Give me knowledge

March 7, 2007 2:00 PM

Looking for mythological, fictional, and / or non-fictional characters and / or stories of a certain nature.

I'm hoping to make this as short-winded as possible, but I'm looking for all of the aforementioned in regards to characters (etc) who don't know their own strength (or simply fail to grasp the delicate qualities of life) and cause damage because of this.

Some that I've come up with so far are...

Paul Bunyan (drags his axe handle and carves out the Grand Canyon)
Lennie from Of Mice And Men (accidentally kills Curley's wife)
Frankenstein (throws the girl in the lake where she drowns)

I'm doing some research on this and would love some more references. Thanks.

posted by almostcool to media & arts (36 comments total)

The two main characters of Dangerous Liaisons, particularly Glenn Close's character; rather than physical strength, they are masterminds of deceit and manipulation-- and though the damage they do is intentional, it spirals fatally out of control.
posted by hermitosis at 2:22 PM on March 7, 2007

Here's the Canadian Paul Bunyan.
posted by Ohdemah at 2:23 PM on March 7, 2007

Edward Scissorhands: almost all of his good deeds are compromised by disasters caused by his hands.
posted by hermitosis at 2:25 PM on March 7, 2007

That thing that grabs Bugs Bunny and wants to love him and kiss him and call him George.
posted by MsMolly at 2:27 PM on March 7, 2007

For a nonfiction example, how about the radium girls posted a while back?

There are lots of examples of how corporations have wound up unwittingly ruining many lives in situations like this. See also the Nestle infant formula debacle.
posted by hermitosis at 2:30 PM on March 7, 2007

I'm embarassed even to mention this, but Nick Cage's protagonist in Con Air accidentally kills a man in a parking lot dust up in the prologue. Likewise, Buffy Summers accidentally (seems to) kill her mother's boyfriend (played by John Ritter) in an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and grapples with that emotionally.

The general territory of superhero stories is probably a rich, rich vein for such mistaken over-exertions of power, but I don't know if that is what you're looking for, really.
posted by cortex at 2:31 PM on March 7, 2007

Ralph Touchett in Portrait of a Lady.
posted by alms at 2:49 PM on March 7, 2007

Ummm... The Hulk? He's always breaking things.

King Midas wishes for the golden touch.

Jafar (disney) accidentally bottles himself.

Japan attacks the US.
posted by kc0dxh at 2:52 PM on March 7, 2007

Ooh! The tortoise and the hare.
posted by kc0dxh at 2:53 PM on March 7, 2007

Obelix of Asterix fame has to get a mention.
posted by kisch mokusch at 2:54 PM on March 7, 2007

I immediately thought of Luis Bunuel's 1953 film El Bruto in which a strong but dumb man commits an accidental murder.
posted by vacapinta at 2:58 PM on March 7, 2007

Oh and if we're going to get all pop culture, I nominate Herman Munster.
posted by vacapinta at 3:05 PM on March 7, 2007

Straw dogs
posted by ouke at 3:18 PM on March 7, 2007

I'd prefer less pop culture (not to be a jerk) and more mythology/fiction related, although I really do like the idea of corporations that have over-reached as well (in an attempt to do good). Thanks for all the suggestions so far...
posted by almostcool at 3:19 PM on March 7, 2007

Oh. Also Native Son?
posted by vacapinta at 3:32 PM on March 7, 2007

I'm not sure whether you'd count this or not, but I think the recent issues with Cartoon Network's viral marketing campaign in Boston might qualify. They thought they were doing something harmless, but I'd say that spending millions of dollars on emergency response and basically shutting the city down for the day could be counted as a damaging result.

I know there have been a few instances in the major vampire literature (Anne Rice, probably?) where the vampire only means to feed on their loved one and ends up killing them or making them into a vampire because they couldn't stop drinking.

Ack, I feel like I have so many better answers to this question floating around in my brain, and I can't quite grasp the memories.
posted by vytae at 3:33 PM on March 7, 2007

Hercules and Linus.
posted by cog_nate at 3:37 PM on March 7, 2007

You might be interested in the Irish hero Chucullain. (I am pulling this out of my often fallible memory, so please forgive me if the details are not perfect.) As I recall, he and his father visited the local blacksmith. The blacksmith had a very strong, very vicuous guard dog. Chucullain's dad and the blacksmith leave the young hero alone with the dog. When the adults return, they discovered that the child accidentally killed the dog...he just didn't know his own strength. The blacksmith is distressed, since now he doesn't have a way of protecting his property, but the young hero says, "I will be your dog" and guards the blacksmith's property to the end of the blacksmith's days. This is how the hero got his name...Chucullain means the blacksmith's hound. (Also forgive me for not knowing which part of Chucullain is the name of the blacksmith and which part of it means "hound") This story doesn't exactly end up in disaster, though.
posted by omphale27 at 3:41 PM on March 7, 2007

Ok. last post...

If you're considering Frankenstein then I suppose you should look into Golem stories in general.

Also, Melville's Billy Budd came to mind and may or may not fit your description depending on how you interpret the episode with Claggart
posted by vacapinta at 3:42 PM on March 7, 2007

Maybe the death of Baldr? As Snorri Sturluson told it, Baldr (sort of the golden-boy of the Norse Gods) was supposed to have been made invincible, but due to oversight, he was actually vulnerable to the mistletoe plant. The other gods got together and threw things at him for a lark; one of them (his brother, the blind god Höðr) was tricked by Loki into throwing a dart made of mistletoe, and thus unknowingly killed him. It's one of the most important stories in the Norse religion.
posted by vorfeed at 3:54 PM on March 7, 2007

Also, Jesus is an unthinking little jerk who kills people that irk him in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.
posted by cog_nate at 3:59 PM on March 7, 2007

The later appearances of Chris Ware's Super-Man character, who doesn't understand human pain, or doesn't care.
posted by hydrophonic at 4:24 PM on March 7, 2007

Some mythological landscaping:

Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime stories describe the Rainbow Serpent, that came from beneath the ground and created huge ridges, mountains and gorges as it pushed upward.

The skaldic poem Haustlöng relates that the earth was scorched and the mountains cracked as Thor travelled in his wagon.

In Menominee (Native American) mythology, Manabus, the trickster, "fired by his lust for revenge", shot two underground gods when the gods were at play. When they all dived into the water, a huge flood arose.
posted by kisch mokusch at 4:44 PM on March 7, 2007

Wikipedia for Cú Chulainn. In all the versions I've heard, it was self-defense, so wouldn't qualify. (By the way, it's "hound of Cullan"; Cullan's the smith's name.)
posted by booksandlibretti at 5:14 PM on March 7, 2007

The Mouse that Roarded (movie from the late 1950's)
posted by prophetsearcher at 5:20 PM on March 7, 2007

simply fail to grasp the delicate qualities of life ... and cause damage because of this

Spider-Man fails to stop the man that later kills his Uncle Ben, and thus learns the true meaning of Ben's message that with great power comes great responsibility.
posted by frogan at 5:56 PM on March 7, 2007

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever is all about a character who does damage because he doesn't know how to control his power.
posted by scalefree at 6:01 PM on March 7, 2007

Bam Bamm!
posted by Joe Invisible at 6:16 PM on March 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

Maui's brothers, in their impatience to carve up a great fish, caused great evil.
(Perhaps the original "it was this big" fishing yarn.)
posted by Catch at 6:42 PM on March 7, 2007

@MsMolly: Isn't that guy supposed to be a caricature of Lenny from Of Mice? Thus the "George."
posted by crayolarabbit at 1:29 AM on March 8, 2007

Some more Irish mythology - The creation of the Giant's causeway might qualify for this. There's probably a few other Fionn MacCumhaill stories that qualify but can't think of any off the top of my head
posted by TwoWordReview at 2:36 AM on March 8, 2007

corporations that have over-reached as well (in an attempt to do good)

"...children of thalidomide..." (--Billy Joel)
posted by salvia at 8:39 AM on March 8, 2007

What you describe is the underlying theme of every story Robert Graves recounts about Hercules in The Greek Myths; some passages of the epic of Gilgamesh have overtones of this, as I recall; it also seems to be a motif in tales about Thor in his encounters with the Frost and Fire Giants:

Thor was once outwitted by a giant king, Útgarða-Loki. The king, using his magic, tricked Thor. The king raced Thought itself against Thor's fast servant, Þjálfi (nothing being faster than thought, which can leap from land to land, and from time to time, in an instant). Then, Loki (who was with Thor) was challenged by Útgarða-Loki to an eating contest with one of his servants, Logi. Loki lost, eventually. The servant even ate up the trough containing the food. The servant was an illusion of "Wild-Fire", no living thing being able to equal the consumption rate of fire. He called Thor weak when he only lifted the paw of a cat, the cat being the illusion of the Midgard Serpent. Thor was challenged to a drinking contest, and could not empty a horn which was filled not with mead but was connected to the ocean. This action started tidal changes. And here, Thor wrestled an old woman, who was Old Age, something no one could beat, to one knee. It was only later that Thor was told that he had in fact performed impressively doing as well as he did with those challenges.
posted by jamjam at 9:35 AM on March 8, 2007

Akira and likewise "Star Trek"'s Gary Mitchell lose control as they become stronger and stronger, until their friends have to kill them
posted by Kirklander at 6:20 PM on March 8, 2007

In case almostcool is still keeping an eye on this thread: you might want to look at Gulliver's Travels, specifically the travels to Lilliput (where Gulliver towers over the inhabitants) and Brobdingnag (where the inhabitants tower over Gulliver). Sample quote from the Brobdingnag voyage:

"At length he ventured to take me up behind by the Middle between his fore Finger and Thumb, and brought me within three Yards of his Eyes, that he might behold my Shape more perfectly. I guessed his Meaning, and my good Fortune gave me so much Presence of Mind, that I resolved not to struggle in the least as he held me in the Air, about sixty Foot from the Ground, although he grievously pinched my Sides, for fear I should slip through his Fingers. . . . In the mean time I was not able to forbear groaning and shedding Tears, and turning my Head towards my Sides; letting him know, as well as I could, how cruelly I was hurt by the Pressure of his Thumb and Finger. He seemed to apprehend my Meaning; for, lifting up the Lappet of his Coat, he put me gently into it, and immediately ran along with me to his Master, who was a substantial Farmer, and the same Person I had first seen in the Field."
posted by Orinda at 8:00 AM on March 9, 2007

crayolarabbit -- yes, it is. Of Mice and Men used to be hugely popular; now it's practically forgotten. And these days, how many people both read Steinbeck and watch Bugs Bunny?
posted by Rash at 12:03 PM on March 9, 2007