40 pages • 1 hour read
Craig ThompsonBlankets
Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | YA | Published in 2003A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
BetaSymbols & Motifs
Blankets
Blankets are a motif that serve as the title of the novel, as a persistent metaphor throughout the story, and as a direct link between Craig and the important people of his youth: Phil and Raina. Blankets symbolize the memories that weave together Craig’s life and the relationships that form along the way. “Blankets” also refers to the snow that envelopes Craig’s world and many of the scenes that play out in his childhood and youth.
The very first scene of the graphic novel shows Craig and his younger brother Phil arguing over the blanket that they share in their bed together as young boys. Craig is hogging it all, and a wrestling match ensures until their dad comes upstairs booming and angry. He grabs Phil and stuffs him in the cubby hole and closes the door. The experience traumatizes both boys and leaves Craig with a sense of guilt for not protecting his brother and owning up to his mistake. Fortunately, their blanket is also the foundation for many positive memories that Craig and his brother build together. They use their imagination and bed and blankets to sail the ocean, avoid lava, and more. Craig does not have many fond memories of his childhood, but many of the happy memories he does have are with his brother in their bed. Even once Phil gets his own bed, the two boys find excuses to continue sleeping together.
Craig and Raina’s bond is also symbolized by blankets: The quilt that she sews for him when he comes to visit her, and the blankets of snow that surround many of their intimate moments together. Raina sews the quilt for Craig and gives it to him upon his arrival, explaining to Craig, “they’re all patterns that remind me of you” (183). Craig is taken aback and finds it to be the most beautiful thing he has ever seen, and two full pages are drawn depicting the blanket’s intricate patterns. Craig cuddles with the blanket at night while he sleeps and does so still when he returns home from his visit. When he and Raina break up and Craig finally lets go, burning all the gifts she gave him, he cannot bring himself to burn the blanket. It seems too sacred to him, and he stashes it away in a bag. Years later, when Craig returns home for his brother’s wedding, he again looks at the blanket. He envisions Raina sewing the quilt thread by thread; “each square had a different texture—a visual sound—and read in sequence, like a comic strip, they told a story” (566). Craig describes the story and patterns as cyclical, and that night he takes the quilt to bed with him. It keeps him warm on a particularly cold night, a moment that cycles back to his childhood and sharing a blanket with Phil. Craig dreams of making love to Raina as a teenager, wrapped up in the patterns of the blanket and of his memories.
Snow
Snow is the most used source of imagery and a prominent symbol in Blankets. Craig Thompson utilizes snow in several different ways, including instilling mood and atmosphere, providing a setting, and as a multi-layered metaphor. Snow itself is quiet, pure, and accompanied by winter and darkness. Much of the imagery in the graphic novel portrays pure white snow against a dark backdrop of night sky. Most of the scenes in the graphic novel take place either outside in the snow or inside getting warm from the snow. Each experience Craig has in the snow, whether it be alone, with his brother, or with Raina, is a purely cheerful and joy-filled memory that he looks back on. Because Craig lives in such a small town, he is constantly surrounded by endless snow and nature. He explains that even though he and his brother froze in the bed some winter nights, “outside [they] weren’t cold at all. Winter was [their] playground” (74), and it remained that way for Craig into his teens and early adulthood. Snow reminds Craig of home and the few times he felt happy and carefree growing up.
Craig chose to title his graphic novel “Blankets” for a multitude of reasons, but one of these is in reference to snow. As snow falls, it forms a blanket on the earth and trees that keep them warm and alive until spring comes again. It is on top of these blankets of snow that Craig bonds with his younger brother Phil, and with his first love, Raina. Furthermore, since snow is a natural phenomenon, Craig views it as a beautiful gift from God and enjoys it for its own sake. While other people who live in Wisconsin seem to get sick of the snow, Craig never does. He shares this trait with Raina, and the two of them spend a great deal of time outside in the snow, playing just as Craig and Phil had years before. Craig also bonds with himself in the snow. In the final scenes of the story, he is shown walking along the top of the snow, marveling at the way he can make a “map of [his] moment—no matter how temporary” (581-582). In this sense, snow serves as one final metaphor: Craig’s love of drawing, and of creating something where once nothing but blank space existed.
Sexuality
Sexuality is a motif that serves as both a positive and negative element in Craig’s life. As a child, Craig and his brother are sexually abused by their babysitter on multiple occasions. Craig feels guilty for not protecting Phil from the abuse, even though he was also only a child. The experience traumatizes Craig, who comes to relate sex to demons, evil, and sin. He sees his own body as dirty and reproachful, and it takes him a long time to warm up to Raina physically as a result.
On the other hand, when Craig finally does begin to let go of his guilt and physically embrace Raina, a part of him awakens that was lying dormant, and he finds a new sense of confidence and joy that he never experienced before. His sexual awakening with Raina is a pivotal moment in his adolescence, his spiritual journey, and along his path to self-discovery. Like many of Craig’s pivotal experiences, his first sexual experiences take place in a bed surrounded by blankets: “The blankets churned and splashed—and the wind tore down our sails” (420). His letters to Raina inspire him to masturbate “the one and only time [his] senior year” (147) because although he is extremely restrained most of the time, Raina brings out a newfound passion in Craig. Craig draws the sexual scenes with Raina in a tasteful but bold manner. For Craig, as for many young adults, sex served as a spiritual and emotional awakening which allowed him to grow into his full self and pursue his passions free of guilt.
