This story seemed much more
condensed than the others we’ve read so far. Perhaps it’s just the intensity of
the storyline, the tight framing and the poignant plot that got me going. What
I noticed the most, however was how the vibrant colors seemed to emphasize the
tone and mood of each frame. For example, in the jovial atmosphere of the dorm
room in the beginning is glowing with bright yellows and oranges, and then as
the narrator goes farther into the recesses of her memory the colors change to
muted blues, grays and greens. The short story takes something that seems silly
and adds a semi serious narrative to it. The female narrator is having a light
hearted conversation when a question asked by one of her comrades triggers a
childhood memory. She is remembering a situation in which she wishes she could
believe in the supernatural (aliens, in this case), so that another, more
realistic option may not be true (that her old friend was harmed or killed one
of her night walks).
There is
something exaggerated and lifelike about the drawings in this story. I feel
like the stronger face structures create more empathy for the characters than
the other stories that we’ve read that employed obviously drawn characters. The
frames where we were close to Harriet or the narrator added to the intensity as
well. When the narrator giggles at Harriet we can thoroughly feel her disdain,
and when the narrator hears of Harriet’s disappearance we can feel her regret
as she is shown in a panel lying facedown on her bed. The overlap of the panels
lent a dreamlike quality to the sequence, and made me truly feel like it was
from memory. Overlapping also made it more memory-like, because when we recall
events they tend to be in pieces, not in perfect chronological frames. There
was an awesome connection made between what Harriet wanted to believe about her
mother and what the narrator later wants to believe about Harriet’s
disappearance.
Your points about color make good sense. From color theory we know that warm colors (red, orange, yellow) elicit excitement and happiness - though sometimes anger and danger too, and cool colors (blue, green) elicit calm and melancholy moods. (Purple can go both ways - being hot or cool.) What's also interesting here is the use of shades (adding gray) to modulate the moods - adding a muddy quality to yellow changes it from a happy color to a somber color and especially how purple is manipulated to sometimes lean toward pink and others toward black or darkness. A good example of shaded color to elicit mood is on three panels on page three when Harriet shows the narrator her photographic proof. Yellow behind Harriet is muddy and somber, then yellow behind the narrator is bright and saturated as she snickers, then back to muddy yellow for Harriet's reaction. Brilliant color usage!
ReplyDeleteDarin
I didn't even think about the connection made between Harriet's mother and her own disappearance! Good catch. Its interesting how we think of memories as a darker shade but lighter saturation of color, while the present can seem so bright and highly saturated.
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing revelation "There was an awesome connection made between what Harriet wanted to believe about her mother and what the narrator later wants to believe about Harriet’s disappearance." I love the way this little story rolls out so many truths and you found this as well
ReplyDeletee