Thursday, November 13, 2008

Reflections on drawing in class

This was my interpretation of the image on p. 66 with the blurb "We are the deliverers of divine justice!" I found this still particularly interesting. Of course the irony here is that divine justice cannot be delivered by man, and this man is the antitihesis of divine. Furthermore, he has no mouth as to say he has no voice or opinions of his own; he is a blind follower. His eyes are beady, limited in scope, while Siamak's wife's is wide open; it's almost as if she sees holy place above, far from the place the henchman believes he's sending her. This graphic novel is full of beautifully ironic stills that convey great pity for the oppressed and indignance for the oppressors.

I've turned this still into an almalgamation of all three henchmen, their penises penetrating Samiak's wife whilst their one giant head and set of arms strangle the woman. This frame reminds me of the article we read in Shakespeare's Tragedies regarding men's single phallic scope, as opposed to the woman's - or possibly a more androgynous (sensibility-wise) person's - ability to feel pathos and to understand the world on multiple levels. None of them have their own thoughts, so essentially, they are one person.

1 comment:

Duluoz said...

Yeah, this is a great drawing that brings out the phallocentric will to power in the religions of the Judeo-Christian traditions. Such graphic illustrations are necessary. Your abstraction makes Satrapi's work avant-garde and politically charged.