Week #5

Blankets by Craig Thompson

     Reading Blankets by Craig Thompson, I was surprised and fascinated by how deep and profound story the graphic novel can tell. Even though it is a graphic novel which has much less words than the novels, I felt that Blankets’ visual storytelling covers up those explanation with words.

     My favorite part of Blankets is how Craig’s young adult experience is paralleled with his childhood experience. It is an autobiography, but Craig Thompson utilizes a lot of exaggeration and representation in his art; I think that those exaggerations make the story even more realistic because they deliver the strong emotion to the readers. Especially when Craig was small, for instance, that the cubby room’s bed is depicted as a monster with full of spiders. Another example is that the lady at the church (page 61) is portrayed fearfully; it is an exaggeration, but the exaggeration tells us that the teaching from lady which seems like accusing at Craig staying in the bedroom alone was terribly scary for him as a child. When I first read the beginning of Blankets, I felt that “oh, only Phill is punished in the cubby room”; however, at the end of this chapter, it is revealed that staying in the bedroom with sense of guilt was even worse for Craig, recalling the words from the lady in the church. This parallel and storytelling is exceptional and struck into my mind.

     It was relatable for me when Craig’s passion for drawing is denied by others and also by himself. It was shocking to read what his teacher tells him when he was fifth grade. Craig answers “drawing” to the question, “What we might be doing in Heaven?” However, his teacher says that “our new lives in Heaven will be devoted to praising and worshiping God…How can you praise God with drawings?” In addition, although Craig says that “draw his creation…like trees and stuff…”, his teacher answers, “But Craig…He’s already drawn it for us”. As a devote Christian, Craig starts feeling that he has “wasted [his] god-given time on escapism”, meaning art. In page 139, Craig states that “So drawing is out (for his future path). How could I live such a selfish existence anyway?” Drawing has always been Craig’s passion, but his passion is hidden because of denial by others and himself. Although my passion for art was not denied by people around me, I always felt that the society sees the artistic occupations as risky (“starving artist” stereotype is known in my culture). As a result, I used to believe that I would take the academic path. Fortunately, in middle school I met a teacher who encouraged me to pursue art and thus I am here studying animation. However, reading Blankets made me recall those complexed feelings toward art.

    Before I read Blankets, I somehow had a perception that the graphic novel is a creative and entertaining version of written works; however, Blankets changed this perception. The storytelling (especially its parallelism between young adulthood and childhood) in Blankets might have not been able achieve in other medium but graphic novel. I am not able to write all the impressive scenes down because Blankets are full of exceptional visual storytellings. Using the contrast of black and white, spacing, energetic brush strokes, parallelism, and more, Blankets clearly delivers its profound story to the readers.