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WEEK 9: WIDE WORLD OF COMICS


Image result for Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea accordian
After seeing “Pyongyang” on the reading list, I felt the need to read it for my blog this week. “Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea” by Guy Delisle was the retelling of his experience living in North Korea for two months. Rather than being a journal or diary, the narrative style felt like a really long comic strip. It had storytelling elements like Maus, but not as many engaging symbols or imagery. To be honest, it was a weird read for me but I did appreciate the amount of detail Delisle had when describing parts of Pyongyang and the facts about the country. Overall, it was really informative but it dragged on for a while.
Some parts that I enjoyed from this graphic novel were the satirical moments sprinkled in. The little “quizzes” Delisle were pretty engaging ways to express his opinion on the delusional views of the society. I especially liked the last one where basically every North Korean was labeled a traitor for the most ridiculous reasons. It was funny, but also a little heartbreaking at the same time because it’s probably true to go to that extreme. I consider myself to be knowledgeable of North Korea because of my heritage, but it’s a completely different story when you read about firsthand experiences. It is sad to see how much they brute-force this crazy idea of being a “perfect nation” to the people when in reality it’s the exact opposite. I was surprised to read that they even fabricated news articles and events in the museum of friendship to display on the wall. Actually, maybe I wasn’t completely surprised but more disappointed in how low they could go in deceiving their own people. Even the children of their nation are brainwashed from an early age, and that felt incredibly cruel to me. I realize that most Asian countries are much more disciplined with the youth compared to the U.S., but the drawings of the little girls playing accordions with stretched-out smiles was so upsetting to me. I felt like Delisle really emphasized that moment and spent the time to talk about it because he also felt very disturbed. It was also the only moment in the book where he showed genuine sympathy about the structure of the regime. When you bring kids into the mix, it always hits a soft spot in people’s hearts. To think that these young children will grow up within closed, tight walls evokes a deeper feeling of fear. You worry about their futures and the type of people they will be shaped into. It made me feel more grateful for the childhood that I had, because I had more freedom than I thought. I guess I could say that I found this comic to be insightful in more ways than one.

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