Foundational Lessons From Fictional Characters

Coming back to reality after journeying into your favorite fictional world is, to me, the exact same feeling as waking up from an entrancing dream.

Have you ever received a purely positive compliment with the ever-so-slight twinge of “But that could never be me”? My best buddy recently told me that I am the only person that he doesn’t disdain for my love and view of fiction. So naturally I began to wonder what book hurt him so deeply. I haven’t been able to pinpoint that one yet but I won’t give up.

He and I have at least 3 to 4 conversations per week where we attempt to grasp the nuances of our simple yet complex world. We perform a balancing act between each other where we indulge and understand each other’s stances/sources but ultimately rely on our own biases. He studied philosophy in college and is an avid student of this topic to this day. He does enjoy fiction but he seeks out answers to his questions mainly in the study of philosophy and theology. I have benefited tremendously from this obsession of his because we like to ponder and process together. The widening of my worldview is undoubtedly linked to having this dude in my life. If you don’t have this luxury, I’d recommend finding groups that have similar interests to you and joining them. The number of rabbit holes that I have been Dr. Strange astral projected into because of him is baffling. My obsession with psychology and philosophy may not have started with him but it definitely got rocket fuel injected by him. Where I contribute to the conversation is my connection to mythology and fiction. Growing up, I wasn’t a Harry Potter kid, I was a Percy Jackson and comic book kid. Percy Jackson launched my obsession with Greek mythology. Through Greek mythology, I began to blur the lines of history lessons and fictional narratives. Now, this is not to say that I believe these fictional cautionary tales to be real-world facts, but to say that the lessons to be learned from these are easily applied to day-to-day life. Before I ramble, I’m gonna dive into a few of my favorite pieces of fiction and break down a few of the lessons I took with me. This is the first installment of a series to come.

Formative Lessons

Now I’m not going to claim that I came to these conclusions as a child when I was first introduced to them but rather I soaked up the message early and was able to reflect on them later in life. These were fundamental characters and stories that I attached to early on and figured out why later on. I won’t give a full breakdown of each story but the lessons I learned from them. If you haven’t read them, I obviously recommend that you do.

Percy Jackson

Briefly mentioned earlier was my affinity for Percy Jackson, the introduction to Greek mythology combined with the turbulence of being an adolescent.

Rick Riordan crafted a fantastic world to navigate through the eyes of an uncertain child who feels lost but destined to be more. Percy comes from a broken home with a mother who claims to love him but allows her abusive spouse to run all over her and her son. Percy voices how unhappy he is with this situation and his mother knows the truth about his true lineage. Percy, thankfully, was “saved” from his 5150 mother and deadbeat stepdad to be thrust into the world of myth and fight to clear his name and discover his divine lineage. Throughout the entire series, we get to witness Percy be thrust into impossible odds and triumphs time in and time out.

Harpy impersonating my teacher, so she can kill me? Light work. Minotaur breaking through the legendary sanctuary? Hold my elixir. Are literal Gods plotting my downfall to play their political chess? Am I a joke to you?

Percy embodied the overlooked stud hiding among the commoners. He never let it feed his ego, he simply got the task in front of him done. A true legend even within myth.

Lesson learned: You’re always only one step away from a fulfilled life, and you will be tested for your blessings.

Spider-Man

When you look up “People’s Champ” there’s a picture of Peter Parker then Betty White then Spider-Man. This poor dude starts off as an orphan. He is then adopted by his aunt and uncle, raised in a loving home but it ultimately gets ripped in half due to a radioactive spider. His uncle is murdered due to a lack of Peter upholding a moral code. Peter then hears one of the most iconic lines in fiction, “With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility.” Catapulting him into trauma after trauma because he now carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. Never again allowing his shortcomings to be what devastates someone’s life as they did his family’s. The kid who is a slave to the greater good becomes a man who embodies what it means to perpetuate positivity. Constantly helping an old lady cross the street, buying a kid a new ice cream cone, oh, and the casual taking down of a maniacal villain trying to destroy the city.

Spider-Man never hesitates to continue this thankless job. Being ridiculed by the media/masses, watching his loved ones die due to his shortcomings as a protector, and always, always being the guy to jump on the grenade. It’s a fair question to ask if he’s a bit psychotic, not knowing when to quit when person after person that he loves is taken from him. He refuses to let his true identity be known so that he can protect the people in his life. Resisting, temptations of fame, power, and wealth.

Peter, unfortunately, is always the guinea pig for readers to vicariously learn through his mistakes. I believe that Spider-Man has endured the tests of time because he is what everyone can relate to in their day to day. No, no one is fighting a mutant rhino teaming up with a magician, at least I think so, but everyone fights their battles and Spider-Man is the fictional idol to look up to on how to handle tough situations.

Lesson learned: Life is going to throw everything and the kitchen sink at you, if you can hold on to your principles, morals, and ethics through adversity then the universe will reward you. If it feels like it’s taking a while to receive your blessings then there’s likely still work to be done.

Flash

So this is technically a two-for-one. Barry Allen and Wally West both donned the mantle of the Flash throughout my youth. Both of them had the charisma and wit that I coveted. Both upheld honor and duty above all else. Finding out that Barry became the lightning bolt that gave him his powers after sacrificing himself to save the universe was a mind-bending existential crisis pending. Once I wrapped my head around that he exists to create himself…well I’ll be real it didn’t clear up much. The sentiment to create the reality you want to live finally permeated only recently.

Wally’s light shone through in the Justice League animated series. The guy who consistently got overlooked even though he was a powerhouse always willing to do the dirty work and make the sacrifice play. His primary heroics are commendable, running so fast as to disappear into the speed force to defeat Lex Luthor Brainiac was inherently badass. But what made Wally my all-time favorite superhero was his super-ness in conjunction with the scene of him counseling James or “The Trickster”. The Trickster shows that he really isn’t a bad guy but a man who is ill, lashing out against the failed infrastructure that’s supposed to help him. Wally recognizes this and takes a genuine concern for his well-being, not treating him as a villain but as a misguided friend looking for help.

Lessons learned: You’ve been given the tools to live the reality you want to experience. First, be human, then be super.

Life begins with inherent blessings and shortcomings bestowed upon everyone. To me, life is a journey to discover what those are and how to best operate with them. Life will always test you to use your gifts for good and test your resilience against your weaknesses. When you persevere through these tests, life blooms beautifully within you and in front of you. You may be inherently talented but if you don’t put the work in to craft a talent into a skill, then you’ve squandered your opportunity. If you get past your inability to connect easily to people, then you find yourself amongst ideal company. In the unlikely quality quote from Jerry Smith in Rick and Morty, “Life is effort and I’ll stop when I die!” Not the character to model yourself after but solid words to take with you.