I recently read The Prince by Machiavelli, a mirror for princes which introduces the question, “is it better to be feared or loved?” Machiavelli went with feared.
The shark is mockingly asserting that those threatening him are doing so because he has created such love within them, and thus made himself seem vulnerable. This would be ironic if the shark saw himself as coldhearted, which is how he would outwardly portray himself, but he tries to moralize his actions throughout Reefer-Tip Shark. The shark believes they love him.
The shark boasts of his vast armory and supposed means of defending himself from any threat.
This is quite superficial and ignorant. The abilities of the institutional powers that have control over the shark’s life & society transcend mere weaponry.
Also, tools of destruction do not bring the shark any closer to love, any closer to the The Rose that Grew from Concrete.
This is all about being held in contempt.
It’s important that those looking down upon others are classified as educated, not more intelligent. This highlights disparity between intelligence and status in society. Characteristics such as socioeconomic class also play a part.
Also, as the Black Sheep would express, intelligence is not a measure of character, which is how I believe we should measure the quality of a person.
The shark’s reaction is something of a violent rebellion. With a little bit of wordplay tossed in, his response is a snub nose revolver, one of his limited means of altering the path of society.
The Packard Plant was one of the most famous automotive factories in the city of Detroit. It closed in 1958, but its buildings were used through the late 1990’s. It is now the largest abandoned building in the world.
This being the shark’s shrine, a place for his devotion, creates a rough juxtaposition of divinity and decay. The shark’s power is intertwined with mechanization and urban struggle. Him claiming it, revitalizing it, strikes against institutional oppression (an idea the Black Sheep could get behind).
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What is this?
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What is this?
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What is this?
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What is this?
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