The insertion of Prisoner on the Hell Planet within Maus particularly drew in my attention. Throughout the entirety of book 1, the surreal nature of the drawings or the exaggeration of reality allowed for an emphasis to be placed on particular events and the emotions and atmosphere they bring about. This was particularly true of the insertion of Artie’s comic book. The memories of his mothers suicide and the subsequent events are depicted as over the top and distorted to bring about the chaotic and ambiguous mood of the time. This is evident with the alarmingly frank doctor as well as the figure depicted to be his cousin. Most of the character’s roles as well as their facial expressions and appearances are highly exaggerated. They are made to look mad, wild, and untamed to present Artie’s perception of those around him at the time and how the world he knew was falling apart and being placed in its spot an unfamiliar even scary replacement world. Another aspect which stood out to me about Artie’s comic book was that of the portrayal of his cousin negotiating funeral prices in a calm collected manner. The fact that he is embracing and comforting his father while his uncle is negotiating in the background demonstrates the absurdity he must have felt in this situation with his uncle caught up in trivial monetary issues while he is made to comfort his father for the first time. The comic book insertion overall demonstrated an excellent way to portray the emotions and atmosphere of a situation through showing( and making use of the surreal) and telling. This is particularly valuable in constructing a widesite.
jus playing around with my camera and decided hey, why not put this up on my blog.
