winter challenges

The scene in chapter three of Blankets that stood out to me the most was the contest between the two brothers. Of all the scenes in the chapters that we read this time I think that this one is perhaps the most revealing about Craig, or one of the most revealing. The point of the contest is to be able to walk on the ice covered snow without falling through. Thompson's text reads, "...but I knew that I wasn't competing against him, but against myself -- against my own clumsy humanity that had lost synchronization with the earth" (134). As the graphic novel progresses we are shown more and more about Craig's internal struggle with his religious identity. Even when he was a little boy Craig seemed to be at conflict with his identity and it's really interesting to see how he copes with that as a child. As if walking on top of the snow without breaking the ice is a way to fix the problem that he has in feeling so disconnected from everything. Ultimately he breaks through the ice and there is just a drawing of him standing shin deep in snow and the rest of the page is white except for the text that reads, "In that sense, I always lost" (134). The text just foreshadows the fact that his struggles are going to continue on as he grows up, especially as he gets into adolescence.

I thought it was interesting how the scene where they are having the ice challenge transitions into Craig's inability to produce art. While his conflict with identity is shown through being unable to keep the ice from breaking as a child, it is manifested through his inability to draw as a teenager. It isn't until he starts getting letters from Raina that he gets a creative spark and starts producing art again. The thing that causes his creativity to rekindle is the also the exact thing that he spends so much time confused about. Because Craig finds his relationship with Raina to be inappropriate it makes everything that much more difficult for him. On one hand he has his faith that dictates how he should feel and how he should think and on the other he has Raina, who he is drawn to in an almost indescribable way. The relationship is just one more thing to confuse him and cause more anxiety for him as the story progresses. The image of Craig huddled on the floor after throwing away the paper he's masturbated into just reinforces the idea that he is completely torn apart by his feelings for Raina in contrast to what he should be feeling for his religion. Thinking of Raina pushed him into that particular scene and he is ashamed of the result because of what his religion dictates that he should think or feel about such things.

And now on a completely unrelated topic, if anyone is actually reading this, go see Cloverfield. It was definitely awesome and worth the wait.