Home Learning 24/1/11

The underlying message I wish to put across through this comic strip is how people tend to neglect their elderly parents, despite the fact that they have been responsible for their upbringing. The "story" I have created compares how a woman treats her young child to how she treats her elderly father.

I took away the colour from the two scenes involving the elderly man, representing how the happiness and energy gradually fades away from a person's life as they get older. This is in contrast to the scene with the baby in it, to show that the beginning of the life is full of joy. Also, I compare the abundance of toys in the baby's room to the lack of objects in the scene involving the elderly man. This represents physically that the baby is showered with toys whereas the wants of the old man are somewhat neglected, and also that a newborn's life is full of love and concern, whereas an elderly man's life is often devoid of those.

The two things that happen to each of the individuals are also somewhat the same, such as the baby crying and the old man tripping. This shows that both of them do not have the ability to really take care of their basic needs. I use this to show that despite differences in the two people's lives, they have the same needs.

The woman, who is the main character in the story, deals with these two people with similar needs in very different ways, doting on the child but brushing off the old man. I highlight this by making sure I contrast the woman's expressions from the two scenes, and also the tone of her speech.