Daniel Clowes Ghost World: Argumentative Comparison Essay -- Ghost Wo

Pictured on the back cover of the comic book "Ghost World," by Daniel Clowes, are the two main characters of the book in full color. This strikingly significant image, surely shrugged off by most Clowes' readers, represents worlds of diversity within the frames of the book. Sporting pink spandex pants underneath her goldfinch yellow skirt and a blue t-shirt to match perfectly, Enid seems to live her life outside the bubble. She's a very dynamic girl, especially interested in her surroundings and people around her. On the other hand, Becky is dressed like a "typical" girl, with a long black skirt and a white blouse, thus representing her conforming presence in the world. Becky is much more passive than Enid, going with the flow of things just living life. The contrasting personalities of Enid and Becky come ironically, being best friends. However, it brings out their defining qualities in the comic book while quietly calling attention to the values of life, what is real an d what is not. The title page on the second page of the book can be analyzed to show how Enid lives a different life than those on the "inside." The illustration is colored in a light hue of blue, somewhat casting a bleak and lifeless feeling. The picture shows Enid walking down the street with her hands in her pockets, back turned. Nighttime falls as the luminous moon watches down on Ghost World at dusk, casting Enid's shadow down on the sidewalk behind her. To her right is a house with window and the phrase Ghost World scrawled on the side of building. Everything in the scene is shaded and colored in a robin's egg b... ...ple, or the adorable old man who bought the pathetic flowers from the grocery store to take home to his wife. Becky doesn't notice these minute details that Enid does, nor does she care very much. In any case, they are in different worlds. Whose world is real? There's no answer to that. If it's real to them, then that's what it will be. The characters are diverse in the comic book, and it helps for the reader to not only understand the plot and distinguish between the two characters, but to show that people are naturally different, immature or mature, conforming or nonconforming. Diversity makes the world what it is, and that's as real is it can get. Work Cited Clowes, Daniel. "Ghost World" Fantagraphics (April 1, 2001)