March 1st
Week 3
Illustrations Artist
Giulia
The Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li-Jiang
During my reading this week, I found that there were many impacting scenes. However, the one that really stood out to me was this one: when An-Yi's grandmother died. It stood out to me because I could really catch and understand the feelings and sadnesses that both An-Yi and Ji-Li were going through. I thought it was pretty astounding how Ji-Li saw her best friends grandmother, as someone so close and special, in the point that she even called her, Grandmother. From what I read and understood, Ji-Li-Jiang seemed to look up to Grandmother. She believed that it was very nice how she would take An-Yi to the hospital everytime she got the Asthma attacks, she would always make soup for An-Yi when she was recovering, and in general, how she would spend a great time when she was with her or when Ji-Li was watching her take care of her granddaughter.
In the drawing, we can see Grandmother, in the middle of the paper, laying down on her white silked coffin with her tragically-hit covered face. The narrator, Ji-Li, warned up that when she committed suicide and jumped out of the window, she hit her head so hard on the floor that it was too ugly to be exposed in her funeral's ceremony. On the top, we can the Grandmother's family members, Ji-Li's family members, An-Yi, and everyone else who attended to her funeral. I also decided to make the drawing black and white to make the situation look as similar, in terms of sadness, as it possibly could have been. I wanted things to look tense and simple, just as the narrator had described. Also, I tried to draw the heads of all the attendants be bent down in a bowing kind of gesture as a sign of respect and shame, just as the author had also described. The little rounded circles, or water drops coming out of everyone's eyes, are to simbolize the tears that were running out of their eyes.
I hope I drew this situation well symbolized and the closer to reality as it could've been.
Giulia,
ReplyDeleteYou post shows great analysis and your drawing shows the great meaning beyond this scene. You can imagine the 'bowed-down heads' as you show in the drawing. You can clearly feel the seen just like you were there. What would make someone so innocent and kind commit suicide? The Cultural Revolution. As shown in my Rotation #1 post, there are good's and bad's about the Cultural Revolution. An-Yi's Grandmother's suicide is clearly a negative. This was clearly very hard for An-Yi, especially shown for what her grandmother did for her when she was an asthma attack. Just how hard was it for An-Yi? Words are enough to describe.
Overall, this was such a great post! - Sophia