A week ago, my mom “caught me” reading a comic book. As she started laughing at me for what would be another good five minutes at least, I shamefully started concealing the pages and laughing with her out of sheer embarrassment. Not even 24 hours go by before I realize how mortifying this novel really is.
As soon I mentioned that this book was about the Holocaust, the room was silent immediately. Because only when they depict death and torture are pictures taken seriously.
Let's examine the last panel of page 72 in volume II. Before you scroll to the bottom to see the picture, this is what is says: "Prisoners what worked there poured gasoline over the live ones and the dead ones". Such a gut-wrenching sentence formed in such a nonchalant manner. You might raise your eyebrows, widen your eyes, but no feeling compares to when you see the image beneath it. The mice are burning alive, the flames consuming them, their faces in pure agony. You feel the terror with them, your throat closes a little, until you can't even look at the page anymore. If you're extremely empathetic, you imagine your body helplessly burning with them.
A picture is worth more than just a thousand words; it's worth a thousand feelings that even words couldn't describe themselves.
In psychology, we're taught that visualization, or mental imagery significantly improves your ability to retain and recall information. An image is scientifically proven to be more impactful to a human brain than a piece of text alone. Yet, if we see someone with a graphic novel at our age, we'll likely make fun of them because we've been hard-wired to think that pictures = childish.
But picture this (yes do it because your brain loves pictures): Maus as written novel, and Of Mice and Men as a graphic novel. A fictious story of companionship and the illusion of the American dream, Of Mice and Men is considered one of the greatest, a classic. Although as a graphic novel, surely pictures of mice just hanging out with one another isn't adequate to fit in an advanced high school english program. Although in essence, that's just what Of Mice and Men is, even as a written novel. My mom never made fun of me for reading that one. Though if she caught me with two volumes of a survivor's written account of the Holocaust, that would be a respectable education system. Much like a writer is deemed more sophisticated than an artist.
If Maus really was a written novel, I may have just Sparknoted it. Even if it is about the Holocaust, that's the bitter truth of a teen just trying to make it through an english class. As a graphic novel, I was extremely invested in the story.
That one image cut through my heart deeper than 292 pages of words would have.
I love your tone throughout this blog! Your anecdote was also extremely eye-opening. Thank you for discussing the true sophistication of a comic book - it is so important to acknowledge.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you started off your blog by discussing a personal story, and how it later made you realize how graphic the novel is. I also liked how you talked about the classic “Of Mice and Men” to discuss how “Maus” is not viewed as sophisticated.
ReplyDelete