Graphic and written novels

Graphic novels and written novels

Graphic novels and written novels, so similarities and differences do they have? Let me share with you my views.

So what differences do they have? Firstly, we look at the way they express emotions and feelings. In graphic novels, the author uses pictures and visual arts to give the reader clearly understand how the characters are feeling. Whereas for written novels, the author makes use of the power of words to express an emotion. When we read graphic novels, we can actually feel as if we know the characters and how they are feeling as we have experiences of people in our daily lives having the same type of feeling and moods of these characters, therefore recognising their different facial expressions and reactions. In contrast, when we read written novels, it is sometimes more complex and gives more space for thinking.

Secondly, they are also different in the way they express speech. Normally in written novels, speech is directly quoted, however in graphic novels, as only descriptions are used, movements are used to show speech and therefore everyone has a different interpretation of what they are saying. For example, in written novels, we may see a character who is angry at another person saying “Hey you! Why must you do that?” However in graphic novels, you may see the character glaring at the latter with a fierce expression, pointing his finger at him/her with his mouth open.

Now let’s look at the similarities. Firstly, both graphic and written novels show a change in perspective. In graphic novels, the author may first show a close up of an object and slowly moves back so that the reader has a wider perspective of what is going on.(e.g. The Arrival by Sshawn Tan) Same thing when it come to written novels, the author shows the perspective of the different characters in the story so that the reader has a better idea of the situation and understand the different views of the many characters. ( e.g. Nothing But The Truth by AVI)

Secondly, both graphic and written novels also have strong literature in it. Let’s look at The Arrival for example. In the beginning of the story, there is a long dragon like creature which in roaming around the city as the protagonist is accompanied by his family to the train station. Is this the reason why the protagonist is leaving, or is it the author’s a way of expressing irony or maybe even trouble which is present in the protagonist’s home town? There are so many different ways to interpret this, which gives the readers something to ponder about as they read on. Now let’s look at a graphic novel, My Story by Dave Pelzer. In this novel, the author describes his mother as a “monster” who always abuses him and vents his anger on him. Yet, nearing the middle of the story, when he moves away to live with Alice, his benefactor, the protagonists begins to miss him mother, on the other hand afraid that she would take him back home. The author expresses a strong sense of love, hate and fear, which leads to the question, what true feelings does the protagonist of his mother?

In conclusion, both graphic novels and written novels are enjoyable to read as they have their own uniqueness. So why not read add graphic novels to your list of books, I’m sure you’ll truly enjoy it!