Saturday, September 15, 2007

Graphic Novel = Change?

A graphic novel constricts the reader’s imagination. In a narrative novel, a reader can imagine the visualization that they think would go along with any particular scene. But on the flipside, in a narrative there is a lot more chance of misinterpretation and/or images that may deviate from the author’s intended message. Sometimes this can be good and not bad. For example, in our classroom, the ideas that we discussed in The Hours demanded less guidance from Mr. Severe. This is so because there was more discrepancies as far as what we thought because that novel lacked a visual counterpart to better display the characters emotions. Friday’s class needed more guidance, as we all recall the initial silence when asked what we thought about V for Vendetta. So the downside of a graphic novel is the silencing of the reader’s imagination, specifically to the inner thoughts of the characters. A graphic novel, especially in this one, shows nothing that goes on inside the mind of the main character. But this is not really a downfall because it lets us, the readers; contemplate what V may be thinking. My creativity is what keeps my interest when reading a novel and without some free space to think, my interest would wane. The colors and how they are arranged can leave a different interpretation of the text overall, one unavailable in a simple narrative. There is little divergence from the author’s intended message because most of what they thought was the important text is illustrated. I think a graphic novel does change everything. It the closest a novel can be to a movie. It allows for a quicker read and a clearer understanding of the author’s concepts.

No comments: