The passage I have chosen to interpret is page 38 to page 40 in ​The Vegetable.

​On page
38, the first panel introduces the reader to the main subject of the passage. At the start of the
page, Marji is seen in the background of the panel sandwiched between her friends. This
develops the idea that Marji is beginning to fit in with her peers and is making friends. However
the extent of which she does to fit in is revealed in the foreground and narration of the panel. In
at the foreground of the panel Marji’s friend Thierry is seen rolling a joint as clouds of smoke are
seen billowing behind him. In the following panel, Marji is seen taking the joint from her
Thierry, but what makes this scene important is the narration accompanied with it. There is a
confessional diction in the way she writes about smoking weed as shes narrates, “but I did it out
of solidarity,” which shows her participation is really as a means of conforming to her friends.
Next, the panel moves from scene-to-scene as it cuts to a conversation between Marji and her
parents back in Iran. The camera angle is familiar in the sense that it includes her furniture and
each subject, reminding the reader of Marji’s home. This conversation also gives context to
Marji’s reluctance to drug use. It then moves to an abstract interpretation of Marji as an eggplant.
This icon is included for both comedic relief as well as developing the misconceptions of drug
use and its symptoms to Marji at the time. In the following panels, the narration explains how
Marji’s avoided going against her morals and yet pretended to submit in a scene to scene
movement. The second panel has a similar layout to the first panel of the page, except Marji is
seen in the foreground rubbing her eyes to appear as if she were high. This is significant because
though the panel itself is smaller, in excluding Marji from the group to act high, it ultimately
makes a distinction between them. The extent to which Marji rubs her eyes is shown as tears and
movement is represented as emanata- showing her commitment to the facade. The final panel of
the page shows each friend laughing, emphasizing the expressive features of Marji (using her
teeth) to develop the act of imitating the people in which she surrounds herself with, even their
laughs. This page working with one another, especially this panel, shows exactly how Marji acts
in a different way to conform to a group.

The next page change takes this opportunity to change to another scene, away from Marji
and her friends. Instead, we see a relatively large splash with little narration and few visuals. The
panel itself is a wide shot and includes icons of Marji’s parents concealed in black, they are
unrecognizable if it weren’t supported by narration and familiar imagery. Graphically, making
them black icons instead of developed characters, allows the subject material to be subjective, as
it emphasizes more of Marji’s psyche then what is literally happening. In the foreground Marji is
seen moving away from the parental icons (stretched to show movement) creating a larger
midground between them. This imagery paired with narration shows how Marji feels as if in
acting in ways she has grown up against, she is distancing herself from her family. This distance
is developed as we see a phone call taken place. Though it is one large panel, there is a thick,
black gutter-like line between Marji and her parents. This creates the illusion of physical
separation between them as the viewer sees a conversation take place. The text is seen without a
speech bubble or box, as it moves linearly back and forth between the two. The literal
conversation in itself expands on Marji’s growing guilt as revealed in the narration. This
narration specifically adds to the irony in her father’s final statement as the following panel
emphasizes her growing guilt.

On page 40, Marji’s guilt as introduced in the previous page is fully explored with
imagery and narration. We begin to see the growing impact it has on her when she is reminded of
her home on the news. On an icon of the TV, Marji is seen changing the channel when the
contents are on the war in her home country. On the second panel moving moment to moment,
we see Marji in the foreground with a sad and guilty expression. The background shows how she
has changed the channel, and in turning her back to the TV Marji is neglecting her country and
media regarding it. Following that, the next panel shows a conversation between a classmate and
herself, in which her narration and expression contradict her conversation. Where she tells her
reassures her peer that she feels fine about the events in Iran, it is revealed in her expression
she’s really distraught, and even more so in her pessimistic narration under. Finally, a large
splash on the page compiles a series of icons and imagery familiar to the audience when Marji
was first in Iran. The narration on the top reads, “I wanted to forget everything, to make my past
disappear, but my unconsciousness caught up with me.” and the panel supports this idea. Marji is
seen asleep on the bottom, but the composition of images eliminates the perception of natural
space. The icons on the panel are compiled against a black panel with a white outline amongst
them. They are arranged without order and often overlap with one another. This is to show the
overwhelming quantity of memories that flood Marji’s mind in an almost aggressive manner. It
reveals to the audience and Marji, that though she may want to avoid her past and move forward,
she is unable to do such as it sticks with her whether she wants it or not. Most importantly, this
panel reveals how heavily intertwined Marji’s past, culture, and the country is intertwined with
her identity and in trying to abandon it, she is ultimately neglecting a part of herself.