This week we are discussing Blankets by Craig Thompson, Ch. 3-4.
Spoiler Warning!!! This post is full of spoilers for Blankets by Craig Thompson.
Trigger/Content Warning!!! This book has scenes and discussion of such themes as: domestic abuse, sexual assault, divorce, childhood traumas, and religious trauma.
Discussion:
Jacilyn: Hello friends! Welcome to discussion two of Blankets by Craig Thompson. Discussing this book, an autobiographical graphic novel, has been a different experience for us - as with most graphic novels, Blankets tells its story more with art than it does with words, and this particular story isn’t a typical, plot-heavy story that you’d find in a novel. Instead of wondering how the antagonist will be defeated or wondering how the protagonist will get themselves out of a pickle, I just feel awash with emotions and memories as I read. It’s certainly a different kind of experience. One thing I don’t think I’m particularly great at yet is taking the time to really pause and take in all of the details of the art. I tend to be a fast reader as it is, and that sometimes causes me to miss certain parts of a sentence or something and I’ll have to go back and re-read, and I’m finding myself doing the same here, but with the art itself.
Michaela: I’m definitely not the best example for taking time to appreciate the art in this book. I’m a slow reader but I am also very impatient. I tend to want to get back to the story rather than focus on the art which is kind of the point of a graphic novel. A graphic novel noob for sure. I have been trying to go back through and look at things a little better or if I notice I’m rushing I can make myself slow down and analyze the art.
Jacilyn: The focus on Craig’s drawing in this section helped remind me to stop and take everything in a bit more. His Sunday School teacher who told him that you can’t worship God with art is absolutely ridiculous, and you can tell how the shame he felt from his love of drawing was something he battled with a lot. I think it’s sweet that Raina lit that spark in him again with her letters. I think shame is a big theme of this story. The religious shame dumped on him by his parents and the church for things that are normal parts of childhood - curiosity about sexuality, finding hobbies, being attracted to people, etc - clearly has a big impact on him even as he gets older. It seems like such a stifling existence. The weight of sin and God’s judgement is a lot to put on a child’s shoulders.
Michaela: The Sunday school teacher’s vision of heaven was really interesting and weird to me. I have been to many churches and many versions of Sunday school in my life and never have I heard a depiction of heaven like that. This teacher’s version of heaven was that you will still be working when you’re there just this time your job is to just worship God but you will no longer need rest. That would have been enough for me to be over it, I’m supposed to work my whole life worshiping something to then die and just keep doing the same and not be able to do so with the thing that I love. Doesn’t sound very heavenly to me. What if drawing was how Craig felt more connected to God. I don’t understand his community’s aversion to art and drawing. I guess our community really appreciated art, music, and our high school theater. We lived in a super small community and sports, plays, and concerts were the most important events throughout the year.
Putting all of that on a child’s shoulders is insane. I feel like adults always conveniently forget how they felt learning all this when they were a kid in Sunday school. I in no way believe that these parents or this teacher were always perfect Christians. Even the other kids in Craig’s class were thinking they would be snowboarding, relaxing, etc. when they got to heaven. If you’re going to teach something why not do it in a way that people can understand. It feels like the people in Craig’s life at this point are all preaching rather than teaching when that’s really what he needed most; a teacher who understood that faith can be hard and that being yourself is important to faith.
Jacilyn: That version of heaven certainly didn’t seem appealing to me either. I wouldn’t be surprised if this wasn’t the only church in the community, or if it is, it’s definitely more focused on the fire and brimstone, we’re not worthy of God’s love kind of church, instead of the ones that teach of God’s acceptance and love and forgiveness. I’ve been to both kind of churches, myself, and when I look back and think of the experiences as a whole, I think I felt an equal amount of shame from both kinds. I remember being a child, living through some really awful things, and begging God to help. When help never came, I absorbed the blame until my belief shattered completely. I found it interesting that Craig was clearly becoming a bit disillusioned with church camp but at this point in the story is still believing wholeheartedly in God and his own shame. And it’s little wonder why, when that’s been your entire life, and it’s so important to your parents, it’s very difficult to pull away from that.
Coming from a childhood often steeped in strict religion, I was shocked that his parents let him go stay with a girl in a different STATE for a couple of weeks, honestly. Perhaps what it comes down to is that, despite his father’s abuse and seemingly constant anger, they trusted Craig enough to be comfortable with it with some convincing. I don’t think my mother had that same trust in me - not by a long shot. I could barely be friends with boys without her thinking I was up to no good. But both Craig and Raina’s parents were pretty chill about it all, especially considering that Raina’s parents are in the midst of a not-so-mutual split.
Michaela: Pulling away from something you no longer believe in but your family is very devoted to is really hard. And it’s something that now as an adult I chose not to discuss with people in my life who are really religious, for me it’s easier and healthier for me. Your relationship with faith and religion is very personal and no one has to share it if they don’t want to. I’m so impressed with this author for being able to tell and show us so well how he felt during all of this time.
When I say I was shocked that his parents agreed…I literally had to reread it to make sure. Did not expect that at all. Even though they said yes it felt kind of manipulative for them to be like only if you go to school everyday and eat all of your food up until then. Not a healthy relationship with food first of all but you’re also forcing him to go somewhere he’s being bullied even though he’s successfully doing school work at home.
Raina’s family seemed really nice but felt all too familiar for me. My family also went through a divorce during my last year and a half of high school. Being the go between for your arguing parents and being part time caretaker of your siblings because of that. It’s not fun and it’s a lot to put on any child’s shoulders no matter how old they are. This section sent me down memory lane for sure, and I needed a little break for a minute from the book. I will say Raina is handling it really gracefully but I feel for her so much. I only had one sibling to care for and she didn’t require special care like Laura does. But Raina is so good with her and from the art you can see so much love in Raina’s face for her sister. Then Raina having to write out her mother’s note out to leave for her father while her mother is saying, “you take too much responsibility as it is”. You’re literally putting more responsibility on her right this second by making her write this damn note for you. I was that person a lot in my family during that time as well, it sucks. I’m glad Raina had Craig and felt comfortable enough to share her experience with him. I didn’t share with people during that time and I should have.
Jacilyn: I hope that Craig being there helped take some of that load off of Raina’s shoulders, especially considering how much Laura loves him already. I thought it was really sweet that he took the time to play with her. One of the panels shows Craig and Laura with their hands out pressed against each other in the background and that melted my heart. I’m wondering if the blanket that Raina made Craig is one of the blankets the book is named after.
I was an oldest sibling with a lot of the parenting pressure on my shoulders too, and while my parents were broken up by the time I was born, I played the go-between with my mother and other parts of the family often. I feel for Raina, Laura, and Ben having to watch/hear their parents yelling at each other, too. I grew up with a lot, and I mean a LOT of fighting, and some of my worst memories are of trying to shield my siblings from the trauma of the fighting - putting us all into one room, turning the music up as loud as I could to drown out the voices. These kinds of things make you grow up a lot quicker than you should, and I think it’s clear that both Craig and Raina didn’t get to have the carefree childhoods they deserved.
Michaela: My sister and I watched a lot of Spongebob and she loved to watch Tangled. She also weirdly liked Jurassic Park 3, though I think she was just pretending because she saw me watching it. That was our distraction. Barney is Laura’s which is a classic and I love that that is what she watches to calm down. Laura and Craig are really grown up all ready and I love that what they chose to do was drive around. A classic midwestern way to spend your time. Then they chose to take a walk through the snow and just lay in it. I love to walk when it’s snowing. Especially being outside in the snow at night, there is nothing more peaceful to me. Craig and Raina laid in the snow for hours just talking and that is such a beautiful image and beautiful way to bond. They took the time to appreciate each other and appreciate the peacefulness of snow. Snow dampens the world’s noises and coats it in a soft blanket of cold sparkles. So far the artwork of them laying in the snow is my favorite part of this book.
Well friends, that’s it for this discussion. This book is proving to be a very mentally demanding book for us. As much as we are enjoying Craig’s story and his art, it’s still challenging to read about childhood and religious trauma’s. Let us know how you all are getting on with it!
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