Twins

This week we read and discussed David Mazzucchelli’s Asterios Polyp, the story of an architect told in a graphic novel.  One of the most interesting pages for me was the page where Asterios’ unborn twin recounts his brother’s childhood.  Perhaps this is because I have a twin myself.  I was interested by how Mazzucchelli managed to work so many references to being a twin  into one image and it said a lot about Asterios relationship with his brother.  The books on the desk are stories about identical twins that switch places, suggesting that Asterios is constantly thinking about how it could very easily have been his brother living his life.  Other references to twins include the DNA strands on his bed.  There is also a picture of a famous statue of Romulus and Remus, the twin founders of Rome, and what I think are Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee from Alice in Wonderland.  This is a character that defines himself in relation to this person, identical to him, that never got a chance to live.  I find it incredible that he managed to get across such a crucial aspect of the character in one scene and it really sets up his later interactions with his brother.