The Loss of a Childhood Love

We as children grew up reading colorful children's books, with vivid images that truly spurred the imagination of a young one. But society has told us that these images are strictly for children, and we need to break out of the childish shell. I say, to hell with that! My favorite book series, if you will, is Calvin and Hobbes.

The adventures of these little boy and his stuffed tiger illustrate all the good parts about being a little child; it highlights the inconsequential-ness of the problems of a child. These comics contain such powerful messages, to the extent that they make me wish I never had to grow up. Society doesn't get to choose what is acceptable to read (lookin at u mom), and what isn't; if society tells me that I can't be reading those comics, I disregard it. These comics are an escape from the monotonous life that we lead and they provide a place for the nostalgic mind to reconcile what was once had.

After reading the piece Show and Tell, I decided to find my collection of Calvin and Hobbes comics and found that the author implemented various types of word-picture relationships. Most of the time, however, the words and the pictures were closely related, but on the rare comic, they would either contradict each other, or simply show two different stories.

I've also come to appreciate the simplicity of these comics. I like to think that the simplicity signifies the simplicity of life as a child. It highlights the contrast between the world we live in, and the world we used to live in.

Comments

  1. I really liked your post! Your tone was very informal which kept me really interested in what you were writing about. I thought it was also very neat how you used personal examples such as how you began to read your old comics after our class discussion about the assigned reading.

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  2. I like your point Varun Rajesh. This week, we read many comics such as show and tell, and Maus. Both comics are simple but have a deeper meaning which shows that books with all words are not more complicated than comics. Moreover, comics can help the readers understand the meaning because of the pictures.

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  3. I think you make such good points! Reading should be about the connections you make with the book and the story, since that's what you're going to remember. Childhood books don't have to stay in your childhood, they can still be impactful and good reads to this day!

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  4. Yes, yes. Many adults even read comics. Comics are just like the paper version of movies. Many even have complex plots (especially observable in manga). It takes skill to gather to the readers' attention and also to draw the images.

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