The Iron Giant

In the story’s dramatic climax, two massive and opposing entities compete against one another in a test of strength in body and mind. The Iron Man speaks for the first time, confirming his intelligence and his sentience, and orders the humans to ship his parts across the world. He makes a plan to use cunning to defeat the monster and, in doing so, proves that intellect is more powerful than the brute strength of all the world’s armies. The dragon is overly prideful and dangerously confident and laughs at the Iron Man’s challenge. When the dragon has to come back to Earth after sitting on the sun, its attitude changes, and after the second round, it admits defeat. In another example of The Relationship Between the Natural and the Mechanical, the Iron Man uses one of the elements to his advantage. In the fire test, the giant is immersed in the final of the four elements and emerges victorious. The Iron Man bravely lies down in the hot flames, risking the possibility of melting and destroying himself, to save a planet that did not even treat him well to begin with. In choosing to help humans and save the planet, the Iron Man overcomes The Obstacle of Judgment and proves himself to be morally sound.

In the story’s denouement, the dragon reveals itself to be a star spirit that was drawn to Earth by conflict and war. He admits he does not know why he was drawn to war and conflict but felt an absolute compulsion to consume and destroy it. Ironically, human beings responded to the dragon with more war, which did nothing but make it laugh. In a moment of levity and in his moment of defeat, the star spirit admits, “Alas, I am useless. Utterly useless. All we do in space is fly, or make music” (60). Like the Iron Man, the star spirit has a simple function and purpose, but this simple function turns out to be crucial in improving the conditions of Earth. The music that the star spirit creates brings peace, distracting humans from their meaningless conflicts and reminding them of the beauty that exists in the world around them. The Human Capacity to Be Both Cruel and Kind is most prominently demonstrated by this worldwide shift from war, hatred, and judgment to a state of peace and understanding. This harmony is something that was deeply desired by people who grew up in the mid-20th century, as World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War seemed together to spell out humanity’s eventual destruction. Calls for peace, love, and kindness were proclaimed by the youth and many adults of this era, which is reflected in the idealistic happy ending that Hughes gives his readers.