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Barefoot Gen, vol. 1: A cartoon story of Hiroshima by Keiji Nakazawa. San Francisco: Last Gasp, 2004.

ISBN-13: 978-0-86719-602-3

Annotation: Gen, a young Japanese boy, lives in 1945 Hiroshima. His family is struggling, his father labeled a traitor – but none of them realize the horrors yet to come.

Age Range: 9-12 grades

Media used by illustrator: ink line drawings

Personal Rating: 5Q/4P

Curricular Connections: could be quite useful in an 11th or 12th grade history class

ateater/07-25-09

Barefoot Gen: A Cartoon Story of Hiroshima (vol. 1) by Keiji Nakazawa, intro by Art Spiegelman.  Last Gasp, 2004.  978-0867196023

Summary: The bombing of Hiroshima and its aftermath is seen through the eyes of a six-year-old boy whose father is opposed to the war. (Part one of ten; the bomb falls about 20 pages from the end.)

Analysis: This is a very powerful, well-done book. It plays close to the soapboxing line when characters start commenting on the political/war situation, but generally doesn't actually cross it. Having Gen's father speak out against the war lets the horror of the bomb play out without denying Japan's part in getting involved in a war of aggression in the first place and then not surrendering when they were clearly losing. As Nakazawa explains in his forward, Gen is the alter ego he wishes he were back then...his father probably didn't speak against the war quite that vociferously and Nakazawa certainly wouldn't have been that outspoken at age six. So it has a slightly more "superhero" feel than if it were a more strictly accurate biography. But on the other hand, this lets us see a wider lens to the situation than we would have if it were being told from a normal six-year-old's perspective. 

There's a well-played sense of impending doom throughout the whole first volume...it cuts periodically from the perspective of Gen's family both to Japan's military movements and to the Manhattan Project. It got to me so much that I flipped through the last few pages to see when the bomb would hit, already. I'm very curious to see how the narrative plays out in the next volumes (which Brandeis does not seem to have...).

-- SLH

Representing Tragedy With Graphic Novels (Sarah Hartman)

Key Texts: Maus, by Art Spiegelman; Barefoot Gen, by Keiji Nakazawa; and Safe Area Gorazde, by Joe Sacco.

Materials: Copies of the texts for each student.

Grade Level: 12th grade

Subject: AP English

Curriculum Frameworks Elements:

Time allotted: 2 class periods, plus 6 weeks for paper-writing.

Goals:

    * Students will learn about historical events through autobiographical graphic novels.

    * Students will analyze style and literary devices in each of two books, comparing how each author portrays the event they lived through.

    * Students will write a 10-12 page paper comparing the techniques of two authors/cartoonists using solid thesis statements, supporting arguments, and citations from texts.

Introduction: In class, the teacher will give a brief background of the historical events surrounding each of the three books, recommending followup reading for students who want to learn more.  Each student will select two of the books to read.  The next week, the class will briefly discuss techniques used by each other, literary and artistic, describing how each helps to explain the events the author or main character lived through.

Students will then write a 10-12 page paper exploring in detail the literary and artistic elements that make up each novel's story, and comparing the effects the novels have on the reader.  Students will discuss similarities and differences and make an educated guess as to why the author/illustrator chose to portray history the way he did.  Some possible questions for each book are:

Maus:

    •    Why does Spiegelman make the book so self-referential -- what new insights do you get from knowing how the book was written and the interviews were conducted?

    •    Is the reader meant to identify more closely with Vladic or with Art?

    •    What effect does the animal symbolism have?  Are pigs a positive, negative, or neutral animal for you?  Do you think that is what Spiegelman had in mind when he selected that image for the Poles?  Ask the same questions for mice.

    •    How does knowing Vladic's elder self influence your perception of Vladic's survival narrative?

Barefoot Gen:

    •    What elements of the story do you think are exaggerated or fabricated?  Which seem true-to-life?  Why do you think Nakazawa chose not to write a straightforwardly autobiographical story of Hiroshima?

    •    What role does the recurring image of the sun play?

    •    How do the scenes from other parts of the war and the Manhattan Project work with Gen's personal story?

    •    How is the reader meant to feel towards the Japanese government?  The Americans?  Does the story work that way for you?

Safe Area Gorazde:

    •    What effect does the narrator being an American journalist rather than a Bosnian have on your reading?

    •    Do the large number of people Sacco interviews increase the connection to events or distance the reader?

    •    What effect do the many flashbacks and flashforwards have on the plotline?

    •    Do you think Sacco's image of the Serbians is accurate?  What might the story look like from their perspective?

For all books:

    •    What does the comic format add to the story that wouldn't be found in a prose novel or a history text?  Or does the medium detract from the story for you?

Modifications: The events portrayed in these texts could be very upsetting to some students, especially if they have family members who were involved.  The ability to eliminate one of the texts from the two they select will help students avoid personally-triggering books, but if a student cannot cope with any of them, alternate texts should be available.