In Michael’s blog post titles “Gorazde’s Truth”, he expands on Sacco’s highlighted phrase “The Real Truth”. I, like Michael, originally skimmed over the word “Real Truth” in the beginning of the book, but after a discussion in class came to realize its importance. Michael brings up an interesting point, that “memory and by extension truth is not complete without the feeling and emotion attached”. I think that not only Joe Sacco’s graphic narrative, but also Persepolis and Obasan add to this argument. All three novels exemplify times of extreme trauma and emotion, and try to replicate the memories created by these events. Without emotion memory would be stale, it would seem too factual, almost like your history textbook. Emotion also allows the readers to understand what caused a character to do what they did. For instance, it is easy for understand why in Obasan by Joy Kogawa Stephen pushes away Japanese culture. He feels persecuted for his heritage and that if he associates himself with Japan, he can’t also be considered a Canadian. Emotion makes memory more relatable and easier for us to understand.

-Olivia Richardson