One ! Hundred ! Demons Analysis

The love and comfort we receive from the people we’re surrounded by makes us feel emotionally fulfilled and better about ourselves. Without these sensations, we wouldn’t be able to function or feel motivated each day. Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a theory that shapes this satisfaction through the shape of a pyramid demonstrating the basic human needs. In addition, it consists of physiological, safety, social belonging, esteem, and lastly, self-belonging (McLeod). Each of sub-theories can apply to any kind of work, whether it’d be through our daily lives, media, or literature. Specifically, Maslow’s sub-theory of social belonging applies to various graphic novels as the artwork displays imply these ideas through lines, use of color,

Without the representation of art, Maslow’s theory wouldn’t be as impactful or meaningful to the audience. Maslow’s theory of human needs extends through the medium of graphic novels such as One! Hundred! Demons!, Sandman and Level Up as the social belonging ideology becomes portrayed through the illustration process. Lynda Barry’s graphic memoir One! Hundred! Demons! illustrate the struggles of social belonging to the different kinds of demons she encountered caused her to feel neglected. These demons caused her to feel abandoned by everyone around her and expressed her emotions through art. In the chapter The Visitor, Barry’s drawn by an interesting teenager named Dean, who influences her social belonging negatively. Looking closely through the subject to subject panels, Barry’s emotions and mood consistently change her facial features. The technique used is more abstract and simplified since her psychological feelings are universal and relatable for

Although the theory of social belonging narrates throughout the entire tale, it’s profoundly illustrated in depth within Level 3 as Dennis visually realizes where he truly belongs. Throughout the novel, Dennis encounters 4 different icons that act as symbols throughout his intellectual process. These symbols are characterized by the appearance of an angel. Without much hesitation, Dennis trusts these angels because they’re seen as sweet and helpful through their physical characteristics. To begin with, they’re exemplified by Carl Bark’s idea of calm and gentle lines since these angels are small, cartoon-like, and innocent (McCloud 126). In addition, these angels always have bright, yellow, glowing halos above their heads and dress in white which represents goodness and appears more than trustworthy to Dennis. After emotional considerations, Dennis begins to trust these angels not just because of how they look, but also for what they symbolize. These four little angels were on the card his father gave him a long time ago and their innocence represents the delivery of his late father’s love. With their appearance of purity, this causes Dennis to create thought bubbles of his divergent ideas. In these cloud-like bubble thoughts, they exemplify moment to