The first pattern that I would like to point out is the author’s choice of frame in order to depict a certain atmosphere of sadness that is characterized by its prevalence in each of the pages that I traced. In Spinning, Tillie Walden uses the absence of words in order to draw readers’ focus to the drawing being shown in the bottom left portion of the panel. The absence of words is what makes the reader focus in on what Tillie has drawn and from this focus, there is great emphasis on this melancholic atmosphere that is the result of the traumatic sexual assault experience in earlier pages. In the sketches shown, there is a range of emotions on characters being illustrated, including sadness, a blank expression, happiness, and discomfort. I feel that the range of emotions depicted is what makes the drawings that have sad faces stand out as they are the most prominent figures. The range of emotion also points to how emotionally isolated she felt in her sadness as those around her couldn’t see what she had felt and experienced. Choice of frame along with Tillie Walden’s choice of image with the broad range of emotions being shown is what creates this sorrowful atmosphere. In Stitches however, Small uses choice of frame in a different way, utilizing repetition as a means of emphasizing and expressing this down mood. The overwhelming atmosphere of sadness is created through the recurring images of rain that dominate the span of the page. Unlike what Walden does with adding empty space to the frame, which she used to emphasize a sad atmosphere, Small uses the lack of empty space in order to bombard the reader with rain and create this sorrowful tone that cannot be ignored. So much so, that the reader can then understand the depression Small felt was inescapable. This undismissable atmosphere is also created through Small’s choice of frame, showing rain patter down the window from a view inside the house, conveying this idea that the sadness is unavoidable. The fact of the matter is that even though there is cover, the rain is still present, meaning that sadness doesn’t simply disappear when you try to remove yourself from the source.
Another pattern I would like to point out is that both of these pages followed shortly after a traumatic event or a connection to trauma had been established. In Spinning, this gloomy page falls shortly after Tillie is sexually assaulted by her tutor and in Stitches, the page showing the different rain scenes follows shortly after David comes to deal with the fact that he hasn’t felt his mother’s love all throughout his childhood. This brings me to the idea of graphic narratives being labeled as feminist by Hillary Chute who states, “I claim graphic narratives, as they exhibit these interests, ‘feminist.’ All of the authors I discuss here investigate concerns typically relegated to the silence and invisibility of the private, particularly centered on issues of sexuality, and all address childhood trauma.” Chute labels these graphic narratives as feminist as they address issues often kept hidden. This statement connects to the idea that through comics, both Walden and Small are utilizing this form of literary expression and intentional choice of frame, image, and moment in order to convey the dominance of sadness in their emotional composition in their pursuit of dealing with traumatic experiences.
Small and Walden are attempting to show how trauma changed their lives but they had different experiences to convey, therefore the differing choices they made in expression were likely the result of such. Small felt he had to show how prevalent and long-lasting his depression was, being the consequence of ignoring his trauma for years, failing to deal with his mother’s absence of love, so he used repetition as his main tool of expression. On the other hand, Walden felt she wanted to show the emptiness in life that resulted from her trauma so she utilized the choice of frame as a tool to show empty space on the page, conveying the void created by her experience. All in all, both authors are very intentional with the choices they made to show how depression had a significant presence in their dealing with their trauma and how their experiences affected them in different ways.
Different Choice of Frame to show different means of expressing how trauma made author feel
Stitches
Spinning
MLA Citation: Chute, Hillary L. “Introduction.” Graphic Women: Life Narrative and Contemporary Comics, Columbia University Press, New York, 2010, p. 6.
