SOCIOLOGY CLASS
Welcome to the 3rd issue of Symmetry and thanks for reading! I really liked how Raffaele Ienco’s art fit the sad tone of this issue. We saw Matthew die in the first five pages of issue #1 and now at the end of the 3rd we see what’s going on. I was talking to my wife about the different series I write and she asked me whom the villain of Symmetry is. The primary antagonist is the system itself. The Elder Committee is certainly interesting and could be perceived as “villainous” but it’s not clear-cut.
The next issue is the final of the first arc and will answer a LOT of the questions I’m sure you have. We have Michael confronting SOL and there will be some fun twists and turns leading into the second arc.
NARRATIVE
Had a question online about the Michael’s narrative as recordings for his unborn child. He’s recording more than just the words printed in the narrative text boxes. He’s also recording what’s being shown in the art. This story is his version of events as he’s relating them to his unborn child. It’s his perspective and is intentionally skewed a bit based on that. If you’ve ever gone back and compared memories with old friends, people remember things very differently.
EGALITY VERSUS EQUALITY
These don’t mean the same thing. Egality is an “extreme leveling of society.” Equality is “the state of being the same quantity, measure or value as another.” One of the Four Pillars is equality, but we clearly see that it’s bullshit. Egality is more appropriate since people are the same economically and everything is first come, first serve. It’s part of the point and perspective of the story.
SEGREGATION VERSUS SEPARATION
There’s a difference between these as well. It’s summed up well by this quote:
“Segregation is that which is forced upon an inferior by a superior. Separation is done voluntarily by two equals.” Malcolm X
Researching segregation, it’s impossible to not get hit over the head with the Civil Rights movement and the insane George C. Wallace. I realize he’s a relic of his time, but this guy could have been President.
“I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” George C. Wallace
In this story we learn about how people are segregated by race, age and disposition. The ENTIRE point of it is to avoid conflict.
ARE HUMANS NATURALLY VIOLENT?
From my perspective, the answer to this is yes. All you have to do is read the news and you can see how depraved and violent humanity is to itself. The war of ideas over violence and human nature has raged since the 1600s, when philosopher Thomas Hobbes first speculated that the “natural condition of mankind” was one of violence and conflict. I tend to agree with that, but stumbled across this:
http://www.alfiekohn.org/article/humans-innately-aggressive/
When you read that you’ll see psychologists discussing that it’s not a natural state. I don’t think anyone knows for sure. History has shown that at least a percentage of us are consistently violent throughout recorded events. This link shows murder rates around the world and I found the misconception about the Third World analysis in here very interesting.
https://mises.org/blog/mistake-only-comparing-us-murder-rates-developed-countries
WOLVES AND SPEED
I wrote the wolves in the story originally as mountain lions, but Raffaele wanted to draw them as wolves so wolves they are! In editing I frequently will cut down the # of words from previous drafts and in some cases eliminate certain threads or explanations because they bog the story down. My philosophy on writing is that if you can think of a reasonable explanation as to why something happens, then you don’t need to go out of your way to explain it. Point being I wrote a bunch of narrative explaining why the wolves didn’t immediately catch up with Matthew and Elder Sharon in the pursuit. The reason I gave is that these wolves had never seen humans before and were slightly cautious. This was four narrative captions and I took it out because it bogged down the story and isn’t terribly important to what’s going on. Full out wolves run between 31 and 37 mph
https://www.californiawolfcenter.org/education/wolf-facts/
That’s it for this issue, thanks again for reading and if you like this book please recommend it to a friend!
Carpe Diem,
