Summary & Analysis
Chapter One
Summary: Chapter one begins with Hartigan and his partner arguing about waiting for backup. Hartigan, near his retirement, wants to charge in to a building where he believes Roark is holding an eleven year old girl, Nancy. Hartigan disagrees with his partner about waiting for backup and proceeds to punch his partner, Bob, in the face. Bob gets knocked out an his the ground allowing Hartigan to continue on. Hartigan then is able to knock out two of Roark's guards outside of the building. Feeling invisible, Hartigan goes to take his next step and feels a heart attack coming on. Fighting the pain and heart attack symptoms, Hartigan quickly removes parts from the get-a-way car and goes into the building. He continually reminds himself the innocent Nancy inside. Meanwhile, Roark and his accomplices are in a room with Nancy. They are asked to leave so Roark can have some "alone time" with her. Roark tells Nancy he just wants to talk. Just as he is moving in to "talk" with Nancy, Hartigan busts in shooting all of Roark's men. While Hartigan is fending off the other men, Roark scoops up Nancy and runs out. Roark tries to start the get-a-way car, but it wont start. Hartigan meets them on the docks and forces Roark to give up Nancy. Hartigan proceeds to shot Roark's ear off, hand off, and nuts off. Roark, still alive, groans while Hartigan comforts Nancy.
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Analysis: Hartigan knows it is his last day on the job, he knows he his old and unfit for fighting with his heart condition, and he knows that he should wait for back up; but he doesn't. He goes on fighting and trying to save Nancy. He continues on because he also knows that there is no one else who will stop Roark in time if at all. He knows that he, a policeman, is supposed to be the "Good Guy".
Pushing through the excruciating pain of a heart attack, Hartigan symbolizes over coming hardships and perseverance. He is that hero that pushes through everything humanly possible. Hartigan knows what he is getting into, but he does the right thing for Nancy. Roark is more than evil and disgusting. He clearly has more resource to accomplish evil than Hartigan does to accomplish good. This can be determined by the nice car, the criminally known guards, and the property to hold a young lady. Hartigan doesn't even have a partner to back him up. All of these resources supports the perseverance that Hartigan represents. |
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Summary: As Hartigan sees Nancy on stage he is shocked; the eleven
year old child that he had protected was now a nineteen year old woman and an
erotic dancer. Hartigan is surprised
about how little he truly knew about Nancy’s life. He had told her not to be specific in her
letters so that she wouldn’t be found and she did exactly that. Hartigan comes to the conclusion that no one had found
Nancy; he had fallen for their bluff and on finding her he led them right
to her. He suddenly smells the stench of
the yellow man he had met in jail and thus, tries to leave before Nancy has spotted
him in an attempt to make it look like he was just their for
entertainment. Hartigan tries to lead
the guy from jail outside and plans to kill him when suddenly Nancy recognizes
him. Nancy jumps off the stage and
plants a kiss right on Hartigan’s lips.
Hartigan tells her that he has put her in danger and that they must
leave immediately. They go to her car
and she claims that she is the only one that can get the junky car to run. She has a loaded gun under the seat and
Hartigan grabs it just in case it is needed.
A bullet then hits the windshield and they realize Roark Junior is
following them; Hartigan shoots back and hits his target. He tells Nancy to stop the car so he can “confirm
the kill” and he finds blood that smells even worse than the man himself, but
the body is gone. Sirens are heard and
Hartigan realizes that they must find somewhere to stay for the night, and so
they get a motel. The yellow smelly man
follows Hartigan and Nancy without them knowing. At the motel emotions become real; Nancy confesses
that Hartigan has always been the man she loved, and this love is deeper than
friendship. Hartigan tells her she is
talking crazy, that she must be in shock because he is way too old for her, but
she persists. Nancy leans in to kiss him
and he turns away, but she kisses him again right on the mouth and he suddenly
pulls away and stands up. Hartigan tells
Nancy that what she wants is not right but she doesn’t seem to care, she tells
him she loves him and he confesses his love for her as well and then steps into
a cold shower. While he is in the shower
he hears a loud noise and immediately knows that Nancy is in trouble. He runs for her and suddenly gets punched in
the face by the man that had been following them. When the man speaks he asks if Hartigan
recognizes his voice and he does; it is Roark Junior.
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Analysis: Since imagery is so key to creating this book and all forms of comics its no wonder that Frank Miller puts so much meaning behind it all. In Chapter five he shows the strip club and the chase from it to the hotel and the reader feels like they are experiencing it right along with the characters due to Miller's intensive sketches.Once again Miller uses the contrast of the yellow man to signify his abomination to society. He also uses dark imagery behind Nancy Callahan and Hartigan's conversation to convey passion and romance. Hartigan is shocked to find that his little Nancy Callahan is an erotic stripper. This realization of her womanhood pushes his love of his "like a daughter" Nancy to a more sexual level and outlook. He is joyed to know that she cares and loves him as much if not more than he does but when she begins to act upon these feelings Hartigan knows he must resist. He knows that is a deplorable relationship and that she is much too young for him despite her confession of love. Hartigan is scared and in shock to find out that the man which he thought he killed, due to the irreversible coma he was in eight years previously, is somehow still alive and functioning.
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Chapter Six
Summary: In chapter 6 Roark Junior has captured Nancy and has Hartigan hanging from a noose His feet are just barely able to touch a nearby table keeping him alive. Junior taunts Hartigan telling him that Nancy is going to suffer the same fate of his other victims. Going into detail about all the horrible things he plans to do to her. He then kicks out the table and leaves. With Hartigan slowly suffocating he resigns himself to death and begins to apologize to Nancy. He exclaims that it's all his fault that she's going to die and there's nothing he can do about it. However, with a sudden bout of determination he frees himself from the noose with a shard of glass broken from the window. When Roark's thugs show up to get rid of Hartigan's body, Hartigan surprises them and forces them to tell him where Roark has taken Nancy. On his way to the Roark Farm he suffers from a severe angina attack and forces himself to soldier on. Nancy meanwhile is resisting the urge to scream while she is being beaten by Roark, knowing that this would give him the ultimate pleasure. Hartigan takes down the guards outside of the farm and confront Roark. He fakes a heart attack to catch him off guard and uses this moment to stab him. He castrates him and stabs him to death. Nancy and Hartigan kiss in a passionate embrace and Hartigan urges her to leave. Telling her she won't be safe until she is gone. He then narrates that he knows that no matter what he does, the only way the Roark family will leave Nancy alone is if he is gone. Now that he has murdered Junior he knows the rest of the family will be after him for revenge. He shoots himself in the head for love, choosing to sacrifice himself to save nancy.
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Analysis: Hartigan is struggling with his will to live. He is sinking into a depression knowing that he has let Nancy down once again. He does not want Roark Junior to win, however does not know how he can possibly survive especially with his increasing angina. The angst illustrated in Hartigan gives the reader more insight to his internal struggle then the worlds alone. We can see that his will to live is diminishing and he'd rather give up and die. However the memories of Nancy as a little girl give him the adrenaline rush to escape from the noose and defeated Roark once and for all. When he does kill Roark, he reminds Nancy to cover her eyes because she shouldn't see something like that, just as he did when she was little. His love for her is so strong he is willing to risk his own life to better hers. Deciding to kill himself is the ultimate sacrifice. He knows that Nancy will never live a happy life until the Roark family stops looking for him.
"An old man dies, a young woman lives. Fair trade. |