Chapman-Lopez 1 Tyler Chapman-Lopez Professor Batty English 114A 21 October 2013 The Not so Wonderful Reality In Adam Hines

graphic novel, Duncan the Wonder Dog, many controversial topics are presented. The fact that animals can speak in the novel, but are still used as food, and other commodities provides a completely new way of thinking as to how we, as a people, treat animals. We treat animals the way we do, because it is against their will. In the novel the lead role is portrayed by a terrorist monkey named, Pompeii, who has just bombed the California University, because she believes that they are performing animal testing. Throughout the story you are taken through loops, which keep you wondering what is going to happen next. Switching from happy to dark stories, you will be confused for pages. The beautifully illustrated pictures keep you entertained, and eager to discover the ending. Pompeii, the dramatic terrorist monkey, seemingly narrates the complex novel. She comes off as an emotional wreck throwing tantrums, and remising on dark memories. She seems enraged, and you have no idea as to why. She is a monkey that has just bombed a University, but we still question her reason for being mad. BANG BANG BANG...Fuck you...Fuck you mother fucking cock sucker! Pompeii screams at a defenseless man, whom she has just shot, as he rests on his knees begging her not to kill him You take everything! And you take! And you take!

Chapman-Lopez 2 She continues as she beats him, the page getting darker with each blow. A gorillas stands to the side of tiny Pompeii, with a sort of disgusted look on his face, and you begin to wonder if that is what animals think of us; as big brutes with no remorse, taking, and taking from them over, and over. She is mad because of the animal testing, and she should be. Pompeii is living in a world, where animals are constantly being taken advantage of regardless of the fact that they have rights. But isnt that the world we live in right now at this exact moment? Are animals not being forcefully slaughtered against their will? As the story progresses you are constantly torn between feeling bad for animals and what they are forced to endure and, feeling bad for humans for being attacked by animals. When we are attacked by animals, or even killed by animals, it makes evening news, and is frowned upon. Yet we kill them every day, and think nothing of it. We eat animals. From birth they are raised to be eaten or made into clothes for us. They have never volunteered for such torture, and who would? I believe the author is trying to give humans, a different understanding of the things we do to animals because of our own selfish needs. If these animals could in fact talk would that change anything? Would mass meat producers cease their multi-billion dollar industry for the simple fact that animals know what is going on? But it is very possible that animals know what is happening now. Their noses are stronger than ours; can they smell the blood of their companions? Can they hear the muffled screams of death thrown upon their own offspring? Probably, and we are doing nothing about it. We can only imagine what something that terrific could truly be like. I saw on the mound (breath)I saw the building (breath)before they moved itand the dirt (breath)going in (breath)But I didnt see any (breath) going out

Chapman-Lopez 3 Says an injured cow, to an angry farmer who wants to shoot her because she has a broken leg, although she is unaware of his motives, she knows she will soon meet her fate. Every day factor farms are holding cows hostage, against their will, forcefully abusing, and murdering them. If you think a broken leg is bad pal, just keep talking, and well see Says the farmer as he grows impatient, with the cows talking. This scenario forces you to feel sympathetic for the cow, because its images display a very deep sorrow. Across the four page anecdote, most of the page is covered in pitch black and dark grays. The only light colors displayed are the white in the cows hide, and the rain falling on this melancholy night. The cow knows what is happening, she is fully aware of what they do in the factory. The farmer could not even tell her to her face, because he knew it was wrong. Hines conveys his moral reasoning through descriptive pictures, and plot twisting story lines. The beautifully illustrated black and white pictures add intensity, and broaden your already wandering imagination. From the opening pages of eighty percent white, with a small bundle of squares, telling of a man; Born in Balfron, discussing his father, and their growth together making watches, and compasses, to the last page with thick white borders with a large rectangle that fades from a light gray into a deep black atop of this ombre swirl of colors are a flock of sprawling white moths with elongated tails. The book seems to be a complete cluster of anecdotes until the ending, where all lose ends are tied together in a beautiful bow of knowing. Hines uses pathos throughout the story to make the reader feel more involved in whats happening. I believe he uses it, because people are more inclined to understand concepts when there are feelings involved. I also feel as if he chose to write this story as a graphic novel to sort of ease this topic onto people. It could be a harsh topic to grasp if it was regular three-hundred

Chapman-Lopez 4 page wordy type of novel. Hines uses a lot of sarcasm, and humor, although I believe others may not find the light in most of the topics at hand. A living being, being taken away from its natural habitat, or worse, not even being born in a natural habitat, murdered in a gruesome way, for the ,enjoyment of someone else. It is disgusting, and I am disgusted that I support that industry. Hines also uses logos, subliminally, in fact most people have probably never thought about animals talking. We go through everyday life consuming something that once was alive, without even thinking about it. Humans are killed every day. But we can fight back; we will be tried for on account of our murder. But where are animals rights? When Michael Vick was convicted for fighting dogs in 2007, he was tried in a Supreme Court, and he served jail time. But over two hundred-thousand chickens, sixty-thousand cows, and countless other animals are ruthlessly slaughtered every day, and it goes unnoticed. Yet we are consuming the evidence three plus times a day. This is unexplainable, its just unorthodox. When humans are killed in such great quantities it is called genocide so why are we not being informed? In 2012 when we experienced the aporkacalypse, all Americans were worrying about was not having bacon. We should have been worried about how many genetically mutated pigs, pumped full of hormones, and anti-biotics were produced out of nowhere in the South, to over compensate for our high demand of pork products. Whether we change our lives or do nothing, we have responded. To do nothing is to do something, John Safran Foer, author of Eating Animals, made a very valid point. We do need to make a change in the world; the fast food industry is out of control. The way the world is now is sickening. We are taking so much from nature, and giving nothing back. We are taking

Chapman-Lopez 5 advantage of the natural resources that are being given to us. We are abusing, and mistreating creatures that are living and breathing just like the rest of us.

Chapman-Lopez 6 Work Cited

Hines, Adam. Duncan the Wonder Dog. Richmond: AdHouse Books, 2010. Print Brian McCarthy, NFL Star Indicted Over Dog Fighting. Cnn News. Cnn Us. Tues. July 18, 2007. Foer, Jonathan Safran. Eating Animals. London: Hamish Hamilton, 2009. Print. Jana Walker, Aporkalypse Now? Cnn News. Wed. October 9, 2013