WP2: Rough Draft

Every Sunday my mother would go outside to bring in the weekly paper, Omaha World Herald, and the mail. My favorite part of this systematic process was the newspaper aspect because of my delight in reading notoriously entertaining section called: Comics. My poison? It was none other than Luann herself; a spunky teenage girl in the throws of hormonal imbalances, pesky brothers and less than informed parental units. When I read comics they were simplistic and great, what you saw is what you got, no hidden meanings to try and decipher; fast forward six years and a new age of comic has risen. The comic I’ve chosen is called The Lord is My Nightlight by Jeffrey Rowland from the website, overcompensating.com. Looking at this comic through a rhetorical lens and religious context one can find that “hidden meaning” and be able to “decipher” it to fully understand this artists masterpiece.

This comic begins with the man sitting up in bed, Jeffrey, screaming because he realised that at any moment he could be killed by a star, the sun, and its impending destruction and that “the very concept of safety is absurd because at any moment everything could just explode”, and there is a man sitting in the corner that could be interpreted as the Lord because of the title of the comic and the halo like light around his head. The comic itself is called The Lord is My Nightlight; a nightlight is defined as “a small light source, often electrical, placed for comfort or convenience in indoor dark areas or areas that become dark at certain times(Nightlight)”. Using that definition one can ascertain that the “Lord” is there to comfort Jeffery, to quell his fears of impending doom, however, if you read the comic you find that he does no such thing. Aside from the nightlight aspect and looking at the conversation held between Jeffrey and the “Lord”, one can deduce that the “Lord” is almost like a parental figure in the comic and Jeffrey is his child. By reading the conversation between the two and looking at the different panels you see the “Lord” getting closer and closer to the bed and it makes the words hes saying seem as though he is just saying them to get Jeffrey to lie back down and go to sleep; like any parent would do if their child woke up from a nightmare in the middle of the night.

The author’s name is Jeffrey and the main character in his comics if Jeffrey so it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to assume that the author has implanted himself in his very own creation. While perusing through his website I encountered some background on the author. There was a little section on the bottom of the page that said “I’ve read the bible three times and I stopped believing because it was just a book telling me what I can and can’t do.” With that information the last panel of the comic makes a lot more sense. Jeffrey is ending his tirade by saying, “Also there are people who make a lot more money than me that believe slavery should be legal.” Then the “Lord” tries to make things better by saying, “Would it make you feel better if I told you everybody gets to go to Heaven?” and Jeffrey replies with, “Not even a little.” After this short exchange it is evident that you can view this comic through a religious context. If you flip through the pages of the bible you will come across a passage in 1Corinthians 6:9-10 that lists those who will, in fact, not make it into Heaven:

9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

With this new found information it is not a wonder that he doesn’t feel any better. He has read the bible and knows the truth and knows that the “Lord” was indeed lying to him, and if the “Lord” can lie to him what else is he being lied to about?

Knowing this, I was able to formulate a viable argument that this comic was trying to make; perhaps your thoughts and your own knowledge can make you feel unsafe and that even if there is an explanation for what you are scared of your mind can still trick you into believing your not safe. So perhaps knowledge isn’t always power.

Works Cited

"Nightlight -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 10 Nov. 2009. .