I have been thinking a lot about Asterios Polyp and how binaries function in the story. Asterios categorizes things in twos, which manifests itself in many different ways in the graphic narrative. The binary of Asterios and Ignazio, the twins, pervades the whole story. Additionally, Asterios and Hana form a visual binary that blends together when they meet; Asterios is drawn in blueprint style to represent the way he thinks, while Hana is draw with soft, red lines to represent her emotion and personality. At the end of the story when Hana and Asterios reconcile, the colors become vibrant and their drawing styles align. The destruction of this binary shows Asterios’s character development and newfound ability to empathize and relate to people as a result of his journey.
2 thoughts on “Asterios Polyp and Binaries”
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I noticed the red/blue contrast between Hana and Asterios, too! I think you did a good job of describing the reasoning behind the visual contrast. Another thing that I think is really interesting is the contrast between the text in their speech bubbles.
I think the binaries are a really interesting element in the story as well. I feel like they give us a really unique insight into his psyche. Maybe this is obvious, but I think his viewing of the world in binaries was influenced by his brother. It’s reflective of the idea of being there vs not there, alive vs dead. I think it is likely that these thoughts of his brother were what originally made him start to view the world in binaries.