Timeless Harmony

I think Doug makes a very interesting point about thought and it’s relation to Hernandez’s Clockwork Angels. While I think the sequence of images and words plays an important part in our connection with the novel, I also believe Hernandez’s plot line and character relations inspire thought interaction.
Throughout reading the text, I had to stop and figure out what exactly the relationship between Temper and Amy was. I think part of the reason why I had to do this was not only because half the time I needed to read the page 5 times before I could piece together what was going on, but also because I was intrigued how Hernandez incorporated a lesbian love story considering the Victorian time period. Also, many of the times when Temper and Amy are shown expressing romantic feelings toward one another, there are no panels; the images take up the entire page and give the feeling of moving beyond the page into our reality. This also plays into the concept of timelessness we were discussing in class. By showing the images of Temper and Amy without gutters, I think Hernandez shows the timelessness of a basic love story, but at the same time suspends us in time because of the homosexual aspect, which is a prevalent issue and signifier in the world today. Similarly, this relates to Sarah’s connection between Levinas’s concept of the human face and Hernandez’s similar depictions of Temper’s and Amy’s face.
By having their faces extremely similar, there is positive universality and sense of timelessness. The readers can incorporate their own interpretations of the characters and their actions, which allow the reader to make a personal connection to the story and message. The reader learns through reading the text to not pay attention to the specific character, rather their thoughts and emotions they express. I feel Hernandez is encouraging the reader to look past gender boundaries focus on the universal emotions we, as human beings, all feel and experience in terms of relationships.
As sort of a side note (and I know this isn’t exactly a smooth transition, but this thought just came in a stream of consciousness), I also think the theme of timelessness connects with Temper’s ability to read the dead. With this ability, Temper is bringing the past into the present and connecting it with the future. Each of the authors we have read this semester has employed, in a sense, Temper’s ability; they read the past of their ancestors and work towards incorporating values, principles, beliefs, and traditions into people’s lives today. This synthesis of time will ultimately create a harmony, which Temper and Amy experience in the final panel, within our lives.