First, I'd like to start off
by saying congratulations to everyone for
reaching the end of this course! It has been a revealing course about
the medium of comics. There is way more to comics than I initially anticipated,
and I plan to continue my study of comics for years to come because I have become a die hard fan of them. I have enjoyed reading many of your posts. You
guys are so creative and articulate that I have been intimidated at times by
the complexity of your insights! I wish you luck with your finals and finals
papers!
That being said; I'd
like to focus this discussion on the last
pages of Stitches. I found the dream section between pages 315-325 incredibly
fascinating! It is clear that mental
illness plays a part in David Small's family history. His grandma being sent to an asylum, and his mother may show similar signs of mental illness as well. David himself seems adamant that
therapy did him a lot of good. Would therapy have worked for the mother and grandmother? Why or why not? What are your interpretations of
this dream?
Throughout the semester, we have encountered many comics
that made use of real life pictures. Stitches is
no exception. In the end, we are given pictures and more background
of the mother. I found this information helpful in understanding her character.
Did it have the same effect on you? What
did you make, or get out of the pictures?
Last question. What did you think of the book? Did you like
it? Why or why not?
Happy winter break everybody!
In some ways it appeared that Small’s grandmother needed help on a much deeper level than therapy. She came across as far more unstable than the rest of Small’s family and it’s a shame that she didn’t receive the help she needed sooner. On the other hand I do think that Small’s mother would have benefited from therapy. Her health issues aside she was likely suffering mentally trying to deal with her mother, concealing her sexuality, and having conflicted feelings towards her life in general and if she had undergone therapy it could assuage these many issues properly rather than her lashing out at those who loved her.
ReplyDeleteThe pictures and words by it gave a lot of insight about the behavior I mentioned above. She was never a 100% health person and it has to take a toll on a person to have multiple heart attacks over their life time even before the age most people are likely to suffer from them. To complicate matters is her homosexuality which would be widely viewed as unacceptable and would make her life even worse than it already was if it were out in the open. The picture alone suggests that her condition addles her and keeps her from leading a life she would like to have.
The book was very unusual for me as unlike the others we have read this semester Stitches did not go out of its way to inform us of more than what was necessary. It made the comic come off as very eerie which may be what Small was aiming for – unsettling his readers the same way these memories might unsettle him. It’s also encouraging in that it lets us know that unlike the rest of his family Small found help and he became successful doing what he loved. It speaks a lot for the matter that we don’t have to follow in our parents’ or grandparents’ footsteps even if it feels like you have no choice.
I'm going answer in the complete opposite order of the questions asked, mostly because I loved this comic. The art style, the prose, the breaks of reality into the surreal dream sequences were all fantastic in providing a true experience of his story. The dark art style was well rooted in realism yet provided a very dark undertone and the lack of strong contrast helped me with the ideas of his silent world. Small's use of prose and abstracted panels is what I loved out of this book. My favorite page is 192. The simple transition of stitches to the stairs is utterly beautiful, provokes a since of an abstract expressionist within Small's work. Then continuing on the idea of prose within Stitches, his flowing breaks from reality into the surreal is utterly fantastic and really grabbed me.
ReplyDeleteOkay, now for the the excerpt at the end with the mother. I think Small's did this out of guilt for portraying his mother the way he did. Throughout the book Small's did not show a single care nor loving sentiment for his mother, which may or may not be true, but I think the excerpt at the end is his testament to his silent love for her. He wished to not end the book a on bad tone with his mother by explaining how much misunderstanding there was within their relationship. For this reason is why I enjoy the addition to the story.
Lastly, I, personally, think everyone can use a little help from a therapist. Talking things out with an unbiased mind/soul can help anyone's mental health. So yes I think Small's grandmother and mother both would have benefitted from seeing a therapist. But to think of the time period in which both of them grew up, I see why both of them did not receive any due to the stigma of mental illness back then.
I did and I didn't enjoy Stitches. I was a profoundly interesting and good story, but some of the emotional responses that the comic was able to generate didn't make me want to keep the book and re-read it later. Although the relationship and behavior of the mother and grandmother was large aspects of the story, I was still trapped under the detail of the father's lie of omission that lead to the silence of our main character. His rage of having been silenced when his vocal cord was removed was just heart wrenching. I noted this before in a previous post, but this story was truly gothic dark. Several dark elements came together and painted a very oppressive picture of life for our character. In many cases, our voices are our only means of self expression and fight as children when we are growing, questioning, and rebelling, but in this story that was taken away and we are left with a silent window of 'What if we couldn't use the one thing that we take for granted?" In case of this story it was a voice, but it could have easily been sight or hearing... I had read a manga with a similar theme to its story with a young man losing his hearing between the ages of 12-14 slowly until he was deaf. This anger, frustration and distain for all hearing people reminded me of Stitches in a way. Its very human and something that unless we truly think about it we could never fully understand the gravity of the situation because unlike these characters, I have a speaking vocal voice and I can hear...
ReplyDeleteBut in the end, I definitely will not forget this story, more so I think, than any other story that we have read this semester.
In some ways I enjoyed stitches and in other ways it was so disturbing to me that I didn't really like it at all. It's hard to explain when something makes that impression on you but I guess the overall reason I didn't enjoy it was because it was so depressing. I was appalled by the fact that his parents wouldn't take him to the doctor to have his tumor removed and because of that it grew to the size it did. I felt so bad for him, especially the panels after it was finally taken out when you see the huge scar and stitches on the side of his neck. Then you find out he lost part of his vocal cords and the panels that depict him trying to speak are even more pitiful. When his father confesses that it was his fault because he x-rayed him as child I was practically in tears. The guilt he must have felt would have been overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteI do not know if therapy would have helped his mother and grandmother but I sure wish they would have tried it because the panels which show their behavior were equally disturbing. All together I was so bothered by the disfunction that existed in this family.
I also like the addition of real photographs and think that when you see what a person actually looks like it makes a graphic novel (or any book for that matter) more realistic, just as it did in Maus when you say Richieu and Vladek's pictures.
After looking over this comic again, I think that the grandmother and mother are beyond help now. I am pretty optimistic about people and them changing for the better, but it is clear that therapy cannot help them now. David was the lucky one not to fall victim to insanity, and the dream represents that. The dream is more like a reflection of his life. He was once a kid who was afraid of showing his true self (why he stayed in the house), and his mother was driving him towards insanity (her sweeping a path toward the asylum). In the end, he repented from the path and followed his own way. This might have just been added in and he really didn't have the dream, but it still works effectively.
ReplyDeleteI did find the biographies of the characters to be very helpful in dealing with their backgrounds. I actually see their personalities better as well as their profiles. I might use this in one of my writing projects.
Overall, I thought that this book was amazing. I'm not saying this only because of the emotional moments (don't get me wrong, they were amazing), but because how much the way the characters are drawn look like my relatives. I can't explain it, but most of the people in this comic have a striking resemblance towards my father's side of the family. It sounds crazy, but the grandparents actually remind me of mine. Other than that, all the other aspects of this book are excellent. The copy I have is a rental from the library, but now I'm going to ask for my own copy for Christmas.
Although I like to believe that therapy can offer help to those in need, no matter what the circumstances, I'm just not sure that was ever an option for David's mother and grandmother - nor would it ever be. Therapy has only really recently moved out of the realm of the taboo and into broad acceptance. In the days of David's mother and grandmother, that wasn't the case. Especially for women. Especially especially for mother's. Unfortunately, I think that both women were victims of an era that often cast a deaf ear to the segment of the population that both belonged to, and as a result, they both suffered for it. I think that through therapy, David was capable of breaking free of the cycle of abuse that had preceded him, and that is reflected in his dream; he doesn't belong in that house anymore, but his grandmother will forever be its caregiver.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that the mini-biographies were beneficial. It's easy to forget that the characters we were reading about in Stitches were based on real people, simply because the circumstances were so intense. But, seeing those photos - especially of David's mother - really brought the reality of the situation back into focus. I found that photo to be particularly haunting, as it seems to perfectly capture the darkness that resided within David's mother.
Overall, this was one of my favorite books we've read this semester. And it's also become one of my favorite graphic novels, to boot. I'll definitely be recommending it to others.
That dream was so cool! I have no idea if therapy would have worked. They both seemed too stubborn to listen or take advice/suggestions. But the dream seemed to be about the safety of his life now, away from his family. I haven't developed a theory for the car quite yet, but he seems to enjoy the safety of his new life and if he leaves that he could end up following the path his mother cleared for him. Perhaps his car is just habit and his lingering family ties.
ReplyDeleteI loved having the images of and information about the family members. It gave me not only more of an understanding of the family, but a look into Small's artistry and talent.
I loved the book overall. I think this was a great way to end the course! This book had my favorite artwork of all the novels and the story was very interesting. It also was different because it didn't deal heavily with social, racial, political, or sexual issues. Definitely a good change. I wish I hadn't just rented all of these books!
I think therapy may have worked for his mother, but I can't say whether it would have for his grandmother. We are given a great deal of the mother's backstory, and I think most of those issues could be sorted out over time. But we aren't given any of the grandmother's backstory. Why is she so insane? Were her own parents abusive? Did she date someone horrible when she was young? Looking at her from a purely behavioral standpoint, I believe that by the end of the novel, she is too far gone. However, if someone had intervened earlier, she could possibly have been helped; again, depending on what has made her behave so badly.
ReplyDeleteThe pictures in the back of the book were very interesting to me, but not just for the revealing information about his mother. I found the complete lack of information on his father to be equally revealing as it shows the disconnect between them. It is possible that he still knows little about his father's early life. Regardless, the fact that only a couple of sentences are included speaks volumes about their relationship.
I absolutely loved this book overall. It was the first book I've read in a long time that I could hardly put down because it sucked me into it. For me, the best part was that David was such a relatable character. While I haven't lived a particularly bad life, I do know how it feels to be struggling with things and have no one you can really talk to about them. I love that his coping mechanism is to literally dive into his art, suggesting an immersion so complete that he is cut off from reality for a time. Art is a truly wonderful thing, regardless of the medium, because it allows you to free yourself of the weight of the world for a bit. This is one of the best books I've read in a very long time, and I might just read it again over the break!
Overall, I enjoyed the comic. It is very different in style and dialogue than any other graphic novel we have went over throughout the semester. I feel as if it had a more “real” feel through issues that most of us have encountered specifically through family members—I have a super head-strung red head as a mother so I felt a connection with David. I enjoyed the art overall. It helped put the reader into this story through emphasizing the emotional aspect particularly with the emphasis on faces and facial expressions. I feel as if the mother and grandmother were in the forefront of David’s issues but what about the father? I feel as if this was David’s biggest issue but wasn’t discussed as much as the grandmother and mother. The ending was by far my favorite. David had so many issues in his life growing up but in the end he chose his own path. This was very enlightening especially with the heavy issues introduced throughout the graphic novel. As far as the photos, it made the story more realistic. There were some instances throughout the novel that seemed too far-fetched or not realistic but seeing the photos put a realistic spin on it and reminded the reader that the story is in fact real! I would definitely recommend this book because it is unlike any other graphic novel I have read. Have a good break, all! Hopefully this last week treats you well!
ReplyDeleteI don't have a clue if therapy would have helped; there are too many factors for a mere English class to properly evaluate (if the mother and grandmother were open to therapy, the effectiveness of the therapist, etc.).
ReplyDeleteOverall, I loved "Stitches." Actually, this was probably my favorite graphic novel we read for class. There was a healthy balance between humor and tragedy, sadness and triumphs, reality and the imagined. I think Small did a particularly admirable job of creating a story that was intense, funny, touching, and disturbing. At times I was uncomfortable reading the novel and I think that was part of the point.I was never overwhelmed by it (and more importantly, I never felt the story itself was overwhelmed by the more disturbing moments).
As others have pointed out, the photos do remind the reader that the people depicted in the graphic novel were real. I also believe it is an effective way to humanize them as well. After seeing the photo of the mother I remember thinking this was a woman who probably suffered from depression and didn't know how to be a good parent - someone who struggled to communicate with even her own family (and just as tragically, communicate with herself).
I found the pictures to be a little extra in which I thoroughly appreciated. It gave more information to help understand the characters and I always enjoy a good "where are they now".
ReplyDeleteThis was my favorite book of the semester! The way David used imagery to deliver more of the story than narration was really enticing to me. As well as the subject matter, it just kept me reading.