Of course, since I myself do not have any kind of Master's degree in overanalyzing the works of masterminds like William Shakespeare or Edgar Allen Poe, my lowly theories on their works would mean practically nothing to the mighty college graduates above.
But why is it that they only choose to read into classic literature when it has clearly been done to death? Why aren't these scholars analyzing more modern things? Are all modern things really that brainless and stupid or is it possible that even the almighty scholars, amidst all their cognitive glory, haven't even considered such a thing?
Well I say if the professionals won't do it, I will have to do it myself.
Digging Deeper With Nick Lives: The Truth Behind Spongebob
Ah, Spongebob. So many of my childhood years you have provided me with near-mindless entertainment. Now here we meet again, but this time, under a more intellectual light. Spongebob is a funny little invertabrae, there's no doubt about that.
But is that really all he is? Is Spongebob merely an absorbent goofball with no deeper meaning driving his actions or appearance? Or is it possible that he, along with his other fishy friends, is a very intelligently crafted character whose traits all help form a symbolic representation of something more?
To start, let's take a look at Spongebob's most prevalent feature: his appearance.
Looking at Spongebob, we notice a couple of basic things about his appearance:1. He is yellow.
2.He is square.
So what can we take away from this? Well for starters, the color yellow (in western culture) symbolizes things like sunshine, happiness, and joy, which seems to fit Spongebob's character pretty well. Although yellow is also often used to symbolize illness, decay, and age.
As for which symbol Spongebob's yellow is supposed to represent, we can't say for sure. Perhaps some of Spongebob's other features will be more revealing.
Next we notice Spongebob's obvious square shape. Although he himself isn't a perfect square per se, his name implies that he is indeed a square, despite any inconsistencies the animators may have with the shape.
Now in geometry, a square is defined as a regular quadrilateral with four equal sides and four right angles. The number four being so prominent here, I looked into some interesting facts about four that would help us better understand Spongebob's form.
"In China, 4 is unlucky because "she" (four) and "shi" (death) sound similar."
Death, huh? Fascinating. Perhaps then, Spongebob's yellow flesh represents not sunshine and happiness like it may first seem, but instead represents decay, age, and illness, as those are things more likely to be related to the symbolic "death" of his square shape.
Oh yeah, and just in case that little China fact didn't win you over the "square = death" theory, it should interest you to know that squares are also often affiliated with the shape of a cross. You know, a CROSS, that thing those people famously crucified that one guy on that one time long ago? Oh, what was his name again?
So now we know that Spongebob's famous yellow square design symbolically represents death, decay, and possibly illness. Where do we go from here?
Next stop: Spongebob's Lifestyle
To be continued when I've had some more time to think about this...
