Marvel Comics’ Hulk is a famous anti-hero who first appeared in the book The Incredible Hulk in 1962. This first thing readers will notice is the green, hulking humanoid creature on the cover; but, on the inside, this muscular monster appears as Robert Bruce Banner, who is everything the Hulk is not. Bruce Banner is a physically weak shut-in who is emotionally reserved physicist who specializes in gamma radiation. Throughout the series the two are at odds; Hulk only wants to prove himself as the strongest being on Earth and defeat tremendous evil while Banner merely wishes live a civilian lifestyle. Because of this ongoing struggle, there is a binary of opposition in the Hulk universe. But, in Jacques Derrida’s “Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of Human Sciences,” Derrida wants nothing to do with this created binary of Bruce/Hulk. It is here that Derrida …show more content…
Banner grew up with an abusive father who was jealous of how close his son was to his wife; due to this hatred and jealousy, he murdered his wife in front of his son and continued to bully Bruce (“Bruce Banner.”) Leaving the past behind, as an adult Bruce started working for the U.S. Defense Department; here Banner met the love of his life, Betty Ross. After a brief, but blissful, first meeting with Betty, Banner was swept up in a failed experiment of the “Gamma Bomb.” The massive exposure of radiation from the bomb caused Bruce to transform into the Hulk. The Hulk is the embodiment of Banner’s past; he is the manifestation of Banner’s subconscious anxieties and inner aggression. Whenever Banner is under immense emotional strain-- or more popularly known as getting angry-- he would transform into the Hulk. The Hulk can be defined as everything Banner is not: he is unintelligent, has hulking physique and ever-growing rage and strength. These massive differences cause there to be a divide, creating the Bruce/Hulk