Light of They Countenance

I thought the graphic novel, Light of They Countenance was very entertaining yet disturbing as well. Disturbing because it is extremely true, for someone to compare a television to God and for it to make sense. The comparison’s between TV and God, as it is watching over us essentially, though we think we are watching it. It is informative, gives us hope, and comforts us in our times of need, all things God in religion is used for. We as a society have accepted television in our everyday lives, if someone has an hour to kill they watch TV, families watch TV as they eat dinner, instead of conversing. It is sad, but there is nothing we can do about it, it is so customary and part of our culture, there is no going back.

I think that this graphic novel is literature, even though it has pictures and is considered a comic. I think the pictures play a huge role in the points the words are trying to prove, it gives the reader imagery, and unlike from visions in peoples heads when they read, these pictures are clear and tell a story all in themselves. What is literature exactly? What separates a novel from a graphic novel? When I read a novel, it is essentially telling a story, there are characters, conflicts, and resolutions, all told by words. Comics are very similar; the only difference is that there are fewer words, and more pictures. Not necessarily a bad thing however, I feel like it has all the key elements of a novel, which is considered literature, therefore Light of They Countenance is a literary work.

This work is very similar to what we have been going over all quarter in class. The issue, or lack there of, of technology and how it has shaped and formed our society in recent years. This graphic novel is eye opening; it explains our dependence on television and how many people’s lives are grown to be reliant on it. Although it may not be the downfall of our civilization, like the robots of R.U.R. and Frankenstein’s monster, it is still a technology, our creation that is in our lives and changing how we live.