I swear it is not just a comic book!

When I heard we were going to be reading a graphic novel, also known as the classic comic book, for our next reading, I had a double viewpoint. On one side, I thought that comic books were very juvenile and contained no true substance behind them. And on the other, I thought maybe this will be an opportunity to learn some deep insight on a truly unique style of literature. Fortunately, my first assumption was wrong. This type of literature does not only pertain to super villains threatening to take over the world or superheroes ready to save the day. They are true forms of writing that go much further than that. They present a new gateway in expressing one’s stories or ideas which are not just bound to words. Anyways, let us begin.

The first time Mr. Dominguez mentioned the book Maus by Art Spiegelman , he told us that each nationality described in the book is based on a different type of animal. The Jews are depicted as rats, the Germans as cats, French as frogs, Polish as pigs, and Americans as dogs. Once I heard this, I automatically thought “Awesome! Now, I already have a great essay topic to write. I will support Art Spiegelman’s depiction of each nationality as a certain animal based on the characteristics they both share in reality, characteristics they have in common. Remember, this was long before I even had a copy of this book. After I had finished Maus, I did not think that I would have enough evidence to really support my first idea. Now, I really had no ideas for writing the essay, let alone an arguable thesis. But once we started to discuss further about the different concepts this novel puts forth and the characterizing struggles the author presents, it slowly started to come to me.

In the beginning of the semester, Mr. Dominguez really got us into the misguidance of history books and how it has affected our own interpretation of the past. What we believe to have happened is only what the text books have been telling us. History books only take pieces of past documents and historical accounts which they warp and put into their own words. They are not really showing readers every aspect or viewpoint of what truly happened during that time because it is nearly impossible to do so. Evidently, a pure representation of the past is almost unattainable. This is something Art Spiegelman knew since the beginning of his works. He fully understand the roadblocks which are impairing him from truly satisfying his emotional need to fulfill his father’s legacy and presents that to his readers. First, he is forced to act against his father’s wishes and wrench the story from his fragile mind. Then, he chronologically orders these events to make any comprehendible sense for his readers. And finally, it is Art himself who portrays these events through his own pictures and drawings. From changing verbal conversations into expressive words and then adding his depicting image as a compliment, there are just too many steps and variables that pollute the purity of this past event.

Ahhh!! I think I am talking too much. Actually, I am not even talking. You are just reading the words which I have typed in the past and decided to upload. What are words anyway? I should say that you are seeing pictures and connecting them to meaning which then leads to an interpretation. You have to love Scott McCloud for that one. Well, this is only one of my ideas. I have some more but I think this much will be enough for tonight. Sorry for the lengthiness friends!!

“All things are subject to interpretation whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth.”
~ Friedrich Nietzsche