Poem vs. Persepolis

I chose to compare the poem "On Being Asked to Write a Poem Against the War in Vietnam", by Hayden Carruth, and the book Persepolis. These two pieces of literature can be very closely compared. The fact that both pieces talk about War is the first way they are a like, but it goes much deeper than that. Both pieces bring about this feeling of numbness to to war and death. Death becomes "the norm" because it happens so often. In the poem the author mentions not only the Vietnam War, but a few other wars as well. His attitude gives the reader a sense that he is used to War. He grew up around war and was even in a war, and being surrounded by so much death and violence, war simply becomes an extremely normal thing. Like in the poem, the same goes for Persepolis. The story takes place during the Iranian Revolution, where the violence is horrendous. Prisoners being tortured, people being killed, yet instead of being saddened and shocked by what is going on (like they were in the start of the war), the characters in this book soon become numb to what is going on around them. It is not that they don't honor and respect those that die for them to stand up for what they believe, because this is not the case at all. They honor these people completely, but no longer does people being killed upset them, as much as it once did, because it is what they are used to. They hear of people being tortured and killed everyday, which is no longer out of the ordinary, but in fact quite ordinary. War simply a way of life. This conflict of war, in both pieces, forges an identity of numbness. Characters are simply no longer being effected on a  daily basis by the death and violence around them. Instead, this is a way of life they have accepted and become accustomed to. 

Balnkets!

The first panel I found interesting and would like to discuss is on page 13 where the boys are getting in trouble for not going to sleep. I found it very interesting how Craig's dad gets so much bigger than the boys as he's yelling at them. I think this is to show his authority over them and I think it does a very good job at showing this.

The next panel I would like to talk about is page 32 when Phil is watching Tom and Jerry. I think this is sort of comparing the relationships of Tom and Jerry to Phil and Craig. It seems as if Craig doesn't like his little brother much and in the panel you see Phil says "Run Jerry Run!". And then you see Craig say, "I hope Jerry runs off a cliff". So, I definitely think the author is trying to relate the two relationships at this point in the story in some way. 

The final panel I would like to discuss is on page 190, but is something I also noticed a lot throughout the entire book. I found this book to be very multimodal, especially in the sense that I feel like I can hear everything going on in the book. On this page especially when it says "sniff sniff" by Ben's face. I felt like I could completely hear the sound of this especially because of the winter scene this panel takes place in, when its common to get the sniffles when it is so cold out. Also, when Raina's sister is attacking Craig, sitting on his back. You see the words "pat pat" and "ha ha ha" as she's hitting him on the back and joking around with him.

BELIEFS!

I believe in a lot of things. On a religious aspect, I believe in God. I am Catholic and was raised that way by my parents, and share the believes of the Catholic Church. On another level, I believe in our freedoms as American. Although I am Catholic, I believe in the freedom to choose your own religion and practices and respect for those who choose differently than me. I believe in living everyday to the fullest, and not taking anything in life for granted. And finally I believe in being thankful for everything you've got in life because there are so many other people out there that are worse off than you. Like I said before, my parents are the ones that raised me to be Catholic, and not only did they influence me on a religious level, but on all of these things I now believe today. My parents taught me never to judge and to respect those different from you, which is why I feel that I have so much respect for those of other religions and really feel like everyone has a right to believe what they want. My mother always taught me not to take anything in life for grated because in the blink of an eye it could be gone, and I try my best to keep this in mind as much as possible. She also taught me to be thankful for everything in life and I feel that I truly am (although there are always times where we get a little selfish as humans). I've seen how much better I have it than a lot of people in life and really understand why my mom raised me the way she did, in teaching me all these things. The book Oranges are Not the Only Fruit is based completely on beliefs. Janette's mom is a religious fanatic, so this is the way Janette was raised. Those that did not have the same beliefs as her mother, were considered "heathens" and "the devil". Everything Janette's mom believed, was right and everyone else was wrong. Homosexuality was considered a sin, and this was challenged by Janette, first with Melanie and then with Katy, both girls who she had intimate relations with. Finally, at the end of the book Janette decides to leave their church. She has a sort of a self revelation and realizes, this way of life she was raised to live is not who she is and who she is supposed to be. She has accepted that she is not the person her Mother wished her and raised her to be, but it is still difficult for her as her mother is constantly putting her down and calling her a "sinner". Even though she has accepted the fact that she will never be the religious fanatic her mother tried to raise her to be, she still struggles with the question of then who is she supposed to be?