The Red Skull has been one of my favorite supervillains since I was a child and will continue to be for many years to come. There are many layers of symbolism surrounding the character which few ever think about.
The Red Skull
Hate as Evil
The easiest layer of the Red Skull’s symbolism to dissect would be that he teaches the lesson that hate is inherently evil. As a member of the Nazi party, and the leader of a new Nazi party, the Agent of 1,000 faces reminds us of how the atrocities of Hitler could come again as hate only needs a strong leader to take hold. It is our job to help Captain America and other freedom fighters to search out messengers of hate and bring them to justice.
A Face of Evil
Have you ever wondered why the Red Skull has a red skull? Of course, I know about the comic book reasoning, but there is a bit of symbolism at work here. You get his face when you mix the red of the Nazi’s (which also symbolizes the blood the group spilled) and a scary skull which is meant to cause fear. Americans need a face to fear. It is easier to fight a target we can see, like Osama bin Laden, then a non-physical war on terror. The human brain works through association, and placing a face on fear helps with that association.
Dangers of the Occult
The Red Skull often dealt with forces which should not be toyed with. Often, the supervillain was overcome by his own attempt at dark knowledge instead of being overcome by Cap. While Marvel was probably not pressing us to avoid the occult, they were trying to teach us about learning what we were messing with before it was too late.
Dangers of Technology
Technology has always been another tool at the hate mongrel’s disposal, but dangerous tech has been his downfall as well. A metaphor could be drawn between some of the technological experiments of the Red Skull and nuclear experiments in Iran. The perception is that Iran is exploring new technology to eventually weaponize it, which is the same with any type of tech that the Red Skull attempts to grasp. An attempt to rush projects before they are ready has bitten the Skull in the past and we worry the same will happen with Iran. Sometimes, the real world can mimic art.
