Postcards is really a collection of short stories done in graphic novel format (more or less it's a collection of short comics). The stories were all inspired by real antique postcards collected by the book's editor Jason Rodriguez. As the plot and visual style of each short is entirely different from the next, our group has decided to have each person post about one story that they truly enjoyed.
My short story was entitled "Quarantined". The story was developed by Jason and RJ Rodriguez and the illustrations were done by Seamus Heffernan. The postcard that this story is based off of is difficult to read, but to the best of my knowledge it reads, "... freind, I received your card this morning and will say that I am not afraid of the quarantine. If you can come when you said on Sat... " This somewhat mysterious letter is turned into a plot about a doctor caring for the people of his town that have contracted a horrible disease. At the beginning of the story the doctor's wife dies of the disease and it seems that he and his young daughter are some of the only people around without the illness. After the daughter wanders into the tents where the doctor is treating his patients he realizes that it is unsafe to keep her with him any more. He writes to his brother who lives in a nearby town and arranges to meet him on the edge of the woods where the quarantine isn't guarded. There, the doctor says goodbye to his daughter and gives her to his evil-looking brother who obviously does not like the doctor. Here the story ends.
The themes in this story are that of loss, hopeless despair and immense self-sacrifice. The doctor's world falls apart at the seems as he loses all that he ever cared for. He cannot save his wife from her crushing illness anymore than he can save his daughter from the clutches of his wicked brother.The doctor must give his daughter up in order for her to be safe; yet in doing so he loses his one last love.
The visual style in this comic captures the atmosphere produced by the morbid subject matter. Faces near melt off the character's portraits, making it difficult to discern whether the person is crying, or just weighed down my the overwhelming circumstances that surround them. The lighting is dim no matter the scene. The characters are illuminated by eerie glows that enable the reader to think of them as ghosts rather than living creatures. The story and visual style work together to create the horrible world that this short takes place in.
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This blog was created by and for students in an Introduction to Cultural Studies class at the University of Washington. Through an investigation of urban experience and representation--in theory, in graphic novels and in our own "readings" of Seattle's University District--we considered the formation and history of cultural studies as an (anti)discipline, with a special emphasis on the questions, "What does cultural studies do, and how do you do cultural studies?"
If you'd like to know more about the class, the blog or our U-District artifact project, please contact Gabrielle Dean: gnodean@u.washington.edu.
If you'd like to know more about the class, the blog or our U-District artifact project, please contact Gabrielle Dean: gnodean@u.washington.edu.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
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- Seattle U District: City Artifacts Map
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4 comments:
I may be mistaken, but I understood the brother to be the brother of the mother (the man's wife). I think that man said something about taking two women away from him, perhaps speaking of his sister and his neice.
Other than that, I totally agree about the themes that this story presented. I feel that these depressing issues seem to be present throughout the entire anthology, perhaps tying all the short stories together.
This is Jason Rodriguez, writer of the tale and editor of the anthology. Someone directed me to this little conversation so I figured I'd chime in.
The identify of the man in the woods is intentionally vague. This is because we wanted the story to focus more on the relationship between the father and the daughter. Upon first reading the book, the reader just sees this guy as a guy in the woods that hates the father. It helps the reader better understand the level of sacrifice that's taking place...at least that's what we were going for.
Having said that, clues to his identity can be seen in the postcards embedded in the art. But we certainly left it open to interpretation.
Anyway...I find it very cool that UofW is using Postcards for what appears to be a class on graphic novel analysis. I liked the study of Time, as well, and I'll be sure to send that one along to Tom Beland.
Whoa, the power of the internet! Pretty cool.
Anyway, I definitely had to read back over the postcards and ending panels to figure out better what was happening regarding the daughter getting handed off to the shady-looking, angry fellow. I think it was her mother's brother, who'd somehow fallen out with the family.
The visual style of this story was SO different from, say, Homesick or Time - a lot of black and harsh shadows that really added to the sense of horror and claustrophobia of a quarantine. The way the little girl sort of deliquesced from cute and wide-eyed to a haunted, creepy ghoul stood out for me. I thought it was really effective in showing the awfulness of her situation and its effects. Plus it will totally be giving me nightmares!
I completely agree that the visual style of "Quarantined" is very different from others. There are so many images that are ingrained in my memory. For example, the blistered face of the mother, the frightening transformation of the young girl, and also the image of the father as he becomes so angry that his daughter left the house. There is really a great comparison between the visual styles of these short stories. What is interesting is how all of these stories share the similarity of having depressing themes, and yet, the way in which they are projected is so different.
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