When reading the short story, The Comet , i instantly linked it to the relatively new movie, I Am Legend with Will Smith. While I haven’t seen the move in its entirety, many aspects of this short story reminded me of the movie; for example, the entire race being eliminated through some freak accident, (in the movie, a virus), the only man left living being male, and his constant search for other living beings. I found it interesting that in short story, Jim stumbles upon a white woman while in the movie, his sole companion is a female dog, Samantha. In either cases, both a male and a female were left living.
Response to:
The Comet : Why only New York City?
http://egadanadage.onmason.com/2011/09/19/the-comet-why-only-new-york-city/#respond
This post raises the question of why throughout the short story. It mainly focuses in on the use of a comet as opposed to other freak accidents such as an earthquake or a flood. I think in comparing the short story to the movie, what made both of them so interesting was the theme of what if.What if this were to happen? Could it be made possible? While I am relatively sure that a comet has not yet hit a population and wiped it out, I am also relatively sure that a virus has not wiped out any population as well. This shared characteristic of instilling fear through possibility is entertaining for us and therefore draw us into these forms of art.
Secondly, the post raises a question of whether W.E. B. Dubois was playing on the theme of Adam and Eve. Back in the 1920s, the relationship between a man and female was vital but in comparison to today, and to the movie, the theme of companionship seems more significant as a whole rather than focused on the male and female relationship.