Imagine yourself stepping into a strange magical world of parallel realities, fire demons, curses, and wizards and you will experience the startling journey taken by Sophie Hatter in Diane Wynne Jones’ Howl’s Moving Castle. Jones spins the fantastical tale of a young woman who is taken away from her monotonous existence and thrust into a world a foreign world in which she must learn who she really is. In her day-to-day life, Sophie is the eldest of three daughters and is therefore out of luck. Because of her unfortunate position, she has no delusions about what her life will amount to for, as everyone knows, as the eldest of three “you are the one who will fail first, and worst, if the three of you set out to seek your fortune” (1). Because of this, Sophie accepts her family’s expectations that she will work as an apprentice in her late father’s hat shop while her sisters seek better fortunes for themselves.
Sophie settles in to her new duties until one fateful day. On that portentous day, the feared Witch of the Waste enters her shop and with a burst of misplaced jealousy and anger curses Sophie; no longer a plain young woman, Sophie becomes a plain old woman. Resigned to her fate—a fate that mirrors her expected lack of fortune—Sophie leaves her home town of Market Chipping in search of a new life. On her way she comes upon the feared Moving Castle that belongs to the mysterious Wizard Howl—a magical man accused of eating the heart’s of young and beautiful women. Instead of the cruel wizard she expected to find in Howl, she discovers a vain, shallow, and lazy man who uses his charm to capture the hearts of women before he dumps them. Together with Howl’s apprentice Michael, Calcifer the fire demon, and the magical castle, Sophie works to find all that has gone missing in the kingdoms around her: a prince, a wizard, and a heart, all while defeating the Witch of the Waste once and for all.
Jones creates a world that is magical and accessible to readers; a parallel world to our own. She sets this up in the beginning of her novel by disclaiming readers of the wonder found within the land of Ingary, a place “where such things as seven-league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist” (1). In this magical place, fisherman can buy potions to ensure that they have a fair wind and a safe journey and the royal family keeps their own royal wizard. The world is put in contrast to our own and, in fact, Howl himself is from our own world; he is a man who has unlocked the secrets of magic, enabling him to travel between our two worlds.
Sophie herself is an engaging character who learns her own throughout the course of the book. At the beginning of the novel she is a quiet, unassuming figure who works dutifully in her family’s hat shop; she spends most of her time talking to the hats she created. Strangely, it is through her transformation into an old woman that she comes into her own; suddenly, she is unafraid to speak her mind and take action where she sees fit. Sophie also discovers her own magical power; “It brings life to things, such as that stick in your hand, which you have evidently talked to, to the extent that is has become what the layman would call a magic wand” (181). In fact, every inanimate object that Sophie talks to does her bidding—to a hat she says, “You have a heart of gold and someone in a high position will see it and fall in love with you,” when the hat is purchased by plain Jane Farrier the dashing Count of Catterack instantly falls in love with her (10). Sophie eventually realizes her own strength and self-worth, breaking her curse in the process.
Jones is able to create a world full of characters who have characteristics common to all people. Because of these carefully crafted elements of the story, readers are able to connect to the story in a way that pulls them into the text. The dynamic qualities of every aspect of the novel make it a treasure to read and uncover; for, in a parallel world where anything can and does happen, who wouldn’t want to be the average girl to put the heart back into a handsome Casanova, capturing his heart as your own in the process?
Monday, December 7, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
CI 5442: Graphic Novel Response #2
Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel Maus fascinated me. While I have had experience with Holocaust survival stories before, the use of the graphic novel format and the cleverly chosen personification of the mice, cats, and pigs as central characters within the story was an interesting addition to the story. Spiegelman was able to take a known story and make it new. I quickly read through the story and was highly engaged by the text and images.
I thought that Spiegelman’s presentation of the text was very well done. Spiegelman makes the story seem more believable and creditable by placing himself and his father in the text as they interact with one another through both the retelling of his father’s story and their relationships with each other in the present. By transitioning back and forth between the retelling of his father’s life during the years preceding and during the onset of WWII he is able to illustrate how surviving the war has shaped his father and to show the strains of those effects on both their lives. The opening images of Spiegelman crying home to his father about his friends was particularly interesting. He says, “Friends? Yours Friends? If you lock them together in a room with no food for a week….then you could see what is it, friends!” (6). Later in the text, Spiegelman tries to justify his father’s pack-rat tendencies by pointing out that the need to horde might be a result of his past experiences. I think this is an interesting point to note from his life and it helped to take the story farther—from just the story of his survival to the story of his life long after his trials ended.
I am glad that the story started before the beginning of the war with the relationship between Spiegelman’s mother and father. During the years that they were courting, the National Socialist Party was gaining power and taking control of Germany. It was interesting to read about the day-to-day life in Poland and the “rumors” they heard about the Germans. For them the Nazi’s were a piece of the background in Europe and they had no idea what consequences were about to come their way.
I thought Spiegelman Sr.’s account of life in Poland during the beginning years of the war was incredibly insightful. He really captured the complexity of the individuals around him. I thought it said a lot about human nature to note how people reacted during the war. Come people were willing to illegally harbor runaway Jews, others were more than willing to rat each other out—both Polish and Jewish citizens alike. I think people show their true colors in desperate situations and it was amazing to see how selfish or selfless people became within the book. Reading how people changed—for example, the maid who was once a part of the Spiegelman family—it made me think about how I would react to being put in the different situations presented in the book. I would like to think that I would be able to do the right thing, no matter what, but the story definitely makes you give it a serious thought.
I think the presentation of the book and the story within it can help make the tragedy of the Holocaust more engaging for anyone who reads it. I enjoyed puzzling out my own interpretation of why Spiegelman chose to use animals within the story. The illustrations add so much to the story. It’s amazing how the detailed illustrations are able to capture the emotions of the characters within the story; the black and white presentation adds to the tragic circumstances of the characters and makes their plight that much more serious. Through the images I was able to read the expressions of the character’s faces the same way I read both the dialogue and text boxes within the frames themselves. I doing this I was able to have a better understanding of how Spiegelman Sr.’s life in Poland. Overall, I love how the book is able to take a serious part of our past and present it in a way that is informative, engaging, and moving despite its use of illustrations.
I thought that Spiegelman’s presentation of the text was very well done. Spiegelman makes the story seem more believable and creditable by placing himself and his father in the text as they interact with one another through both the retelling of his father’s story and their relationships with each other in the present. By transitioning back and forth between the retelling of his father’s life during the years preceding and during the onset of WWII he is able to illustrate how surviving the war has shaped his father and to show the strains of those effects on both their lives. The opening images of Spiegelman crying home to his father about his friends was particularly interesting. He says, “Friends? Yours Friends? If you lock them together in a room with no food for a week….then you could see what is it, friends!” (6). Later in the text, Spiegelman tries to justify his father’s pack-rat tendencies by pointing out that the need to horde might be a result of his past experiences. I think this is an interesting point to note from his life and it helped to take the story farther—from just the story of his survival to the story of his life long after his trials ended.
I am glad that the story started before the beginning of the war with the relationship between Spiegelman’s mother and father. During the years that they were courting, the National Socialist Party was gaining power and taking control of Germany. It was interesting to read about the day-to-day life in Poland and the “rumors” they heard about the Germans. For them the Nazi’s were a piece of the background in Europe and they had no idea what consequences were about to come their way.
I thought Spiegelman Sr.’s account of life in Poland during the beginning years of the war was incredibly insightful. He really captured the complexity of the individuals around him. I thought it said a lot about human nature to note how people reacted during the war. Come people were willing to illegally harbor runaway Jews, others were more than willing to rat each other out—both Polish and Jewish citizens alike. I think people show their true colors in desperate situations and it was amazing to see how selfish or selfless people became within the book. Reading how people changed—for example, the maid who was once a part of the Spiegelman family—it made me think about how I would react to being put in the different situations presented in the book. I would like to think that I would be able to do the right thing, no matter what, but the story definitely makes you give it a serious thought.
I think the presentation of the book and the story within it can help make the tragedy of the Holocaust more engaging for anyone who reads it. I enjoyed puzzling out my own interpretation of why Spiegelman chose to use animals within the story. The illustrations add so much to the story. It’s amazing how the detailed illustrations are able to capture the emotions of the characters within the story; the black and white presentation adds to the tragic circumstances of the characters and makes their plight that much more serious. Through the images I was able to read the expressions of the character’s faces the same way I read both the dialogue and text boxes within the frames themselves. I doing this I was able to have a better understanding of how Spiegelman Sr.’s life in Poland. Overall, I love how the book is able to take a serious part of our past and present it in a way that is informative, engaging, and moving despite its use of illustrations.
CI 5442: Graphic Novel Response #1
I found Gene Luen Yang’s graphic novel American Born Chinese to be an extremely quick, insightful, and entertaining book to read. I love that he was able to capture so much of the Chinese American experience and relate it in a new way. Yang was able to take the story of a young boy as he matures to adolescents and, without taking away from the uniqueness of Jin Wang’s experience, is able to connect or relate it to the experience of the average American student who only wants to fit in. I thought Yang did a brilliant job of illustrating this point at the end of the book when all three stories come together. At first I was a bit confused by the three different stories going on within the book but when they came together I found myself going back and reading the novel again with a different frame of mind. Reading the book this second time, opened my eyes up to the different connections between the stories and allowed me to examine how they fit together even more.
At the beginning at the book, the Monkey King is ridiculed by the gods, goddesses, demons, and spirits. His attempt to fit in is a complete failure and it leaves him anguishing in self-consciousness. The next story, of Jin Wang, tells the old woman at the herbalist that he wants to be a Transformer when he grows up. She tells him to be careful what he wishes for because, “It’s easy to become anything you wish…so long as you’re willing to forfeit your soul” (29). This message stuck with me when I read the book through the first time; this message sets-up the entire story and offers a life lesson that all readers can take away from the book.
Okay, I have to comment on Chin-Kee—the epitome of negative Chinese stereotypes. I will admit that I found him to be part incredibly insensitive and offensive but also part hilarious. I think the extreme to which Yang made this character makes it hard not to laugh at to some degree. At the end, when the reader watches as Danny fights with Chin-Kee—who turns out to be the Monkey King and father of Danny/Jin’s former friend Wei-Chen—and the truth comes out, I found myself understanding Chin-Kee’s presence in the book as well as feeling a trifle sorry for my enjoyment in that character.
As a former high school student myself who tried to be somewhat invisible in school—to blend in enough that no one could take serious note of who I was—I commiserated with Jin/Danny as they struggled to find that piece of high school existence for themselves. Thinking of the transformer dream, I thought it was interesting to watch Jin try s hard to be normal, catch the attention of Amelia, and reject the aspects of his identity that made him different from his peers. He changes the food he eats, he changes his hairstyle, and he tries to behave as typical American teenagers do.
The final section of the book in which all the stories come together was great. My confusion disappeared and I thought it was really powerful to see how Jin’s actions affected his friend Wei-Chen. Even without the mystical element of the Monkey King and the spirits, Jin’s story reflects the ramifications of our actions and the butterfly effect they can have on the people around us. Jin takes his anger from Timmy’s ill-treatment of him out on his best friend who in turn takes that pain to heart and changes himself to completely reject what he grew up believing. In the end, Chin-Kee/Monkey King is able to put this into perspective for Jin and pull him out of his false identity—his transformation into Danny.
The illustrations within the book are also an amazing and imperative piece of the story. Yang brilliantly illustrates the text which, again, is just as important as the text itself. It is easy to read the words and read the illustration as well. The illustrations help readers to see what is going on inside of the characters’ minds and how they react to each situation they face. Each illustration adds an essential piece to the story and I loved being able to watch the characters as I read their stories.
At the beginning at the book, the Monkey King is ridiculed by the gods, goddesses, demons, and spirits. His attempt to fit in is a complete failure and it leaves him anguishing in self-consciousness. The next story, of Jin Wang, tells the old woman at the herbalist that he wants to be a Transformer when he grows up. She tells him to be careful what he wishes for because, “It’s easy to become anything you wish…so long as you’re willing to forfeit your soul” (29). This message stuck with me when I read the book through the first time; this message sets-up the entire story and offers a life lesson that all readers can take away from the book.
Okay, I have to comment on Chin-Kee—the epitome of negative Chinese stereotypes. I will admit that I found him to be part incredibly insensitive and offensive but also part hilarious. I think the extreme to which Yang made this character makes it hard not to laugh at to some degree. At the end, when the reader watches as Danny fights with Chin-Kee—who turns out to be the Monkey King and father of Danny/Jin’s former friend Wei-Chen—and the truth comes out, I found myself understanding Chin-Kee’s presence in the book as well as feeling a trifle sorry for my enjoyment in that character.
As a former high school student myself who tried to be somewhat invisible in school—to blend in enough that no one could take serious note of who I was—I commiserated with Jin/Danny as they struggled to find that piece of high school existence for themselves. Thinking of the transformer dream, I thought it was interesting to watch Jin try s hard to be normal, catch the attention of Amelia, and reject the aspects of his identity that made him different from his peers. He changes the food he eats, he changes his hairstyle, and he tries to behave as typical American teenagers do.
The final section of the book in which all the stories come together was great. My confusion disappeared and I thought it was really powerful to see how Jin’s actions affected his friend Wei-Chen. Even without the mystical element of the Monkey King and the spirits, Jin’s story reflects the ramifications of our actions and the butterfly effect they can have on the people around us. Jin takes his anger from Timmy’s ill-treatment of him out on his best friend who in turn takes that pain to heart and changes himself to completely reject what he grew up believing. In the end, Chin-Kee/Monkey King is able to put this into perspective for Jin and pull him out of his false identity—his transformation into Danny.
The illustrations within the book are also an amazing and imperative piece of the story. Yang brilliantly illustrates the text which, again, is just as important as the text itself. It is easy to read the words and read the illustration as well. The illustrations help readers to see what is going on inside of the characters’ minds and how they react to each situation they face. Each illustration adds an essential piece to the story and I loved being able to watch the characters as I read their stories.
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