Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT

Does Marten have goals?

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Thiefree:
Most of the big things in my life have 'just happened', but I guess everybody knows how busy that can keep you!

I think something I'm glad you lot reminded me is that comic time works very differently. While I've been reading QC for years (and have actually known the main characters for longer than most of my current friends*), Marten hasn't actually been dragging his feet by the comic's timeline. In fact, considering the job change, and moving, and his relationship, and new friends, things are actually moving pretty fast for him.

* I cannot begin to tell you how weird this realisation feels.

TheEvilDog:
When I was a kid, in one of the few moments when my grandfather had anything positive to say to me, he told me that a man should never plan out his life. Thats the worst thing anyone can do. Because once you start doing that, you start to worry about meeting those goals and you begin to miss out on the rest of your life. See life as a road, the destination is still in front of you, but if you concentrate on it too much, you'll miss the journey.

My grandfather served on one of the last commercial sailing ships, worked as a brickie and in a steel mill before he retired. He was one of the first property developers back in the 50s and built his own home, twice. He never set any goals for himself. He was also a throughly miserable git who didn't like me simply because I was very quiet, and to be honest, I didn't like him because he was a miserable git. That said, he gave me one of the three pieces of advice that has stuck with me for my entire life.  :wink:

Tiogyr:

--- Quote from: TheEvilDog on 25 May 2011, 16:27 ---When I was a kid, in one of the few moments when my grandfather had anything positive to say to me, he told me that a man should never plan out his life. Thats the worst thing anyone can do. Because once you start doing that, you start to worry about meeting those goals and you begin to miss out on the rest of your life. See life as a road, the destination is still in front of you, but if you concentrate on it too much, you'll miss the journey.
--- End quote ---

The problem with that analogy is that if you aren't looking at the road before you at all you're going to drive right off of it into a ditch (or fuck up and plow into somebody else also on the same road and ruin both of your lives).

TheEvilDog:
But doesn't that happen to everyone at one stage or another? Don't we all crash at sometime? We learn from the experience and move on.

The point is, do you want to look back on your life and think to yourself "I've accomplished X. But looking back, what have I missed?" One of the Four Noble Truths in Buddhism is that the cause of suffering in life comes from the desire to have and control things, such as one's own life. The real problem there is that you can't control life, the same way that you can't tell what will happen around the next bend, or what's coming.

I said earlier that my grandfather was on the last sailing ship built in the English isles, the Kathleen and May, a schooner. He signed on as one of the crew when he was 16, and spent two years sailing on her before the diesel fumes from the engines caused him to develop a severe ulcer (it would later require much of his stomach to be removed), and so when he was 18, as the Kathleen and May sailed into Cardiff, he was allowed to leave. There he apprenticed as a brick-layer and he met my grandmother, and began to buy old houses, fix them up, sell them and move on. Eventually he got a job with a large steel mill as one of the supervisors, simply because one of his old brickie mates knew some of the managers. Working there, he was able to build a home for his family, and he was able to retire in some comfort. My grandmother passed away when I was 13, from leukemia, and it was a harsh blow for him. He developed cancer when I was 15, and that required his left lung to be removed. He passed away one month short of my 18th birthday, from a reoccurance of the cancer.

A year before he died, he came over for a visit and in one of the few meaningful chats we ever had, he told me that life had dealt him some terrible blows, but had also shown him a great deal of kindness, he had been able to see he grandchildren grow up, and was able to meet his great grandson. He even admitted himself to be a simple man, no lofty ideals, no grand scheme in life. He was just a boy who signed onto a ship who didn't care what was on the horizon, only that there must have been something there.

themacnut:

--- Quote from: TheEvilDog on 25 May 2011, 18:42 ---
A year before he died, he came over for a visit and in one of the few meaningful chats we ever had, he told me that life had dealt him some terrible blows, but had also shown him a great deal of kindness, he had been able to see he grandchildren grow up, and was able to meet his great grandson. He even admitted himself to be a simple man, no lofty ideals, no grand scheme in life. He was just a boy who signed onto a ship who didn't care what was on the horizon, only that there must have been something there.

--- End quote ---

That may be what Marten is about. The problem is that he doesn't seem happy with that, that maybe he thinks he should want more, but is not sure what that "more" should be. Our fast-pased, consumerist society probably has a lot to do with that. We're encouraged, especially by the media, to always want more, more, more, to never be satisfied with "enough", to keep looking for that next horizon. That attitude is so pervasive that when we run into someone who's NOT like that, who is content to stay in place, we often think they're strange. Even such people themselves may wonder why they have no great ambition to say, conquer the corporate/business world or become the next entertainment sensation when they see some of their peers striving to do so.

It's no coincidence that Marten's social circle consists primarily of people who also lack any great ambition for their life (like Faye and Angus), as such easygoing people are fundamentally incompatible with people who feel driven to Accomplish Something in their life. Even Dora's not too different, she's accomplished her goal of being a business owner, and is now mainly driven to keep that business operating and solvent. She's not trying to make a chain of CoDs or turn it into a franchise, or even physically expand the shop. She's basically trying to stay in place-at most she'd probably like to hire someone reliable enough to run the place so she could actually take a vacation every now and then.

Slightly off-topic, but I also find it funny how success can come to those who aren't looking for it. Our esteemed QC creator wasn't looking to create a webcomic for a living, yet here he is doing just that. Meanwhile, many an aspiring webcomic creator trying to emulate the success of Jeph and the other creators living off their creations has failed miserably, or at least fallen short of that goal. Does this mean they should keep trying, or find another path? And what other path should they take? Difficult questions to answer, no wonder there are people like Marten out there wondering just what to do with their lives...

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