Persepolis

When reading Persepolis I noticed many similarities in the panels and the poem On Being Asked to Write a Poem Against the War in Vietnam. Both texts seemed to have the similar normality of murder and war going on around them. In the panels on page 29 Marj's father is taking pictures of people being killed in very violent ways. He is standing in the back just watching. There also is another set of panels on pages 14-15 that are pictures of a cinema burning down. The text says that the doors had been locked from the outside right before the fire, the police were there but wouldn't let the people burning inside be rescued, it took the firemen 45 minutes to get to the scene. While the father is explaining this story he is nice and sound in his bed speaking with his wife. It seems to be that it is just another day during the Islamic Revolution and they are just accustom to the murder that happens around them. The father has no emotion when speaking about this horrific situation that has taken place. Just as in the book, the poem by Hayden Carruth, also plays down murder and war as if it is just the same thing happening on another day.

and not one
breath was restored
to one

shattered throat
mans womans or childs
not one not

one
but death went on and on
never looking aside

except now and then
with a furtive half-smile
to make sure I was noticing.

This selection shows the lack of emotion that Hayden had at the time of war. She practically had to be shaken to make sure that she was noticing what was going on around her. She said not one breath was restored to one shattered throat mans womans or childs. This shows that anyone was being killed, there were no exceptions, however Hayden still showed no emotion. It seems like war has been a part of her life for a very long time that she forgot how to feel. The same thing happens to the characters in Persepolis, they become so used to hearing about people being murdered everyday that they have no initial reaction. During these two texts the characters, and authors, involved seem to be numb to death. They take death as just a normal event that happens every day. To answer the question of how does conflict transform, forge, deny, identity? I believe that any type of conflict whether it be war and death, or pregnancy and birth, changes your life forever. You may try to not let things get to you but eventually you have to deal with what is happening in the environment around you. Conflict shows who you really are by how you deal with it.

Blankets

In the text blankets I found it interesting that Craig always turned certain things into demons. This happened throughout the book whenever he thought something was wrong. An example of this was on pages 16-17 when Craig's father is putting his brother, Phil, into the cubby room because they were being too loud upstairs. There are two panels next to each other, the first is the Dad going into the small cubby room and opening something that looks like an alligators mouth. There are teeth coming off of it and it looks like the mouth is being pushed more and more open. In the back of the picture Phil looks terrified of where his Dad is putting him. In the next panel however it shows that the "mouth of an alligator" actually is only a cot being unfolded. I found it interesting that the author made the cot seem like such an unplesant thing. I think this is because the two boys had "sinned" and the cubby room represented a "hell" to the young boys. It was seen as a punishment to go into that room and especially alone, since they slept in the same bed through their childhood. The author has a theme going through the story that whenever something seems to be bad, or a sin, it turns into a creepy demon. Another example of this is when Criag drew a picture of a naked woman on the bus. His bus driver contacted the parents who then talked to Craig about the picture. In a panel on page 208 the woman in the picture started to scare Craig. Craig was scared of this picture because he knew that God did not want him to be drawing naked women and it was a "sin". There also was a panel,on the same page, where Craig was looking at a picture of Jesus and Jesus' back was turned to him. This symbolized that Craig had sinned, and he was afraid of that. The demons continued through Criags life. When Craig was visiting his friend Raina he was staying in her sisters bedroom and thought of a story in the bible. It was of a woman who bled for 12 years and when she touched Jesus she suddenly was cured. Jesus asked "Who touched me?" For some reason after thinking of this story Craigs imagination went wild. On page 223 there was a picture of the stuffed animals in the room, all of them have really big eyes that look crazy and each one is asking "Who touched me?" I find this really interesting because I don't necessarily find the coorilation between the story and the stuffed animals. I assume, from the pattern in the book, that Craig has thought of something unholy. I don't exactly have an interpretation for this panel, I just found it very odd.

Beliefs.

I believe in love at first sight, miracles, happiness, friendship. I believe that hard work and dedication can get you where you want. I believe that practice makes perfect, and that mistakes will help you learn. I believe my mother is one of the greatest people, and that she is one of the strongest women I've come to know. I believe that there is a higher power, which I look to for guidance. My belief system has been challenged every single day. It doesn't have to to be just my religious belief system, it is all of them put together. Especially during the election my beliefs as a republican are challenged by my peers constantly. I believe that I fell in love with my boyfriend the second I saw him. Some people think it is a ludacris thought, but it's true. The way I handle being criticized is not taking offense to what other people are saying, listen to their ideas, and revaluate my thoughts and see if I still feel the same way. You need to listen to others to be able to really stand up for what you believe in. My mother has been the sculpter of my belief system. She never tells me what to think, but will always listen with an open mind. If my mom disagrees with me then she will say so, and give a valid reason. She's one of the most honest people but knows how to express her opinion in a generous way. In Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit there is a strong Christian belief system in the family. The mother will pray for 2 hours a day, everything they do is devoted to God, is something happens to anyone in the family it is Gods doing. When Jeanette went deaf her mother said she was in a state of rapture, and the Lord would get her through it. A time when Jeanettes beliefs were challenged were when she went to school for the first time and had to write a paper on what she did that summer. Jeanette started to tell the class about Bible study and all these stories of God and holyness. The teacher became upset with Jeanette and then asked her why she spoke of God so much. Later on Jeanette is in a hard position because her whole life she's been told that God is the way, sex is a sin, and anything done with out God in mind is wrong and unholy.