A Thousand Worlds: macroblog

This cover shows John at the bottom, Lenina Crowne in the middle, and Mustapha Mond at the top as a looming background figure. I drew John’s skin darker than Lenina’s because I imagined that he would be tan from being outside more often than her. There’s also more sun in North America than in London, where Lenina and the other “civilized people” live. I have John in a crouching position. It is a bit primal, but that wasn’t the main point of having him in that pose. It puts him lower. Society sees him as odd and backwards. Although he is famous and receives many luxuries, he is still not part of the society that worships him. Had he remained undiscovered, the “civilized” would see him and his people as beneath them. The crouch is also feral, in a sense. To me, it seems like a potential attack position. John’s humanity and ability to feel unhappy is a focal point in the book. He is different because he does not want to be in a constant state of delirium. He is poised to strike. Out of the ordinary to the World State and yet entirely natural. The very purpose John’s character is made to serve.

Above him is Lenina. Of course, the hierarchy does dictate that she would be above him, but there’s more than that. John loves her. Is the love superficial? Absolutely, but that doesn’t matter to John. His conservative upbringing and romantic nature make him see Lenina as a higher being. He has romanticized her. Anyone who knows Lenina’s character knows that she isn’t particularly kind or caring. She’s quite stupid. John doesn’t see any of that. He just sees a beautiful woman that he wants to marry. Lenina has her arms outstretched toward the reader with her palms out. This position is supposed to show her offering herself. Not only does she do this multiple times throughout the book but, in my mind, she also represents this society attempting to sell itself to John and the reader. She is elegant, happy, and sexual, the ideals of this society, and sets her sights on John. She pursues him sexually and he repeatedly rebuffs her, much to her confusion. Still, the pleasures of this society attempt to seduce him through Lenina and he turns them both down.

Behind them both is a large, intimidating Mustapha Mond. Mond, as he is in the book, is behind everything. His position is literally titled “World Controller”. Though he is one of ten, it’s easy to say that he is behind most of what happens in the civilized world, which is why he behind Lenina more than John. His voice is also the voice they use to indoctrinate children and subdue them as adults. He controls the entire London system with his voice. This man is the puppet master, and hopefully his position makes that obvious.

I wanted the background to be white. It took a lot of work to make it pure white. If this is in the high-tech future, surely things would be minimalist. White, clean lines, and a lack of clutter are the first things that come to mind when thinking about the future. So I decided to make the background as clean as possible.

Most book covers I’ve seen focus on the story rather than the characters. The characters are so interesting to me, though. I felt like I had to make the cover about them. The characters, to me, are the most important part of the book. It’s not a good book without good characters, and the main characters of this book are captivating.

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https://coggle.it/diagram/Wo7pJxzm6QAB-6RR/t/sherrena-tarver-landlord/cd6182c47af0d3405b333e37504c4870452d08a964b14cd9ae17be274411d321

This infographic is a map of most of the major characters in the book Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond. As mentioned in my first microblog, I often found myself confused while reading this book. There are too many character to keep up with, each with their own unique relationships and stories. Just by looking at the map, it is easy to see my dilemma. These are just the most prominent figures and their families. I should probably explain the relationships, seeing how easy it is to be lost without them. The turquoise arms connect landlord and tenant. Sherrena and Quentin Tarver are the landlords of the story, and Tobin Charey owns a trailer park. The green lines connect co-workers or characters who meet and interact through work. The purple lines represent a parent-child relationship. Poorer families tend to have more children. This was certainly the case in the book. I attempted to keep track of the various fathers, but those who were no longer with the mothers are barely mentioned, forcing me to call them “unnamed” and give what little information I can find on them. In other cases, when there is no information to be found, I simply list the child and the parent they are reported to live with, leaving the other parent off of the chart. The pink/light red lines are boyfriends/girlfriends. They can be current or former partners. In the case of Lamar Richards and the mother of his children, her relationship with Lamar is not touched upon. She is only referred to as “Luke and Eddy’s mother” and is said to have left due to her addiction (Desmond 26). Orange lines mark familial relationships. The color is not specific to any relationship and the bond is specified in the description. The deep blue lines are marriages. Like the other romantic bond, it can be a current or a former marriage. There are very few of these on the map, so I am a little surprised that I gave this relationship its own color. Finally, the yellow lines signify roommates who are not related. These only came up on one occasion, but I felt it was important to Lamar’s character. It gives insight on his kind and caring personality. I tried to give facts about the personality of the characters in the descriptions. I also tried to put more thought into the relationships that just how they were connected. There’s always more to a family than the blood. Compare the Hinkinstons to Arleen’s family. The Hinkinstons are loud, lively, and are all about making the best of what they have. They care about each other, even when they prank each other. Arleen loves her family too. While she also tries to make the best of her situation, she only interacts with two of her children in the book: Jori and Jafaris. Her other children are briefly mentioned, and two of them are not even named. She is shown to be a caring mother, but has nowhere near the amount of life in her that the mothers in the Hinkinston family have. She has seen too much loss. These families are all large, but they are all so different. I think that was one of my greatest problems with this book: keeping track of what family had what dynamic. I really wish I had had this map while I was reading.

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