Parenthesis

Guest Review by Malia Omale

What would you do if you lost all your personal memories? For Judith this is not a nightmare but a true story of how she became hostage to an insidious illness.

Written and illustrated by Élodie Durand, Parenthesis is an award-winning memoir that delves into Durand’s psychological, emotional, and physical struggle of dealing with a brain tumor. Originally published in French, the book depicts Durand’s struggles mirrored through the main character, Judith. As Judith experiences gaps in her memory, her story is predominantly told through conversations she has with her parents. During her teen years, Judith begins to experience seizures which are initially thought to be caused by epilepsy. After countless visits with doctors, it is revealed that she has an inoperable brain tumor known as an astrocytoma. According to the Cleveland Clinic, an astrocytoma is a tumor that commonly occurs in the brain and less frequently in other parts of the nervous system. In the US, it is estimated that approximately 1,200 people below the age of 19 will receive an astrocytoma diagnosis in their lifetime. From the same source, The 2016 reports in the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States shows that the incidence rate of astrocytoma is 6.6. per 100,000, with a higher risk of occurrence in males than females. Given this gender-based risk, Judith’s diagnosis was exceedingly rare. On pages 59-63, Durand illustrates doctors metaphorically walking on Judith’s brain to uncover the small tumor above her pituitary gland. This imagery is immensely powerful as it comments on how Judith was treated as a medical specimen whose emotions and thoughts were not always considered during her medical appointments. Essentially, Durand alludes to patients’ feelings and emotional well being are often disregarded during physician-patient encounters. Thus, Durand humanizes Judith’s diagnosis by illustrating how her tumor robs her of every iteration of time – her sleep, her memory, and most importantly, her youth.

Durand’s use of the rigid black and white palette throughout the book provides a contextual framework for Judith’s emotional instability as she navigates her tumor-induced neurological symptoms. The use of black tones illustrates dark times in Judith’s life where her all-consuming illness makes it difficult to sustain social interactions with family and friends and diminishes her self-worth. In addition, Durand’s use of an interspersed shadowed character with an exaggerated head and amorphous self portraits is used to represent the self-consuming nature of her disease. These visual representations of Judith’s state of mind enables readers to empathize with the psychological toll of feeling trapped in one’s body when dealing with a chronic illness. After undergoing life changing surgery, Judith becomes friends with the shadowed character signifying an acceptance of her illness. Her newfound acceptance allows her to resume the activities she partook in pre-diagnosis times with the understanding that she will always live with the aftereffects of the tumor.

Breaking News (July 24, 2022): Parenthesis is the 2022 (inaugural) winner of the GMIC Award for Outstanding Work of Graphic Medicine.

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Malia Omale, MPH, is a 2^nd year medical student at St. George’s University School of Medicine. As a comic artist, she is passionate about using comics as a social commentary on the modern-day US healthcare system. Malia enjoys listening to jazz music and plays the piano, guitar, and ukulele.