The Swamp Thing—the search for self-discovery and the dangers of success
The story of the Swamp Thing offers investigations into identity and the challenges of self-discovery. When it comes to finding out about yourself, sometimes you should be careful what you wish for.
The origin story of the Swamp Thing and the creature’s changing understanding of his sense of self provides a story of the all-consuming focus on self-discovery and the dangers of being successful.
The Swamp Thing’s initial origin story involved two scientists conducting research on bio-restorative formula. Alec and Linda Holland move to the Louisiana Bayou to continue their work to create a world changing formula that could make barren wastelands into healthy land that could be cultivated.
Unfortunately, sinister forces work against them. The Hollands are terrorised by profiters looking to buy their work. When Alec stand up to them, they knock him out and leave him to the mercy of an explosion that destroys the Holland’s work.
Alec is caught in the blast of chemicals. The fiery explosion engulfs his body and he runs in pain to the swamp. The cool waters of the swamp extinguish the flames and embrace Alec as he sinks into the depth. Days later, the Swamp Thing rises from the depths of the swamp. With Alec’s memories, the Swamp Thing returns to the Holland’s home to find Linda the victim of the murderous criminals.
Horrified at the loss of life and stricken by suffering, the Swamp Thing heads into the swamp and Alec Holland begins his fight for his own humanity. The Swamp Thing struggles with the reaction of others to his monstrous form and looks for a way to return to being Alec Holland.
The truth about the Swamp Thing is more difficult to comprehend.
After the Swamp Thing is captured by a para-military force looking to harvest his regenerative abilities, an autopsy is conducted on his frozen remains. The conclusions drawn from the autopsy challenge the Swamp Thing’s conception of himself as a man transformed into a monster.
The autopsy discovers that the Swamp Thing’s body contains plants formed into the shape of human organs. There are lungs and a heart, but they serve no purpose. The lungs are not needed to breath oxygen and the heart has no blood to pump around the body of the Swamp Thing.
The scientist has no choice but to conclude that the Swamp Thing is not and never was Alec Holland.
When the Swamp Thing escapes his frozen prison and regenerates, he returns to the site of Alec Holland’s tragedy. The Swamp Thing finds Alec Hollands bones in the swamp and is given no choice to but to accept the reality of his origin.
After the explosion, Alec Holland jumped into the swamp. His dying remains were absorbed by the swamp. As nature fed on Holland’s corpse, his memories and consciousness were absorbed into nature. The swamp then forms the consciousness of Alec Holland into the figure of the Swamp Thing.
The Swamp Thing is not Alec Holland. Alec Holland is dead and the Swamp Thing is left with Holland’s memories and consciousness with no possible sense of regaining his own humanity, because he was never human in the first place.
For the Swamp Thing the realisation is devastating. Everything that the Swamp Thing had believed to be true about himself is revealed to be a fiction.
Would the Swamp Thing have been better off not undertaking his journey of self-discovery? Possibly. But this very quick raises another important question.
Could the Swamp Thing have accepted his own monstrous form from the beginning? Probably not.
Human beings in whatever form (even the disembodied consciousness of a human being moulded into a large green avatar of nature) aren’t great at acceptance. It is one of our weaknesses and one of our strengths. If we were good at acceptance there would be little striving and little achievement. But it is worth recognizing that achievement brings its own dangers.
Life is a process. Each day offers the opportunity of achieving a better sense of oneself. But that doesn’t mean that the process is an ever increasing joyful experience.
Should we not bother? Sometimes the answer is probably, yes. But most of the time we should accept that we will continue to look and be prepared to accept that finding can be as painful as it can be inspiring.
For a massive run of Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing including the debut of John Constantine and Swamp Thing’s shock discovery, pick up The Saga of the Swamp Thing Box Set. For the debut of John Constantine, pick up The Saga of the Swamp Thing Book Three. And for Swamp Thing’s autopsy, pick up The Saga of the Swamp Thing Book One (these are paid affiliate links and as an Amazon Associate I will earn a small income from qualifying purchases, but won’t cost you any more).