Allegory & X-Men: What do the two have in common?
Allegory: a story behind the story
An allegory is a narrative that is really a ______.
One story takes place on the surface.
Under the surface, the story’s ______and ______represent ______, things like love or freedom, evil or goodness, hell or heaven.
An Allegory must operate on two levels
On the level of ______, an allegory must hold our attention. Its characters must seem ______and ______enough for us to care about them.
On the ______level the ideas in the story must be accessible to us. As you read, you should find that the allegorical level of the story gradually begins to strike you.
X-Men Comics
Created in the 1960’s by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, X-Men are outcast from society because they are different.
The comics were aimed at groups who ______
Based on the idea that everyone wants to be “______”
For example, people with disabilities…
The point: different is okay!
Mutations vs. Disabilities: realization & acceptance
When mutants first realize they have a mutation, ______for both the mutant and the family is difficult.
Archangel’s father takes him to special scientists to try to “fix” him, and Rogue runs away from home because she doesn’t understand why she hurts everyone she touches.
Mutations vs. Disabilities: realization & acceptance
When mutants first realize they have a mutation, ______for both the mutant and the family is difficult.
Families search for the best doctors in the country for surgeries to “fix” the disabled.
Heather Whitestone, who is ______, was crowned ______in 1995.
Mutations vs. Disabilities
Mutants and those with disabilities are sometimes______from society because they do not “fit in.”
- A parent of a mutant child asks Dr. Xavier to “cure” or fix the child, but he responds, “mutation is not a disease.”
- Mutations & Disabilities are not things that need to be “fixed” because there is nothing wrong with being a mutant or disabled
Mutations vs. Disabilities
Unlike some superheroes, Superman & Spiderman, who can ______and ______their abilities, X-Men and those with disabilities do not always have that luxury
Both struggle to understand themselves and how they fit into society, unlike the Super-guys who can easily assimilate into “normal” society
Stereotypes & Prejudice
Families and communities may have a hard time dealing with perceived mutations and disabilities
Thus, mutants attend a school that teaches them “to survive…peacefully in a world that fears them.”
The same could be said of people with disabilities, that they live in a world that does not ______them.
This is due to lack of ______and ______
Nightcrawler & Prejudice
Persecuted as a ______based solely on how he looks.
He actually has a deep ______that allows him to find rest and peace.
Stereotypes & Prejudice
Professor Xavier urges mutants & humanity to live together peacefully, with ______, no matter how different they may be.
The same is true for society and those with disabilities
Allegory in “The Masque of the Red Death”
As you read “The Masque of the Red Death,” look for allegory working on two levels.
To realize the allegory, ask yourself,
- What is the main story about?
- What abstract ideas are being represented?
- What is the deeper story the author is trying to convey?