Pelaphus Member
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#6 · Posted: 9 Nov 2004 06:31
Yikes, Alph-Art!
There's no question that deep things underlie the work of most good writers, and when comparing their biographies to their work, there's also no question that life experience is somehow played out, or mirrored in the work. (Indeed, on that deeper level, writers don't always know what they're doing when they do it. That discovery can come later.)
But I don't think any artist who isn't stupefyingly pretentious would consciously come from a place as dense as the thesis you describe. (I hasten to add, that's not a slam at you.) Especially a populist like Hergé.
For Hergé was at heart just a storyteller who was fascinated by genres, a fascination he sometimes combined with his feelings about then-current events. And his underlying thematic message, rarely very deep and never impenetrable, shifted from story to story. What didn't shift - and I believe this is at least part of the answer to your question as to why Tintin appeals to such a diverse audience - was Tintin as a credulous everyman, very specific in certain respects, yet in others a kind of tabula rasa. Tthis lack of grounding is what enabled him to be used with such versatility - in detective stories, stories with mysticism and fantasy, science fiction stories, political allegories, etc. His (and Hergé's) natural curiosity combined with his lack of biographical definition to let him go anywhere.
Haddock shares this versatility as a by-product of being a foil for Tintin's adventurousness, because he speaks for us as a participating observer.
In a way, I suppose, Tintin represents the ideal we strive for; while Haddock stands in for the flawed humans we really are. Could there be a more complete or universal balance than that...?
As to Haddock/parent... I suppose one might examine the various functions Haddock fills, on a symbolic level, as befits the given story. He is at times the caring parent (e.g. rescuer, advisor), at times the representative of passion over reason (forming a triumvirate with Calculus [reason] and Tintin, who has a foot in each camp; kissin' cousins to Kirk-Spock-McCoy) and at times the classic "buddy" in adventure, the contrasting comrade-in-arms. And being bearded and older he does seem to be an emotional landing place, not only for Tintin but for "children of all ages," who (unconsciously and consciously) attach a kind of paternal significance to him. As well they/we may, for though it is unspoken, he is Tintin's hero as much as Tintin is ours. Tintin looks to him for companionship, company, advice - even approval. And even though he may grumble about it, Haddock gives him all that, and unconditionally. He'd sacrifice his life for Tintin, unquestioningly. Note too that in time he not only represents parent in deed, but in fortune. His inherited Marlinspike Hall very quickly becomes a welcoming home for all (even Castafiore!), and often home base for the Tintin stories in general. No one deserving - which is to say no one he loves (though the concept dare not speak its name), nor even anyone he ever feels compassion for (e.g. the Gypsies in Castafiore Emerald) -- is ever turned away.
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