52 pages • 1 hour read
Guts: A Graphic Novel
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Background
Cultural Context: Older Elementary Students in the Bay Area
Because Guts is a true story, readers may deduce that the events Telgemeier records happened in the San Francisco Bay area in 1986-1987. As a nine and then 10-year-old in this locale, much of Raina’s experience is predictable. The young Telgemeier family lives in a cramped two-bedroom apartment that must subdivide internally to make room for Raina’s growth and the temporary addition of a grandmother. Much of the story is characteristic of that geographical location and period: Raina’s classmates and friends represent a variety of races and nationalities; her mother drives a blue and white VW microbus; her dad wears an Oakland T-shirt; and the students daily eat their lunches outside on the playground.
Readers may also determine that the environment the author describes is authentic in depicting children who are older elementary students, verging on middle school. In moments of crisis, as when Raina wakes up sick at the beginning of the narrative, children this age still flee to their parents for support and insight. This is also the time in a child’s life, however, when the opinions of playmates become more important than those of parents or other adults. True to form, Raina does not want her mother to tell her teacher too many details about her intestinal problems, fearing her fellow students will think she is a “poopy diaper baby.”
Fear of appearing different, childish, or weird is universal among these children. Some, like Raina, deal with it by trying to fade silently into the background. Others, like Michelle, believe they can avoid the judgmental eye of their peers by constantly remaining on the offensive—taunting and teasing. Another constant in the lives of these children is their acute sense of fairness versus injustice. Raina feels betrayed when her teacher persists in taking Michelle’s side over hers and when Jane befriends Michelle despite Michelle’s years of hateful behavior. The upper elementary grades, as captured by the author, are a period of foment and formation.
Cultural Context: Pubescent Children
Early in the narrative, Telgemeier touches on pubescence, a more prominent topic as the story progresses. Adolescence begins with the release of chemicals in the brain, usually before children reach 10, although visible, outward changes may not be apparent for years. Other subtle changes occur before obvious ones. Thus, when a physician first examines nine-year-old Raina concerning her stomach problems, the doctor suggests, “could be your hormones kicking in” (26). Telgemeier suggests that puberty, when the beginning of adolescence becomes apparent, may actually be starting for Raina in the fourth grade.
For Raina and her classmates, puberty is a great divider. The first place this division becomes apparent, as the author notes, is between girls and boys. Raina notes that, when it came to puberty changes, “boys hadn’t gotten the memo yet” (117). Guts as a memoir is virtually completely focused on girls, their relationships with one another, and their interactions with adults. The author only mentions three boys by name—including Will, Raina’s toddler brother—and only one named boy, Tai, has an individual line: “Can I demonstrate how to burp the alphabet?” (34). The major characters in Raina’s life are all girls verging on adolescence.
Puberty also divides the girls in the narrative. While her physician suggests twice that hormones may be partly to blame for Raina’s fearfulness, she shows no other apparent signs of adolescence. Raina is at a loss to understand the strange conspiracy occurring randomly among some girls in her class who gather to speak in whispers. When she asks her friend Dina why she feels so terrible and why she doesn’t just go home, Dina replies, “You’re not mature enough to understand” (115). As Raina’s mother explains, these cloistered girls have experienced the onset of menses, which, in their view, separates them forever from childhood and from the ability of boys to comprehend. As Telgemeier weaves it through the narrative, this event is a feared right-of-passage for girls that changes their lives forever.
Cultural Context: Children Dealing With Phobias
In her author’s note and the public remarks she has made about Guts and her experiences as 10-year-old Raina, Telgemeier points out that, when she struggled with panic disorder as a child, the adults around her were accepting and perceptive. They placed her with professionals who could help her understand and manage her panic attacks. Readers may note that before bringing in Lauren, the therapist who provided necessary insight and assistance for Raina, both her parents stayed attuned to her concerns. Her father, depicted as much less involved, nonetheless stays in touch with the process of Raina’s therapy and lets her know that he cares. From the book's first pages, Raina's mother demonstrates the ability to listen uncritically and respond appropriately. Like Lauren, when Raina’s mother offers advice, it is honest and on target.
The author describes Lauren as a counselor who is truly in touch with the anxiety and potential of her client. As the relationship between Raina and Lauren grows, the realism of what Lauren can offer and the willingness of her young patient to take and utilize her advice expands. Readers may surmise that Telgemeier has a clear sense of the help a phobic child needs and an awareness of how an excellent clinician functions in the therapeutic role. In the process of adults working to help Raina, particularly in the relationship between Lauren and Raina, the author says, “This is how to help a child suffering with a phobia.”
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By Raina Telgemeier
