Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
Does Marten have goals?
rje:
I love this topic because I personally feel this is a defining question of Marten's journey - what the hell does he want to do with his life? I know it's a personal thing because I am very Goal Oriented and I can't fathom how Marten can really be happy just...hanging out all the time.
Seriously, that's like, all he ever does. He hangs out. He hangs out at home, at the coffee shop, at the bakery, at his job, hell ... I don't know if the band he was trying to start even did anything but hang out and talk about the kind of music they should try to play. Did they have any gigs? Did they write any songs? Did they even get together more than a handful of times? I don't know if it's my age or my personality but sometimes I want someone to just grab Marten and shake him back and forth yelling 'For fuck's sake man, stop letting life just happen to you! DO SOMETHING! Fuck, WANT SOMETHING!! WANT SOMETHING AND THEN DO SOMETHING TO GET THE THING YOU WANT!!'
Shit, he's in such a good position to take ahold of some kind of goal, if his life comfortable enough as it seems. Especially since the breakup, I just think it would be such an interesting journey for him to take, focusing on what he wants for once and going to get it. Or even discovering what it IS he wants. It doesn't seem he even thinks about that very much, y'know? What he really wants out of his life. He just kinda...hangs out in his own life, if you know what I mean lol.
Sorry for the wall of text, can you tell I've really thought a lot about this subject? XD
edit: I should add Marten's not the only character I want to grab and shake. There's a few more xD ...As a struggling artist, I want to shake Faye so hard omfg you have no idea you fucking got a commission for HOW MANY THOUSAND DOLLARS and you're content working as a fucking barista what is wrong with you arghhhh
lol I sound like Penelope.
dragontart:
I do know that many people can only appreciate things that caused them work and other fuss (also, girls who are easy to get are not worth it), and that for even more people the only way to feel happy/worthy is to reach a higher what is known as status in what is known as society. But I do not exactly know why it's hard to believe that that is not universally valid. And even if it was, why one has to be annoyed about people who don't feel a need to reach for such goals.
I wish I had no wishes.
I do agree that Marten doesn't seem to be exactly happy with his situation, never really thought about that. But can someone back up that loafing around/his job/not having much going on/no goals are the reasons? Didn't he once say something about wanting a better job than the library-thing?
Since it's a comic, I think one can surely argue whether Marten as a character is boring to follow when he does basically nothing (I think not, for me the interesting part is the characters kind of freaky relationships), but the argument here doesn't seem to be about that.
Also, libraries are pretty cool.
Thiefree:
--- Quote from: rje on 10 May 2011, 07:16 ---I don't know if it's my age or my personality but sometimes I want someone to just grab Marten and shake him back and forth yelling 'For fuck's sake man, stop letting life just happen to you! DO SOMETHING! Fuck, WANT SOMETHING!! WANT SOMETHING AND THEN DO SOMETHING TO GET THE THING YOU WANT!!'
--- End quote ---
I'm very different to you, I think. Not particularly driven, not particularly motivated. But even I have ambitions! and now that it's been raised, yes, Marten is just letting life happen to him. I don't really see how Jeph could change that at this point without radically changing Marten's character.
So, this is just how he is. I don't see him unveiling a secret desire to be a harbourmaster anytime soon.
Odin:
--- Quote from: dragontart on 10 May 2011, 09:58 ---I do know that many people can only appreciate things that caused them work and other fuss (also, girls who are easy to get are not worth it), and that for even more people the only way to feel happy/worthy is to reach a higher what is known as status in what is known as society. But I do not exactly know why it's hard to believe that that is not universally valid.
--- End quote ---
Probably because you are being deliberately obtuse?
Nobody is talking about societal status here, we're talking about Marten having zero desire to actually live. He is going day by day simply existing. He doesn't enjoy his life. That kind of life isn't worth living and if you don't understand why that bothers other readers of the comic you need to start asking some serious questions.
Odal:
--- Quote from: dragontart on 09 May 2011, 22:40 ---It's probably absolutely just me, but working at a library (with people you like, even) going to bars, coffee shops, loafing around the rest of the day and still being able to pay for everything you need (apartment, food, whatever) sounds pretty good to me.
Would be bad if he actually had other goals and still could only accomplish said things.
What would be the right things for Marten to want?
--- End quote ---
Yeah, I agree with this pretty much. While there's nothing wrong with having goals, I think it's a good thing if someone can appreciate what they have. Often times people look forward too much at what they could have and often take the things they do have for granted. You can see examples of that just in this thread where people think Marten situation is worse than he probably thinks it is.
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