Religious Identity in Jobnik

Yes I know what you are thinking.  I am just rehashing another post that I did about a week ago about the same subject, but I believe that religious identity plays a very big part of this story.  It is very important to the whole of Miriam Libicki as a character.

Throughout the graphic novel it is completely obvious that she does not conform to the traditional Jewish ways.  For one, she is not exactly shy when it comes to the subject of sex.  She seems to be very open to the fact with others.  Then again that can be said with a lot of people in this day and age.  This is defiantly very different from what many Orthodox Jewish people would do.

There is also the fact that she wears more revealing clothing then the other girls in her religious area.  Especially with low cut shirts compared to shirts that have to add lace in order to cover up more of the neck.  Defiantly quite a difference.

However, there are at least two instances where she actually does pray and goes to temple.  This would usually seem out of place with this sort of character.  However, this shows that know matter what you do, religion can still be very important to a person.

Even though she may not seem very religious in a way she is religious.  We all need something to turn to in dire times.  I guess religion is what you make of it, though we usually conform to a major one in the end.

Until next time.

Jobnik

Jobnik is an autobiographical novel about a girl who volunteered to join the IDF during the time of the Second Ifantada.  It tells us of her life during this time and also gives us some glimpses into her past in order to bring out the character that she is.

All in all, I think the story was a pretty good one.  It gives part of the history of what happened in Israel during that time but also what it was like to be in the IDF during that time, though she was never actually in combat.  Also, it shows so much personal insight to herself and and personal life.  Maybe a bit too much, but then again that is up to who reads it.

As I had said in my past post about my reactions to Maus, true stories are usually the best stories to be told.  Although this story isn't as emotionally packed, not to say that there is none, it is still a decent story if a bit disconnected at times.  But maybe it is just me not following well enough and that's just my problem.

I believe the best part of the story is the dealing with the duel identity as a an Israelite and Jewish American.  Having a double identity is defiantly a tough thing to have.  I would almost liken it to a superhero and their own secret identity.  The only difference is that she does not have to keep a side of herself secret from anyone.

Alla nd all a pretty good graphic novel.

Religious Identity

There are so many religions in the world that it can make ones head spin out of control into a black hole of insanity.  On top of that, there are almost an infinite amount of sects that make up the entire religion.  It is hard to keep track of it all.  And whats more the differences between the different sects can be from very minor things and people will argue the that to the other sects that believe them to be completely wrong.  Also some religions will go to war with the other sects.

I know that I can not go out there and change everyone's mind about how religion is supposed to be done.  I can only tell my opinions in the hopes of someone considering it.

I believe the sects of any religion with only minor differences should consider coming together as one so that they can stop all the arguing as to who is right and who is wrong.  Those who have major differences can not possibly come to an agreement.  These sects I believe are best left to being their own religion.  The only reason that I say this is for the fact that minor differences are easier to come to an agreement to then major ones.

I know that this will never happen due to the fact that people can be very stubborn with there religion.  So all that I have to say is this.  Know what you are.  It makes things a whole lot simpler.  Also don't push your religion onto others.  It's not very polite.

That Darn Cat

I am going to be very frank about The Rabbis Cat, it was not what I expected for a graphic novel.  It was worse than I thought it would be and I will tell you why.

For one thing, the art of the entire graphic novel really got to me.  Being an art major, I appreciate art that doesn't look like that it was done by a five year old.  I am not saying that it is utterly horrible, just that its so inconsistent that it hurts my eyes.  That cat changes his shape so often that I think it is made out of Play Doh.  It was just too distracting for me while I was reading it.

Speaking of the story, what was the point of it? It follows a basic story I guess, but it is so disconnected from itself that it hardly qualifies as a story.

Besides the story and the art, my biggest problem with the graphic novel was the cat.  That's right, the cat.  To me he seems like a complete jerk when he is given the gift of speech.  He keeps contradicting the Rabbi's rabbi and just generally getting people mad.  The way I was brought up was that you do not question peoples religion.  Its just not proper.  Also he just tells lies when he speaks.  Not a very good attribute to have when you can finally speak.

Maybe I am being too hard on the entire novel.  Maybe there is supposed to be some sort of message in it all and I don't get it.  I don't know.  Until then my opinion stays.

Holocaust memory and its Distrubution

It seems that America has an inane curiosity as to what happened during the Holocaust.  It is almost like a sick sort of curiosity but we still want to know.  Since most people nowadays were not in the Holocaust or for that fact alive during World War 2, most people do not have a first hand account of what happened during that time.  What we do have are people that were there, and the books and graphic novels that talk about what had happened.

With actual books, there are a lot of facts that are put into it to try and describe what happened according to primary sources.  Now, unless there are pictures put into the book, there is no actual way to show the horror that was the Holocaust.  You would have to imagine it all for yourself, and that image may not be accurate to what it actually was like.

With the graphic novels that are written about the subject, I believe that it gives a better idea of what it was like, although they are just drawings.  As with Maus, it gave you a sense of actually being there, even though the people are represented by animals.  The drawings themselves paint a horrifying picture.  It shows what it could have been like during that time.  Though not as accurate as a photograph, it is still as horrifying.

Both have their validity in telling of what happened, and each of them has advantages over the other.  Actual books have a more scholarly appeal while the graphic novel is a bit more accessible to a wider range of people and is usually a bit easier to understand than a book.  But like I said, both are valid in the way that they tell a story.

Maus Part 2 and my Reactions

Incredible.  This book is absolutely incredible. The story had me enthralled the entire time I read the book.  I think the biggest factor of it being so interesting was the fact that it is a true story.  I knew that he lives through it, but its the how that kept it going.  Wanting to know how he lived through it all.

I could not believe how clever that Vladek was during his time in the camp. Besides the fact that Vladek was skilled in jobs such as tin work and cobbling, he also knew English and other such languages.  These things put together helped him survive.

I knew that those who could not work were immediately killed off, but almost ten months, at least according to the book is quite a long time to survive against such great odds.  The only work that I knew of in the camps was the so called black work or grunt work.  But now I know of other types of work that Nazis used their prisoners for.

Going back to the book though, I find it hard to believe that Art waited so long to finish the second part of the book.  The conclusion of part one just left you hanging there.  Its like one of those TV mini series that concludes an episode on a cliff hanger and you have to wait a week to find out what happens next, only this time it took a couple of years to have a conclusion.

All in all, it is just as good as part one. Some disturbing images like the dead on the bathroom floor, moments of high tension and as always good writing.

Until next time.

The graphic novel and the Holocaust

During my reading of Maus, I wondered to myself if there were any other comics or graphic novels for that matter that had dealings with Jewish people during the time of the Holocaust.  Now, I did some research into the subject and there are quite a few comics and graphic novels on the subject.

One of the novels I came upon is a graphic novel version of the story of Anne Frank.  It is by Elizabeth Hudson-Goff,  and Jonatha A. Brown.  This is the classic book put into graphic novel form for those who do not wish to read the actual book.

Another one is simply entitled Auschwitz by Pascal Croci.  This one tells the story of an elderly couple retelling their tale from the camp.  It is apparently more graphic then that of Maus, but probably no more depressing.

The next one that I happened upon was not of the camps but of the ghettos.  Specifically the Warsaw ghetto.  It is entitled Yossel, April 19, 1943: A Story of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising by Joe Kubert.  This one is not a true story but more of a what if sort of story.  The writer imagines what would have happened to his parents if he had not left Europe before the times of the Holocaust.

There are many other graphic novels out there about the Jewish culture, the Holocaust and also just Jewish based stories such as those of the Golem and the like.  I might consider adding a few of these to my reading list at some point in the future.

Until next time.

Maus and My Reactions

Out of all my years of reading graphic novels and comic books, Maus is the most depressing thing in comic form that I read, and I have read comic stories that include being trapped in hell, families being killed in cross fire of gangsters and even one that included philosophical discussion that ultimately got me thinking and also depressed.  Besides that, it is one of the most engaging stories I have read.

Although I have some knowledge of the Holocaust, I never had much of an insight to what it was actually like inside the death camps and what it was like for Jewish people in general during this time in Europe.

With the constant hiding and acting like the enemy to stay alive during those trying times really showed how resilient these people were.  I will admit that I would not have lasted as long as some of them did hiding and dealing with black market goods so to speak.

I liked that it was a first person account on the matter and not just a multitude of accounts put together to put a general picture together.  Showing one persons account creates a more personal story for the reader and thusly makes it more interesting.

Along with the story, a lot of the imagery is great and thought provoking.  The one image that hit me the hardest was the one of the Jewish people being hung in the street.  I had to put down the book for a bit due to the fact that it is hard to imagine how cruel humans can be.

All in all, it is a great story and I can't wait to finish part two.

Until next time.

X-men and Racism

Throughout my years enjoying the X-men comics, animated series, video games, and movies, I had never put much though into the racism metaphor put into this universe.  When I was younger, I obviously did not think of such things until I was much older.  It is very obvious to me now.

The fact that mutants are not only hated, they are feared, puts a lot of emphasis on this.  They are feared by what they might do to the ones without powers.  That is why the sentinels were created to hunt down all mutant life.

The mutants all have different ways of coping with this sort of rejection among the general populous.  However there are three main ways that have been represented in X-Men.  There is the X-men way.  They hide among the populous and help them whenever they can.  They also try to create equal rights for mutants.  There is the Magneto way of dealing with it.  being very angry and contemptible of the world, looking down on the others and would rather see them dead and make the mutants the superior race.  Then there is the Morlock way of looking at things.  Hate all human life and even the "surface mutants." Do not get involved unless they encroach on the territory of the sewers.

All three groups deal with the rejection in their own way as we all do our own way.

An interesting note though.  The Sentinels are now a former weapon of oppresion to the mutants.  They are now used as manned units to protect the Xavier school.  Most find them unsetteling of course but now being manned, they are less of a threat to the mutants.

Until next time.

The Silver Age

After doing the reading for class, I must say, the silver age is possible the most important age of all of comic books. For both super heroes and the Jewish people.

At the beginning of this period, the comic book industry was at its lowest.  No one was buying comics and it seemed that it was all at an end.  But by some miracle, they started to become popular and sales began to rise again.

In this period, characters such as the Flash got a revamp and were released in their own comic series.  Some other second stringer heroes also got their time to shine.  Characters such as the Green Lantern got brought back and also got their own series.  Most of these characters survive today with their ongoing series still intact.

Also during this period there was a rise in diversity among comic characters, especially in the X-men universe.  Characters were created that were from Russia, Germany, and even from Canada.  Perhaps the biggest addition to this universe is the inclusion of the Jewish characters.  In this period we find out that magneto, the main protagonist to the X-men, is in fact a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust.  There was also the introduction of the character Kitty Pryde to the X-men who is openly Jewish.  This was a big step in the world of comics and the world of Jewish people to have openly Jewish characters.

I must say, besides the comic code of the Golden Age, I think the Silver Age has had the most influence on what comics are today.  Bringing much needed diversity among all aspects of the comic world. Bringing all the different characters that we have today and more.

Until next time.