Megillat Esther: Part II

I really enjoyed the second half of Megillat Esther and was impressed by the layers upon layers of storyline and the author's creative way of illustrating/intertwining these layers.

First, of course, we see the actual story of Esther being played out. In addition there is an interlude, that the author tells us in the back of the book, is supposed to relay the message that the "unity through suffering dissolves some of the most bitter rivalries. And...the scales of justice are often off balance." The biblical reference is slightly over my head, but I still enjoyed this interlude due to the artistic choice of showing the scene through a comic strip read by a woman close to Haman.

Intertwined in the story of Esther is the rivalry between Leah and Rachel, illustrating how far back some of these "bitter rivalries" can be traced back. I found these appearances of Leah and Rachel to be completely confusing until Dr. J provided us with some background during class. I was really appreciative of this, because even though I found them confusing, I also enjoyed their sparring and the creative ways they were drawn into scenes; sprouting from flowers, etc.

Then the author also uses the top 1/3 of the pages from 117-127 to trace back rivalries and link lineages through Essau, Edom and Amalek. Again, the biblical references here were way over my head, but I appreciated the author reminded the reader that the destructiveness of rivalries is what led to this "strike-back" by the Judeans, and it was not the king's edict delivered by Haman that was the total cause of this "incident" and all of the death that resulted, but that this was a long time coming.

As if all of this was not enough, on pages 149-151, the author also layers in a later time period in which the story of Esther is being read and taught to children. I thought the change in drawing styles from solid lines to patterns of dots was a very interesting way to transport the reader to a separate time and place. The interlude in these pages, in which we see Ezekial, is a bit confusing, but in the back of the book, the author tells us that in the scenes, "the Prophet Ezekial reveals how the Book of Esther points to the end of all rivalries."

It would probably take me years of study to fully understand all of the layers in Part II of Esther alone, however, even though I don't understand all of it right now, I still completely love this graphic novel and I think it illustrates very well how the GRAPHIC aspect of the novel can used to tell more of a story than would be possible without the graphic aspect, and how this medium can be very successful at telling incredibly complex stories.

I think that if I had the time, I would really enjoy taking a class on the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament from a purely "literature focused" perspective, but I think I would enjoy it even more if every book of the Hebrew Bible & New Testament were available in Graphic Novel form. I have Crumb's rendition of the Book of Genesis, and when the semester is over I look forward to diving into it, I just hope that other amazing authors/artists decide to take up other books of the bible as well.