Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli - Essay Example

Asterios Polyp utilizes different artistic and styles to deliver the main theme of the The uses the characters to outline and discuss his view of the world as a duality that everything in life happens because of or as a result of another. He talks of himself being born with a twin brother, but he survives, and the other dies. Moreover, the use of color, book design, classical myth and typeface bring out the modernity out of comic. The theme of completeness is evident in the chapter and the entire book, as well. Asterios wonders what being complete is as he says he has always viewed over his shoulder to see the person behind him. He says that he is incomplete because he lacks the companionship of his twin brother. The lack in his life prompt him to act in strange behaviors. His realization that he had a twin brother worsen his life as he is bothered more than bring the chapter to a close. He says ‘would he have been just like me? Better than me, worse than me’ (Mazzucchelli). These things made him fell never satisfied with all the thing that he did. Moreover, in his analysis of duality, Asterios argues that in the beginning there were three gender; female, male and a combination of male and female. The split of the third gender borne a mirror of each and created a void that love certainly seek to fill. Asterios tries to understand why people separate and the motive behind love and search for completion (Mazzucchelli). The use of narrative and visual images are so well connected in search for missing element in people’s life so as to find the pieces that will complete their lives. Through visual, the author uses the theme of unity, symmetry and geometry and explains why circumstances if life are of different shape and not a dichotomy of two symmetrical or parallel experience (Mazzucchelli). The difference of the way he represent the character is synonymous with diversity. Each character has his or her own font, color and the text bubble shapes. Furthermore, characters are demonstrated as representative of their character. Hana is such a beautiful women drawn in purples to represent adoration. On the other hand, Asterios has his head and body shaped like a machine and also in two dimension to show his views of the world. He is always questions the existence and judgment of other people. Asterios does not believe in other people’s opinions and have a counter argument for every statement made to him. One of the most important thing that the author did when writing the Asterios Polyp is the use of color and pictures when writing the literature in the book. It creates emotion of the narration of his past life, what happened when he was born and all his intrigues in life. One can forget the literature so often, but not the color in the book. It makes reading the book enjoyable and appealing to all people. Hana is colored red most of the time in the book. She is portrayed as shy, quiet and avoiding the spotlight and camera. The two Hana and Asterios have a different view of life, as Hana thirst for enjoyment and happiness, Asterios are torn between the worlds of dichotomy (Mazzucchelli). This demonstrates the real world that people live in a modern society. There are those who have a bright world full of color and those that dwell on questioning the status and beings in the world. This is shown by Asterios and Hana and how both converse speak volume of their character. Asterios believe in functionality is demonstrated in ‘the essence of Shoeness (Mazzucchelli)’. He is so determined that only the things that function that has form and marriage that does not work never have form and are doomed to end. Moreover, though Asterios is so concerned with duality and that opposite attract he marries Hana, but later long file divorce to their marriage. He is skeptical of everything even his own wife. However, Asterios is also shown to have an intimate relationship when they are depicted curling in bed with Hana while at the same time having a deep conversation of why he installed cameras in his bed room. Though Hana has been building tangible things Asterios has only build a tree house which would be destroyed leaving him homeless and venturing into endless destinations (Mazzucchelli). He is non function as he believes and therefore he fails to draw out the duality between him and Hana. There is nothing such as duality as we learn in the book. Everything that is referred to a having duality is fictional and the real world is comprised of whole things and this is shown with the coming together of Asterios and his wife and their acceptance that both are equal (Mazzucchelli). Asterios name is a shortening of another word, and this makes it fit in the architecture of the book. Asterios Polyp being a comic book needs to use simpler and artistic styles. However, Asterios refute his critics and argues that his way of writing analyzes the underworld and thus the use of visual allusions and symbolism helps in understanding the topics and not for aesthetic or beauty. Every medium through which writers use displays characters in many ways and Asterios choice of his style make the book interesting as one read from chapter to chapter. Moreover, as characters unfold and begin to become monotonous, he introduces others with a different topic altogether. In conclusion, the Asterios Polyp help us to visualize and understand the time interphase and periods in the life’s and happening of the characters. Asterios is show walking during the night with his wife and also it is clear for the reader to see the weather, situation and scene as they happen in different places from table room to bedroom as well as a social gathering. It brings out the reality in the modern world and how thing has changes that we want to observe our actions in disbelieve that we actually are real. Works Cited Mazzucchelli, David. Asterios Polyp . New York: Pantheon, 2009. Print. Read More