The Rabbi's Cat, by Joann Sfar

In the graphic novel The Rabbi’s Cat, by Joann Sfar, many characters are described and shown through narrative text, spoken text, and the art of each panel. Throughout this novel, we see how the characters change, whether it is a good or bad change. Some start to question their beliefs and life decisions while others strengthen their beliefs. Kitty is one character that we see the most change in. we are introduced to Kitty from the very beginning and are told the story through his perspective. Kitty starts off with a simple life of leisure and freedom with love and attention from the rabbi and his daughter. The only problem is the noisy parrot that talks constantly while Kitty cannot talk. To solve this problem, Kitty eats the parrot and gains the ability to talk. Kitty begins to show his distaste for religion but wants to be bar-mitzvahed to show that he is a good kitty and so he will be allowed to spend time with the rabbi’s daughter.

Problem with Kitty’s ability to speak is that he lies. “Yes, but there’s a great misfortune too. He tells on lies” (pg. 8, panel 2). This shows that they are happy with Kitty’s ability to talk but are worried that all he will do now is lie. This is also shown when Kitty talks with the rabbi’s rabbi. Kitty tells him that he is God and that he was there to test him. During this set of panels, Kitty is shown in great detail. Throughout the graphic novel, Sfar draws Kitty in varying degrees of detail. Times where Kitty is talking about important topics, such as religion, or is being serious, he is drawn in greater detail. Times where he is trying to be cute and cuddly and nice, he is drawn with just an outline and with soft features to make him look more like a cartoon. This is done to help show the personality and emotions of Kitty in that panel or series of panels. This allows for a more in-depth reading of the novel by reading the pictures along with the text. This also allows for more types of people to read the story and have an understanding of it. The original text was written in French, which is the colonial language in Algeria, but the pictures are drawn in Algerian. One is able to change the language that something is written in but cannot change the style that the pictures are drawn in.

Kitty eventually loses his ability to talk but loses it for a reason that was unexpected to me. While the rabbi was taking his dictation, Kitty was trying to invoke a miracle from God by saying his name over and over again. The miracle works because the rabbi passes and is allowed to stay as the rabbi but Kitty loses his ability to speak. This is the beginning of the change we see in Kitty. He was willing to invoke the name of God even though he knows it is forbidden to help his master. This is something that is prevalent in my life. I personally do not like to break rules that I know are important but I am willing to break them all to help someone I love, just like Kitty. While I was not in school, I would help my fiancé write her papers for her classes so that she was able to focus more on her major classes and receive better grades in them. I know it was wrong but I would rather help her with that than have her stressed out and not do well in more important classes. The message that I got from this set of panels was that Sfar was saying that people are willing to give up things that they have to help out the people that they love.

Nervous Conditions

In the novel “Nervous Conditions”, written by Tsitsi Dangarembga, there are many different aspects of African life in poverty that has been portrayed. The main topic that I am going to be focusing on is the education of the children. I know that I have taken my education, especially my earlier education, for granted. I did not know how lucky I was to have been able to go to school every year since I was four years old. I always knew that it was hard for children in Africa to receive an education but this novel really helped me to understand what people go through. In the novel, Tambu was only able to go to school when her family could afford to send her. She even attempts to grow and sell maize to help raise money to send herself to school. Her brother, Nhamo, was the first to receive the money to go to school. He was taken to the mission by his uncle to live there and continue his education to help his family. The only reason he is able to go to the mission to school is because his uncle, Babamukuru, is wealthy. When Nhamo dies, Tambu is taken to the mission so that she can finish her education. She is the next oldest and is taken by Babamukuru to his house to live and attend classes.

In the United States, schooling is funded through property taxes and state budgets to allow all citizens a free education through the twelfth grade. Anything beyond that has to be paid for in some other way. For the most part, every child in America is guaranteed an education, as long as they pass. In Africa, if you are a male, you have a better chance at receiving an education but still nowhere near guaranteed. And a female has an even worse chance. The main focus is to help the family out. This means that children, mainly the girls, may miss weeks of school at a time to help with daily life at home. This would put them so far behind and they would usually eventually stop going all together.

A family is more inclined to pay for their son to attend school because he can grow up to get a better job and better help support the family. They are less likely to invest the money in the daughter because as soon as she is married, she belongs to her husband’s family and any income she may have, benefits her husband’s family and not hers. They do not get the benefit of having the daughter around her entire life helping to provide for the entire family. Here, we sometimes help out our families, when needed, but for the most part stay away financially from out extended family. I live with my parents, recently moved back in with them when I moved out to Ohio, and all I can think about is how long until I can move back out. It is not that I do not like my family, I love being around them. It is just that in America, we are all about being independent and being out on our own, living our own life away from our parents. Even when I was not living at home and I was in the same state as my parents, I would do what I could to help them out. I cannot even count the number of times that I would go down to help my dad around the house. Now, I do what I can to help around the house but I do not have specific chores I do every day. It is the same when I am at my fiancé’s parents’ house. In Africa, the wife only helps out the husbands’ family. In America, there is equal help to both families.