Out of the Blue by Ari tells the story of guitar-playing, music-loving Felix and Mack, a fun-loving mermaid trapped in a water reservoir. One day, Mack finally musters up the courage to talk to Felix as he plays by his favorite spot by the reservoir. Felix, while enjoying the company, is understandably cautious around the mysterious boy who refuses to get out of the water, especially because Felix can’t see him. Mack, on the other hand, is relishing finally being able to talk to someone without hiding. After years of loneliness, prickly and guarded Felix and Mack slowly learn that they’re not all that different.
Why is light used as a motif in the chapter?
Motifs have been discussed before on this blog, but storytelling is full of them, and a refresher never hurts. A motif is a recurrent symbol in a story that, because of its recurring nature, gains a particularly significant meaning. They come in all shapes and forms; they can be a color, an object, a phrase… In other words, they can be a public symbol (one recognized by a culture at wide) as much as a private symbol (one that is specific to the story at hand). Similarly, besides its own aesthetics, the purpose of a motif is to create texture with various different aspects of the story. For example, a motif can grant insight into a character, or they can mirror the plot, or they can strengthen the significance of the setting. Out of the Blue features various motifs: water, music, the senses, but the one featured in chapter 5 sheds the most light on the main characters — pun very much intended — and signals a significant turning point in their dynamic.
Credit: Ari
A four-panel page.
First panel: A bright orange sun is setting behind a pitch black mountain range.
Mack (off-panel): You need help with the matches?
Felix (off-panel): I got it. I got it.
Mack (off-panel): Please don’t burn down what’s left of this place.
Felix (off-panel): It’s already lit.
Second panel: A close-up of a lit oil lamp.
Mack (off-panel): Oh. Well.
Felix (off-panel): “Let there be light.”
Third panel: Mack is lying down on the floor, looking at Felix (off-panel). The lamp is close, brightly lighting up his face.
Mack: Yeah? There is.
Fourth panel: Felix sitting on the floor, leaning back against the wall, shirtless with a blanket covering his legs. His face and upper chest are also lit up by the lamp’s light.
Felix: Yeah, I know. I was… Nevermind. You find anything else useful?
Chapter 5 starts at dawn, right after the terrible storm and flood from the previous chapter that broke the dam and flushed Felix and Mack miles down river. The early sunlight is coming through Felix sister’s window as she wakes up determined to find her brother. Herein lies the public understanding of light as a symbol: it represents knowledge and enlightenment. On the one hand, Felix’s sister is out to discover the truth, and on the other, the readers are going to discover more about Felix and Mack. However, the story decides to play with the motif at this point. Instead of having Felix and Mack have a heart-to-heart while basking in the bright, enlightening sunlight, the scene takes place after dusk. The absence of light triggers the reversal of the motif: if light represents knowledge, darkness is ignorance, which is the state of Felix and Mack’s relationship. They really don’t know anything about each other. At this point, the story presents a reminder that the motif at hand isn’t sunlight, but rather light in general, which can take many forms.
Credit: Ari
A two-panel page.
First panel: A close-up of Felix running his fingers through the broken guitar strings.
Felix: Yeah, water will do that to them. Guess guitar lessons are done for the night.
Second panel: A wide-shot of Felix and Mack leaning against the wall, both of them sad looking at the broken guitar. The lamp is casting a halo of light around them while the rest of the room is pitch black.
Felix: It’s been a long day. Should probably get some sleep.
Credit: Ari
A single-page illustration.
A shot from above of Mack lying down on a sofa in the flooded house’s living room. He has a small smile and blush on his face. He and the sofa are lit by a halo of light presumably cast by the moon, tinged green by the water.
From this point on, light as a motif gains an additional meaning due to its source. Lamplight and firelight in general associated with community and warmth. Firelight creates a sense of intimacy, and the colors of the panel reflect that with their warm tones blurring into the shadows. The halo cast by the light is the scope of their world; it’s what they know about their situation about each other. In general, fire and light are great symbols in the story because of the apparent contradiction they present: Felix can’t see, and Mack lives in the water where he has no use for fire, yet in this scene, its light and warmth unites them. Their moment together ends abruptly, however, after the guitar breaks. With their excuse for cuddling together gone, the halo of light still depicts them together against the encroaching darkness. And while their time ended on a bitter note, for Mack it seems to be more bittersweet with the chapter’s last page. As he’s lying on a submerged sofa, he has a sad smile and soft blush on his face while a halo of moonlight shines over him. Thus, the chapter ends with a full-circle of the motif, sunlight to moonlight, and with Felix and Mack closer to and more aware of each other.