Ghost World
is a graphic novel written by Daniel Clowes. This story is not a common one, at least not for me. That is why I decided to find out an answer regarding the
style of this novel.
Firstly, it is vital to mention that this text
corresponds to a Postmodernist type of literature which is marked and characterized by fragmentation, paradox, unrealistic narrators, games, parody, paranoia,
dark humor and authorial self- reference, as it is claim in the website
study.com.
Now, a
crucial element of postmodernism is related to reality and "how we
perceive things". There is no universal truth, neither an universal
reality. Realities are as varied as people in the world, also it depends on
the eyes of the person that sees and what the others want to show.
All the
aspects mentioned before take place in Ghost World, for example, Enid and
Rebecca are immersed in a world in which appearances are crucial and say a lot
about you. On the one hand we have Enid, who is always changing her appearance
because she wants to be different, she refuses to fall in the vices of the majority
of the people. Although she tries to show that she does not care about what
other people might think, she doesn't want to be labeled.
On the
other hand, we have Rebecca, who seems to be a nice and beautiful woman, but she
doesn't trust on her power as a woman, neither on the fact that she is intelligent
and that she can achieve things on her own. Maybe because she had heard during
her own life, that she is beautiful, since that is what people can see, instead
of telling her that she is capable to do whatever she want, because she is an
smart woman.
Enid and
Rebecca tend to create a sort of ghetto that makes them be apart of the rest
of the world. Moreover, they are always labeling people, based on vague thoughts
that they may have. And of course they criticize it since they have their own vision of reality. Thus,
their visions make them believe things about other people, only because of
other's people looks and of course based on prejudice. For example, when they
label as the "satanic couple" at Angel's or the sexual life of their
friend Josh, just based on the way he behaves.
In Conclusion, we could say that this novel is merely Postmodernist, since the whole story is based on perspective, relativity , how things and scenarios change depending on appearances and circumstances. Moreover, how our ideas leads our actions and also, who
we are and who people think we are. Even though this book could be from the previous
century, it is the perfect image of what we are now as a society. A mass full of
stereotypes.
Hey guys! Check this article out, it's very interesting and it talks about prejudices, which is related to the girls of Ghost World, who judged people because of their looks. Also, it talks about this common discrimination that almost all people suffer in the current society.
* Lookism
Finally, a link for you to check some of the quotes that show the nature of this graphic novel, enjoy!
References:
- http://study.com/academy/lesson/postmodernism-in-literature-definition-lesson-quiz.html
- Ghost World, Daniel Clowes, 1993-1997
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0162346/quotes
- http://www.academia.edu/443646/Lookism_and_Weight-Discrimination_Ethnic_and_Cultural_Awareness
Camila I totally agree with you, this is a novel that makes us to think about the importance of prejudices and appearances, however, I would like to say that maybe Edin hates people who were following those stereotypes not because the fact of "all people following a stereotype", maybe she hates them because she feels that she cannot fit in those stereotypes, and that is the reason why she is always changing and trying to find her own identity, it is just a thought, but it worth to keep it in mind.
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