are human. They are real. We, as people all fall into sin and despair over and over again; that is what makes us human beings. We can identify with these darker, “real-life” vigilantes because we have been there before, even if it is not to the same level. Now, what do all these fictional figures have in common? They valiantly fight to save others, to defend those who can’t defend themselves. And they also are dangerously close to becoming the very thing that they struggle against...namely, the darkness. There is a reason that Batman is referred...