A Contract with God, by Will Eisner, and Blankets, by Craig Thompson, are two graphic novels that share many similarities, even if those similarities occur on vastly different levels. In Eisner’s A Contract with God, the story focuses on Frimme Hersh, a young boy who is repeatedly told that “God will reward [him]” as a result of his good works among the members of his village and, later, New York. After tragedy befalls him, he breaks his ambiguous “contract with God” that certainly had everything to do with him ensuring that He would indeed reward him for his good works, as long as he continued to do them. This leads to a life of greed and promiscuity until he eventually tries to return to an absolutely certain understanding with God, in which faith plays no part. In Thompson’s autobiographical Blankets, a similar plot plays out. A little boy is promised that by “asking Jesus into his heart,” he will be saved no matter what, and comes to lean on that belief. When uncertainty and eventual heartbreak find their way to him through the first love of his life, Raina, Thompson loses that hope and his faith. Both graphic novels focus on the hopes and dreams of childhood playing a large part in the process of growing up and the adults we become as a result of them, but neither are hopeful stories (A Contract with God is blithely satirical, at best). Both paint a grim picture of religion (with most of the people playing the secondary roles are sampled from one extreme or the other), and prove that there can be no hope without faith. A Contract with God and Blankets paint grim, unornamented pictures of the conceptions of children and the common faithlessness of the adults into which these children grow.
I can relate to your comments about children's faith and adult's lack of faith because I grew up in a very religious household and ended up being agnostic. I think both of these stories bring up a good point about what people expect from religion as hopeful children, and how they end up being disappointed somehow, causing them to loose faith. This is something that not only happens with religion, but with everything from interpersonal relationships to hobbies.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Blankets and Contract with God are about hopes and dreams. I feel like that they are powered by the sense of always wanting something, even if the main character in Blankets doesn't always know what he wants. Maybe what they're trying to find is hope. However, they never achieve it and both stories seem to end in tragedy. I wonder if that is the artists' statement about real life. I find it interesting that stories with optimistic characters and happy endings tend to be more for children while adults get the mostly tragic plots and lost characters. Does this mean that as we get older, we have to learn about the shortcomings of hope? It's very depressing to read these stories but it does feel more like real life experience. - Sandra
ReplyDeleteI would agree wholeheartedly with your observations. I was fascinated by the level of depth woven through each story. The complexity of the emotions and concepts that both of these novels tackle is extremely intriguing, and they are both very successful in their execution. One point you bring up is the idea that both stories revolve around what adult life looks like from a child’s perspective, and how different it really is when we reach adulthood. I found that to be particularly poignant in Blankets, as I had experienced many of the same circumstances and feelings portrayed in the story. Thompson encapsulates those emotions with such an elegance and grace, that I was engaged in the story from start to finish.
ReplyDeleteI agree that both stories are about children who grew up being told that god would save them, but I think the story of Blankets goes deeper than just someone who becomes a faithless adult. But as someone who grows up to realize what having faith is more than just following the teaching of the church.
ReplyDeleteI agree that both stories are about children who grew up being told that god would save them, but I think the story of Blankets goes deeper than just someone who becomes a faithless adult. But as someone who grows up to realize what having faith is more than just following the teaching of the church.
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