Week Five: Will Eisner and Craig Thompson

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Will Eisner and Craig Thompson

I first read the graphic novel Habibi by Craig Thompson, and then I read The Contract with God by Will Eisner. I first read Thompson's novel because I resonated with it as soon as I read the name of the book. I felt a connection with the word because it's a part of my daily life. I always say it to my friends and loved ones, and it literally means, 'my love' in Arabic – it can be used with friends, just as a caring noun for someone. I use it because I'm Jordanian, and I even taught my friends in the US the word as well as other Arabic words. So, we all have that sort of connection. I also thought when I first read the title that it was a graphic novel version of a book that I have previously read in middle school that was also called Habibi but it was written by Naomi Shihab Nye. I realized that it wasn't the same story once I read it. It was strange how I connected with it, although it was about the Muslim Arab world back in the day, or it just shows that is not about recent times, since the wife learned how to read and write through her husband; indicating that there was probably no female education. But, in Thompson's story I realized there were some similarities with Eisner's graphic novels, in that they both are descriptive, but in different ways. In Thompson's his novels are more descriptive in the physical and literal sense, even showing the map of a boat interior – as well as showing thoughts of a character through dream like illustrations. In Habibi  it seems like the story is told through third person omniscient, while in A Contract with God it feels like it is third person limited. It's interesting because Habibi feels more personal, although there is no kind of narrative in the beginning like in Eisner's story. But this is why they both contrast, and probably why I connect with Thompson's, because it shows me the incite thoughts of a character. 

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