Superman was created by two Jewish immigrants by the names of Stiegal and Shuster. In 1933 the United States was swarming with immigrants. Everyone was moving from the frontier to the cities. Urban life was the new way to live. The question is, was Superman an American character? First we must discuss what it is to be American. Technically to be American is to be born in the US. Superman was born on a planet called Krypton and was sent to Earth by his parents. On earth he was raised on a farm by people that found him. He then moved to the city, where he fought crime. So technically, Superman is an immigrant who moved to the city from the frontier. Stiegal and Shuster created Superman as they saw the American people. Everyone in the United States is an immigrant. We all came from another country to settle here and make a living. Everyone wanted to obtain the American Dream. Superman was an immigrant who came to earth and made a living for himself in the United States. But, is he an American character? I would say yes. He portrays the American people significantly. An immigrant and living in a city, Superman is living just as his fellow Americans live. He is an American Character because of how he portrays the American people.
Ohhh my goodness... When I decided on trying to analyze the mythological origins and references in superhero comics, I had no idea the can of worms I was opening up... On the one hand, it was awesome to see just how many connections there were between superheroes and psychology/mythology/philosophy, but all the information also made it terribly difficult to distinguish what I should be using and how to tie it all together. When I was talking to one of my sorority sisters about it she said, "Oh yeah, well, research essays are kind of like putting together puzzles..." and I think that really sums up what writing this paper was like for me. Fortunately, I was really interested throughout the whole process and I very much enjoyed writing the paper. Being a psychology major, I was especially interested in reading about the Jungian archetypes that had a lot of parallels with major modern comic books superheroes. I was also able to incorporate Joseph Campbell's "hero cycle&
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