Megillat Esther

Let me start by saying that this was one of the tougher readings for me due to the fact that I really haven't been too religious for most of my life. That being said, one thing that I did like about the graphic novel was the pictures. I thought that the layers drawn within each picture were the most interesting of any graphic novel that we've read so far. They really added to the story and were much more detailed compared to other books. I also liked how the pictures weren't all drawn in separate boxes. I feel that this made it a little more open to interpretation as to how the book should be read and in what order.

Another thing that I found interesting was the overall idea of putting the Bible into a graphic novel. I think that this probably turns a lot of people away from giving the book a chance. The overall idea of the graphic novel is not as accessible to the public as other graphic novels that we have read. For instance, I would have never given the book a chance if I didn't have to read it in this class. I would have probably seen that it dealt with religion and just walked the other way. Graphic novels such as Maus interest me more because I know more about the subject. I think the reason for this is because public schools bring us up with so much knowledge about the Holocaust, but really aren't allowed to talk about religion in any fashion.

Waltz With Bashir

Since I missed the last two weeks of blogging, I figured I would go back and talk about Waltz With Bashir. I thought the movie was really good. One of the scenes that I found rather interesting was the opening scene with the dogs. I found the color scheme and the overall feel of the scene to be very powerful. It pretty much set the mood for the entire movie. I also thought that this scene immediately showed how the memories of the war affected the thoughts of each of the characters. The scene was basically a dream sequence of all the dogs that one of the characters shot during the war. This was fundamental in creating the setting for the story.

Another thing that I loved about the movie was the ending and also the overall music. I feel bad saying that I loved the ending because the story was very sad, but I thought the choice to show the actual video footage of the end of the war was very powerful. It reminded us that the animated characters in the movie were actually real people. The movie was already extremely emotional, but the woman at the end screaming made it that much more powerful without taking anything away from the animated part of the movie. The music in the movie was tremendous and definitely added an extra layer to the film.

Overall it was a great movie. It was the first animated film to ever be nominated for best foreign language film at the Academy Awards and it definitely deserved it.

The Stars

Another thing that I wanted to discuss was the importance of the star panel to the graphic novel. This one picture summed up the story for me. I thought the picture symbolized what Miriam Libicki was dealing with throughout the story. I personally have never been to the desert to see what she saw, but I have had moments when I felt similar to the way that she did when she was gazing at the stars. The stars showed that she was feeling that the world around her was collapsing. Somebody in class said that it felt like the stars were coming down on her. I thought this was an interesting way to think of it. The army and her personal life were in a way collapsing around her.

It also looked as though the stars were forming planes. This also symbolized both the army side of things and also her inner feelings. I thought the planes represented the battle that she was having with her own emotions. She was having trouble dealing with everything around her. This is why she had to resort to any way of connecting with another person. I thought this was the reason for why she had sex with all of the people she did. She was looking for any connection she could at the time to help get her through her feelings of an inner battle.

"Jobnik"

I thought Jobnik was an interesting tale of the day to day life of people in the military. I thought the title of "Jobnik" was an interesting choice. According to urbandictionary.com, the term Jobnik is described as "Israeli slang for a non-combatant soldier who serves his nation by doing secretarial work, clerking, counting inventory, or some other "job"-like function. Generally used with a hint of derision, as if the jobnik is lazier than a fighter." I thought this helps shed light on what this graphic novel was really about. This definition helps to explain many things that happened throughout the story. It explains why many of the characters treated her disrespectfully, and also helps to explain why she dealt with identity issues throughout the graphic novel. She didn't really fit in as a child or in the army.


Another topic that we discussed was whether or not this story is worth being told or not. I personally thought the story was interesting and a change of pace from the usual military stories. I think the story itself was important for many different reasons. One of these reasons was that many people don't know about the daily life in the military, which is what this graphic novel was mainly about. It was somewhat of a coming of age story. People in class had said that they didn't think the story was important. I, on the other hand, thought that the way in which the story was presented was more interesting than a normal story with a set plot.

The Cat

One thing I wanted to discuss about "The Rabbi's Cat," was why Joann Sfar chose a cat for this graphic novel. I thought it was an interesting choice, although, I think the main reason why he chose a cat was because a cat could be there without really being noticed. The cat kind of served as a fly on the wall of sorts. The stories in a way were through the cat's eyes, even though in the last few stories he couldn't speak.

Another thing I found interesting was the way the cat was drawn. To me it didn't really look like a cute little house cat. I thought it looked more like an alley cat. This was also a choice that Sfar had to make. I think if the cat was cute it would have made the story seem a little different. Readers would have felt more attached to the cat then they do in the original story. It would have also made some of the cat's actions such as testing God less bad. I think the choice of the cat having no hair and looking like an alley cat made this part of the story more powerful because readers are able to look at the cat's actions objectively.

The Rabbi's Cat

Going off of our discussion in class, I still can't decide if I liked or disliked this graphic novel. I thought there were many good parts throughout the story and brought up many good themes that deal with Jewish identity. I think from the class discussion I ended up liking it more than I did previous to class. Many of the questions that I had were answered.

One of the things that I found most interesting was the way in which the cat lost his voice. The cat tried to test God and used God's name in vein. God then proceeded to take the cat's ability to talk away from him, which in a way then made him then believe in god. I find it interesting that by taking something away from the cat he was actually giving the cat something also, a new found belief in God. To me, this seemed kind of ironic, as was most of "The Rabbi's Cat."

Along with the cat, the Rabbi does the exact same thing later in the graphic novel and God does nothing. I thought this was interesting and reminded me of "A Contract With God." To me, the moral of these parts were that God is always there. What I got from the parallels with "A Contract With God," was that seeing isn't always believing. If you believe in something, you shouldn't have to see it in action in order to believe.

Auschwitz and The Little Things

One thing I noticed when reading Maus II was that the little things that happened to Vladek gave him hopes of surviving. One part that I found particularly interesting was when the priest explained to him why he would be alive once everything was over. Vladek only saw this man one time and his words stuck with him throughout his whole life and time during the holocaust. Just by coming up with little positive things that the numbers on his arm represented helped Vladek keep faith that he would survive. The priest could've even lied about what the numbers represented and it still would've helped Vladek. I believe it was little things like this that helped many of the survivors of the holocaust last as long as they did. What else did they really have to look forward to or hope for?

While things were going "good" for Vladek, he had a friend named Mandelbaum that wasn't doing so well. All of the Jews were asked if they spoke English and Polish. Since Vladek knew both he was able to teach the German some English. At this time, his friend Mandelbaum Only had one shoe that he could use and no spoon. Through Vladek's speech lessons, he was able to get Mandelbaum a new pair of shoes. Vladek was able to help his friend and I believe this was only possible because Vladek believed he was going to survive. Before the priest talked to Vladek, he was in pretty bad shape. It was as if the priest helped Vladek and anyone that Vladek came across.

I also found it interesting that Vladek and Mandelbaum slept in the same bunk even though there were bunks open. I think this just shows the need for people in the camps to feel a connection with another person. The added support for one another helped them get through what they had to.

Art and Francoise's Conversation

The part that I found most interesting in Maus II happened in the very beginning of the story when Art and Francois were talking about wishing they could go back and be in Aucshwitz just to see what their parents went through. While I don't have any relatives that went through the Holocaust, I can relate to these feelings in an odd way. Obviously I don't want to be in a concentration camp, but I do find myself sometimes wondering what it would be like to be a Jew during the time of World War II. Like Francoise and Art said, it might seem crazy and I wouldn't want that to be my life, but If I could I would go back to live in a concentration camp just for a day. I feel like hearing about the holocaust from other people doesn't really give justice to what actually happened. I agree with them that it kind of has to do with a guilt of having everything that I have today while people throughout history have had to go through horrible and  terrifying things such as World War II and the Holocaust.

The other part about this conversation that I found interesting was how Art felt "inadequate trying to reconstruct a reality that was worse than his darkest dreams." He also stated that the topic and story were too complex to do  through a comic book. I would have to both agree and disagree with this statement. I feel like a book is better to get facts and statistics straight, but the way in which he presented this graphic novel made it easier for people in general to relate to. I think if Maus was just a normal novel, it would lose some of its appeal. I wouldn't relate to it as much and I doubt he would have used animals as the characters for the story. For these reasons I feel that the choice of writing this as a graphic novel and not a book was a great choice.

World War II and Comics

As I said in my previous post, Jewish comic book writers put many themes of their lives in the comic books that they were writing. Not only Jewish authors, but comic book writers of all races were affected by World War II and it showed in many of their works. Many authors put Nazi's in their comics as the villains that need to be stopped by the heroes in their stories. In the end the hero of the story would end up killing or stopping the Nazi's. Many times this ended with the war being over. Themes like this have continued going on today. We see war themes in many new comics and the movies that come from those comics. I really liked the comparison of the Superman comic to Watchmen. I have not read watchmen, but I did see the movie. Within the movie Dr. Manhattan is placed in a war and the outcome of the war is changed because of his contributions. I think authors write stories like this to express their views on the war.

Along with directly writing about wars that are going on, authors in "The Golden Age" were affected away from their own jobs as well. I thought the story of DC and All-American Comics was very interesting. Both had sort of opposite views on the war and what should be done from their stance as comic book companies. However, after Pearl Harbor was attacked, both sides became pro war and began putting statements such as "Keep 'Em Flying" in their comics showing their loyalty to the troops and the war. While I am not really for people having their opinions about war and politics all over the media (it gets annoying to be honest), this small statement showed how the comic book companies stuck together and were able to create the major comic book empires that we see today.

Jewish Influence On The History of Comic Books

Prior to reading part one of Arie Kaplan's book "From Krakow To Krypton," I didn't realize how much Jewish influence there was in comic books and graphic novels. Almost all of the main comics we know of today were created by Jewish authors and artists. Many of these authors, whether it be consciously or unconsciously, created many of these comic books with Jewish themes.

Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel were two of the main Jewish influences that helped shape the history of comics. Being Jewish, Shuster and Siegel put many themes in their comic books that they themselves (being Jewish during World War II) had to deal with. I thought it was interesting how many parallels there were between the Superman stories they created and what was going on in their real lives. As we discussed in class, it almost seemed as if the creation of Superman as a higher power coming to save people from their problems was a way for Jewish people to cope with what was happening in the real world. It was as if Superman was like a fictional God. Whether they meant to or not, it was a way for them to keep hope that someday the horrors of World War II would end and God would eventually step in and stop all of the madness. I believe that the fact that Superman's real name was Kal El (meaning voice of god in hebrew) only strengthens my beliefs that they meant for Superman to be some sort of a God figure. Once Superman became known throughout the nation, many other comics were created with Jewish themes as well, and many comics wrote about the war directly within their comics.

The Super

There is one story that I found more troubling than the rest of the stories and that was "The Super." This story was the one that stayed with me the most after I was done reading it. Throughout the story I felt many different emotions towards the super himself. As the story began I felt as though he was just a mean man that didn't do his job for the tenants in his building. However, I believe that the tenants only thought this of him because he worked for the landlord, who was "the enemy," and also because they never really got to know him. This went on so long that the only thing he had was his dog and pornography.

I believe the theme of this story was loneliness. All in all, the super acted the way he did because he didn't have anybody to talk to or connect with. He was mean to the tenants because they refused to give him a chance and get to know him. This eventually led to the horrifying ending in which he was played by a 10 year old girl. She was the first and only person to really come and talk to him and when he let her in, she not only stole his money but also killed his dog (the only friend he had). I believe he killed himself in the end because he realized that he would never be able to have a real connection with anyone and would be alone forever. In the end, none of the tenants really even cared that he was gone.

Will Eisner's A Contract With God

Honestly, before reading "A Contract With God," I really didn't know what to expect. This was the first graphic novel that I have ever read and I found it interesting to read on many different levels. I noticed many differences compared to just reading a normal novel or book. One thing that I noticed was how the pictures really added to the writing within the novel. Each picture really backed up or enhanced what Eisner was saying. This also made it easier to follow and was able to keep my attention throughout all four stories.

Now if we focus on the stories themselves, the story that I found to be the most interesting and less "disturbing" than the rest of the stories was the title story "A Contract With God." I think that the main theme of the story was that people always have a relationship with god whether they have a contract or not.  Frimme focused too much on the contract that he had made with god. Some things don't always go the way we want them to, but god is always there. Frimme Hersh failed to realize this in the story. 

Another theme related to god that I thought the epilogue brought up was that anyone is capable of having a relationship with god and spreading the word of their faith. When Shloime found Frimme Hersh's contract with god, he decided that he would also have the same relationship with god. It was as if Frimme's good deeds and devotion carried on to Shoime after Frimme died.