Udit Ranasaria Mr. D. Detwiler Quest SS 8 Period 3 11/8/11 Superhero Essay We all have watched movies about Superman saving the day or the Amazing Hulk ripping apart some bad guy, but who would have guessed that these superheroes reflect immigrants in America through at least three ways. These ways are through Hulk, Superman, and comic creators. Now you will learn about this odd connection between these superheroes and immigration. Hulk was a superhero that made America go crazy but who knew that he is actually based of a Jewish myth.

Hulk who was a character appreciated by Americans actually is the American counterpart of the Jewish Golem. The golem was a character who was made out of clay and was quite scary. Though more human-like the Hulk was still a character that just looking at him could make a person shudder with fear, just because of his sheer strength. There were physical similarities they both still had similar mental physical ties. The Golem was said to, when angry, terrorize whole villages and pound them to dust. Hulk also when angered could quite a lot of damage.

These are the similarities between Hulk and his counterpart, Golem. Superman was one of the really popular superheroes that everyone knows about, but who knew his story was almost exactly like an immigrant coming to America. One of the similarities is the hardships they had to face at their home country and coming to US. Superman’s home planet Krypton was being destroyed just as immigrants had to face war, communism, religious, persecution, famine, and other calamities that influenced them to come to America.

Superman’s parents sent Superman alone similar to immigrants when they would just send one man or child to earn money for the ship fares for the rest of them. The other similarity between Superman’s life and the immigrants is when how the immigrants and Superman react when they reach America. Superman whose real name is Kal-El changed his name to Clark Kent just as immigrants would so they could fit in. Also Superman was adopted just as America ‘adopted’ immigrants through Ellis Island. These elationships clearly show the similarities between the comic story of Superman and the true story of European Immigration. The final commonality between Superheroes and immigration is there Creators. The superheroes creators all had immigrative ties. Jerry Siegel, the creator of Superman, was the son of a Jewish immigrant. Joseph Shuster, the creator of a variety of other comics, immigrated to America when he was a young boy. Also the creators experiences had an effect on their comics. Siegel based his whole Superman comic of immigration.

Also when his father died, this tragic feeling seeped into his comics. All in all, it is clearly shown how Hulk, Superman and superhero creators all reflect immigrants in America. The Golem, a Jewish character, through immigration was brought to America and took the form of the mighty, amazing Hulk. Superman, brave and saving the day, was always just a representation of European immigration to America. The Creators were all related to immigration themselves and let their experiences control the plot of their popular comics.