Terell:
The common focus of the text and the visuals is despair. In Kaspar, the man on the floor misses the man in his life, seemingly, his father. It seems as though he is unable to walk, but he actually learns how to walk once the man in black comes back and teaches him. This shows that he simply does not want to walk or learn. All he does is sleep, eat bread and drink water, which can be interpreted as the basic sustenance to stay alive. If it was not given to him, he would most likely have died. He also learns to write and speak once the man in black comes around. The man in black seems to give Kaspar a sense of purpose. In the end, he is left standing in place as if he is lost or does not know what to do with his self.
Mamasiray:
A common theme between the texts and visuals is the presence of helplessness in the sense that one is unable to change their own circumstances of their current existence or life. Specifically in the online text Kaspar, Kaspar is unable to change the reality of his circumstances on his own. His existence is closely related to living in a jail like manor where he is confined and unable to do anything on his own. His days are limited to sleeping, eating and playing with a toy horse, day in and day out, following the routine of someone imprisoned. Kaspar on his own is helpless and cannot do anything to remedy his own situation. It takes a random man to show up and teach kaspar everything from writing to walking that he is able to finally change his state of living. However without the man kaspar would have continues to live the way he was used to in confinement and utterly helpless.
Stacey:
Visually both text use simple cartooning to get their messages across. It made it easier to not get distracted by visuals because they are straight forward and not complex. The use of black and white made the mood for both Kaspar and Acrostic more evident. The mood/theme both stories have in common are dependency and the lack of motivation to venture out. Kaspar seems content with the way he lives and does not question anything outside of his little 6X4 space. It takes a man teaching him to read, walk, and talk for him to finally step out of his bubble however when the man disappears he immediately stops in his tracks because he became dependent on that man’s guidance. Similar to how some of us live our lives, we get so caught up in our daily routines that we forget that the world offers so much more if only we would just take the opportunity to venture out.
2 responses so far ↓
JMERLE // Apr 2nd 2016 at 11:07 am
Yes, this group has done a nice job pinpointing a large theme in Kaspar, but think somewhat more specifically about how this theme connects to the other graphic text and the visual texts on our blog space. You make an important observation about the use of black and white, and the fact that the images are “simple” and cartoonish, rather than more complex/realistic, and now think about those techniques in terms of, especially, the visual texts referring to Kafka, and, for Wed., how these connect to “The Metamorphosis.”
v.rodriguez // Apr 2nd 2016 at 11:52 am
I disagree with the idea that Kaspar should be seen as helpless and that the man in black was helping him by teaching him how to write, read, and walk. Even though he did teach him new skills I don’t think it came from a positive place that would make Kaspar actually want to do these things, which could explain why the text ends with him just standing with the envelope in his hand and not doing anything. He forces him to do all of these things by saying he won’t get a horse if he doesn’t, and the horse is the only companion Kaspar has ever had so of course this worries him enough to do everything he is told. I also don’t think you can really compare his life in the room to a prison because it was all he knew and he was content being where he was.
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