Cayla Nardiello
Every family suffers from grief and
loss, but they arise even braver. In the amazing graphic novel ‘Amulet’ by Kazu
Kibuishi. After their father’s tragic death, two children, Emily and Navin move
to their great-grandfather’s house, where Emily finds a magical amulet which
guides her and her brother into a magical, but dangerous world. I think the
main theme of amulet is; use your emotions to become stronger.
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” I feel that
this is a powerful quote that just made perfect sense to be in this response,
due to Emily’s tragic backstory. One example of this quote is on pg.107, where
it says: “Just take the amulet into your hands and accept its power” Emily is
very afraid, yet she did take the amulet into her hands, and embraced it’s
power. This shows that because of previous fears Emily overcame, such as
watching her dad die, just made her stronger and more prepared for life’s
wrath. Another example of this is on pg.56, where Emily’s mom was eaten (but still
alive) by a giant spider-like creature called an ‘arachnopod’. This creature
had also eaten her brother, but she frees him with her new amulet, which has
special powers. “I said- Let-Go!” Emily uses her past, and fury from the
creature eating her only remaining family, and saves her brother. This
experience is also good for preparing her later on, when things get even more
intense.
Emily faces a lot
of problems and challenges threatening her family and her own life. She takes
charge and uses her emotions and powers to help save the day. One example of
this is on pg.144-145 where Emily is about to save her mother, but the creature
stabs her leg with a poison needle, and her mother says, “Emily, please- please
go.” In which Emily vows “I’ll come back for you.” This shows us that Emily has
endured through so much, and one of the
things she has gained from her past is strength, both mental and physical.
Another example is on pg.165, where Emily meets up with son of the evil elf
king. He too has an amulet, and tries to take control of her mind with a
creature called sybrian. “Once he’s inside of your brain, you wont have to
think anymore. Just relax…” Emily actually uses his advice to gain control of
the amulet by focusing and staying calm. She is then finally able to free her
mother from the monster by using pure will of her past to her advantage to make
her braver, and stronger.
In all, using your past can really make you stronger,
more prepared for life, and using the correct emotions to fit your memories can
help you be even stronger, both mentally, and physically. In this graphic novel
about a dangerous fantasy world, hidden in our own, Emily, the main character,
learns from her mistakes, and uses her past to become better at who she is, and
to learn from her faults.