Post by Teng Lai Chang on Nov 11, 2015 23:56:17 GMT
This is my second time reading "Barefoot Gen" by Nakazawa Keiji, and it still evokes so much feelings from me. "Barefoot Gen" is a very poignant and emotional piece of work as it talks about how Japanese civilians dealt with the ongoing war (and aftermath of the war) with America and the Allies and how the war had affected the lives of Japanese people, espcially the poor. I love how Nakazawa criticizes the government and the military for reporting false information to the civilians about how Japan was winning the war by controlling every form of the media and for restricting anyone from speaking or writing about anti-war sentiment. He also criticizes the rich and powerful for brainwashing the Japanese people, from children to teachers, into believing that everyone should be fighting for and willing to die for the emperor and how westerner were devils and evil and the Chinese and Koreans were inferior and lowly beings.
In "Barefoot Gen," we see that while many of the Japanese people were brainwashed to be proud of the war, Gen's father, Daikichi Nakaoka, was very much opposed to the war, believing that the war brought only pain and suffering to the poor as there was no food to eat and work was little due to the military taking all their materials and food because it was necessary for the war. While the message Gen's father sent was very true, it was upsetting and frustrating that no one believed Gen's father and even framed him and his family as traitors of Japan. While the poor were suffering from starvation and malnourishment, the rich who have initiated and supported the war were eating and living comfortably. While the young soldiers were sacrificing their lives in the name of the "Emperor," the old and rich were sitting leisurely at home and raking in profits from the war.
It's very much different from reading novels and graphic novels in that you actually get to see the visuals of the characters, scenery, and the emotions, expressions, and all the nitty gritty details in graphic novels. This vivid imagery allows us to see and interpret the story in the eyes of the author. The words in graphic novels also become more of a background as our attention is drawn to the pictures instead of the dialogues. This is due to the fact that the pictures are guiding and telling us the story (they say that a picture is worth a thousand words). In "Barefoot Gen," I was also able to feel the immediate emotions and effect from the graphic imagery that I wouldn't have felt if it were only words (I would still feel the emotions, but maybe I wouldn't be able to imagine the grotesque imagery the atomic bomb brought to the Japanese people and Hiroshima).
Discussion Question: Would you have saved the Chairman and his son, Ryukichi, (the douchebags in the beginning who bullied and almost ruined the lives of Gen and his whole family) when they were trapped after the fall of the atomic bomb?
In "Barefoot Gen," we see that while many of the Japanese people were brainwashed to be proud of the war, Gen's father, Daikichi Nakaoka, was very much opposed to the war, believing that the war brought only pain and suffering to the poor as there was no food to eat and work was little due to the military taking all their materials and food because it was necessary for the war. While the message Gen's father sent was very true, it was upsetting and frustrating that no one believed Gen's father and even framed him and his family as traitors of Japan. While the poor were suffering from starvation and malnourishment, the rich who have initiated and supported the war were eating and living comfortably. While the young soldiers were sacrificing their lives in the name of the "Emperor," the old and rich were sitting leisurely at home and raking in profits from the war.
It's very much different from reading novels and graphic novels in that you actually get to see the visuals of the characters, scenery, and the emotions, expressions, and all the nitty gritty details in graphic novels. This vivid imagery allows us to see and interpret the story in the eyes of the author. The words in graphic novels also become more of a background as our attention is drawn to the pictures instead of the dialogues. This is due to the fact that the pictures are guiding and telling us the story (they say that a picture is worth a thousand words). In "Barefoot Gen," I was also able to feel the immediate emotions and effect from the graphic imagery that I wouldn't have felt if it were only words (I would still feel the emotions, but maybe I wouldn't be able to imagine the grotesque imagery the atomic bomb brought to the Japanese people and Hiroshima).
Discussion Question: Would you have saved the Chairman and his son, Ryukichi, (the douchebags in the beginning who bullied and almost ruined the lives of Gen and his whole family) when they were trapped after the fall of the atomic bomb?
