Prisoner on the Hell Planet
I thought the comic within the comic was very interesting. The first thing I noticed was that the characters were drawn as humans for the first time and not mice. For me, this comic was the hardest part of the novel to understand. I had more questions about why he was in a mental institution than why his mother killed himself. It was three months previous to her suicide so I am not certain if that was linked to her break down. I also noticed a sign in the bottom corner of one of the panels that said " protect what you have." Maybe it was about the nice caskets his cousin was talking about on the phone, or maybe it meant that they should have taken better care of her while she was alive. The suicide didn't surprise me much because during the flashbacks, Vladek often had to convince her to keep going. It is easy for me to believe she was just too overwhelmed and Vladek was not there to calm her down.The part I liked about the story was the last panel. Artie is crying and someone in another cell tells him to quiet down they are all trying to sleep. To me, that meant that other people, maybe his dad or the family had issues also but they kept them bottled up.
I agree with you about how confusing this section was. It really threw me off as well. I did not even pay that close attention to the end of the comic's panel when everyone is telling him to quiet down. I think that your idea of what that could of meant is a really good one. I never thought of that aspect of it before but it makes alot of sense.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think I liked the fact that the characters were humans instead of mice in that section because you could really understand the true emotion that was being displayed.
I agree with you about having more questions of why Artie was in a mental institution as well. I didn't notice the sign saying "protect what you have" but after going back and looking at it I feel that it meant keep the ones you love close to you. The suicide didn't surprise me as well by Anja because she showed signs of it throughout the book.
ReplyDeleteThe comic within a comic is so interesting and can be given so much thought. I completely agree with you on the PROTECT WHAT YOU HAVE symbol and why it was placed there. It seems as though it should mean more than just a nice casket or burial service for the mother. So I do like the fact that you mentioned that it could be the way she was treated when she was still alive.
ReplyDeleteI also liked your thinking about the last page of the short comic. I hadn't thought about the other prisioners in that kind of way as being his father who has other issues that he has to deal with too. Also, maybe it's just the fact that other people have other things to worry about than just Artie and his problems. The other prisioners don't care about him.
I enjoyed your interpretations of this section. It is one of the darkest sections in the novel...even the border of the panels warns us that this section of the novel will differ from the rest. I liked the way you were able to speculate about both Anja and Artie's state of mind in this section, based on events that previously unfolded in the novel. Excellent attention to detail. Nice connections.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the comic being difficult to understand. With all the different pictures there are a few ways that you can interpret what is going on in the story. I also agree with the fact that you thought suicide did not surprise you. I also agree that all the help Vladek was providing kind of foreshadowed her suicide.
ReplyDeletei think what you interperted the protect what you have sign in the bottom of the page was interesting and i can very easily see that as being wht the author intended us to think of, i also found it interesting your interpretation of the guys telling him to quite down, nice inference there.
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