In transitioning from chapter one, I believe Thompson begins to explore the idea of motherly connection and female identity in the presented culture/society in chapter 2.
I need to first mention that women in harems, slavery and bondage is pushed a little further forward in this chapter. While the arranged marriage as monetary supplement is introduced in chapter one, this chapter places Dodola, the female protagonist (who has been presented in narrative age from nine to mid twenties , but more on that later), in a more developed plight of being owned in a harem. Her options as a person are just as limited as before, as Thompson has, without explicitly stating it, been able to establish the diminished role of women within this space. To open the window a bit further on Dodola and her situation, Thompson decides to lay out for the reader the story in a non-linear fashion, which at times is head scratching and others stunning. While it caused me to be a bit crossed up in figuring out a flow in the introductory chapter, it begins to make more sense in this second chapter, which may or may not be due to the problems presented( woman as objects/property, women as subservient, women as sexual currency) becoming clearer to me as I read/viewed.
Is this chapter about establishing a woman finding her independent, inner/spiritual strength?
Women as property/slaves; Women as objectified; The form of woman is shown as a vessel in which body, mind, and spirit is being examined in "Veils of Darkness". Dodola's options are presented as limited outside of having a choice of being a traditional caregiver as defined by a patriarchal ideology. Specifically, we are given a broader story about how she first, at the age of nine, is compelled to take the babe she deems Zam with her out into the world and ultimately in seclusion for many years. That relationship with Zam seemingly influences her judgement in choosing to keep the baby (more on that in a moment) she has become impregnated with as a member of a harem.
Dodola has yet to say "this is wrong", or "our treatement is unfair" or to really speak out at all as the ethical evils of prostitution, slavery, and rape are presented as just being and a natural way of life, and the reader is not given any antithesis of any kind. It is plausible for me to assume Thompson is expecting the reader to come to deeming something as unacceptable on their own based on the idea that we all aim for equality for all persons. There is another assumption I believe, however, of some sort of blanketed idea that strength and determination exist within a spiritual framework which Thompson is alluding to through the examples of allegory via religion (although that has some problems at this point as well). I am most certainly not naive, and I am aware these normed patriarchal dominant attitudes about women as secondary citizens or lesser beings than men do exist in the world and proliferate heavily through using cultural relativism as a dominant view of how to handle the delicate politics of people. This is the stickiness of ethics and morality in examining cultural attitudes and actions, but that does not let artists and authors off the hook in addressing the many sides of such issues through the characters in the work they produce (and it does always exist, as natural binaries exist). I know Thompson was thinking about the slave trade and women as slaves in his research for the book, as he discussed a bit in his interview with inkstuds in September of 2011, so I am not suggesting he is making choices in a flippant manner, rather, at this point in the text (and it could change as I read on) I believe he is showing the state of the way life goes in the world he is presenting. Perhaps this is his way of making a politically neutral position in the name of art, although the choice to be pro-life in the chapter may negate that.
A large question that persisted for me at this point in the narrative is: Why does Dodola have the choice to have the child? She is encouraged of course to abort it by the female African caregiver Nadidah, and is even walked through a medicating process to do so, but ultimately she decides not to, attempting to fill the gap she seems to need of giving care to another in this world. In thinking about this reasoning, of someone wishing to bring a child into a world of violence as has been presented, Thompson is aligning Dodola with what I believe is the only sane recourse of, as described by Nel Noddings, a feminine ethic of care. This ethic is one that is a "basic ethic [...] of caring, which involves receptivity, relatedness, and responsiveness" (Gregory & Giancola, 2003, p.338). The caregiver looks not to the dread (of existential existence, one of the individual), but instead towards the love of connection with another, specifically one that you project care and love onto and who reciprocates it back (e.g. mother and child dynamics). We have , in the span of two chapters, seen our main character exhibiting this ethic of care twice in life, from a shockingly young age of nine when she runs and hides with the one she deems Zam through the choice of accepting the trials of giving birth as a young woman. This giving seems to be rooted also in some sort of extension of the spiritual, which Thompson continues to slowly dole out in passages from the QUR'AN and symbolical imagery.
But that still doesn't change the fact that she is given the choice about the child, and this troubles me from a narrative perspective. This seems strange to me as this world that is established in which men who buy, sell and rape women, and will kill children and babies (e.g. the men debating on killing Zam in the marketplace on pages 58-59), are suddenly letting her come to term with child. I will need to investigate this more, and hopefully Thompson clears this up in coming chapters.
How does the art hold up?
The art of chapter two spends much more time in moving away from a plethora of big splashy panels and pages to more sequential narrative action. Specifically, the sequence that stands out in the chapter is when Thompson creates an action chase sequence on pages 66-71and 75-80. Thompson decides to use a dark black for the background page effectively for this sequence, keeping the readers eye on the action in the panel rather than exploring the intricate designs that he is using elsewhere on the fringes and in the negative spaces. The chase culminates with a return to the question of nature and the debris of culture as our protagonist and babe Zam are washed up upon a giant majestic tree (the tree being used in this chapter in many metaphorical/symbolic ways) shooting up through a sewer. It really is a sequence that demands further appreciation and study by those smarter than I in such matters as sequential art!
Thompson is also very bold in choosing to explore the female body in this chapter. This is where I get a bit tough about the decision making progress of the artist. I do not believe he is objectifying the female form, but I do raise flags about how often he chooses to draw Dodola and others nude. Yes, nudity is apart of life, and possibly historically/culturally accurate in the context of this story, but is nudity necessary in telling certain parts of the story? I have no answer, but the question does need to be raised, and I hope those who read this provide response in the comments section.
Artists of any visual medium should be asked at least the reasons for why they make the decisions about showing the naked female and male form. Alan Moore has been one person in the comics medium that has at least justified his use of sexuality as a way to explore his definition of pornography (and to debunk others), and while I don't always agree with such declarations, I do think artists should engage in such transparency with those who are exposed to the works. Again, I am not attacking Thompson, nor am I defending his choices, I am merely raising a question.
Overall chapter two provides beauty and moments of head scratching, but ultimately nothing that would not make me want to push on. Thompson is bold in narrative, sequential design and themes, and this is turning out to be indeed an ambitious work that requires the close reading I am giving each chapter! I look forward to the next chapter, and await those surprises.
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