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• 1 2023-12-01T20:01:47+00:00 The Vine and the Fish - Impact 6 By Abigail Kennedy-Dominguez plain 2023-12-07T19:35:21+00:00
  
  
  
  
   

  The inclusion of a small narrative in The Vine and the Fish is effective in making the issue feel more personalized and important. Furthermore, the autobiographical nature of the narrative creates a sense of intimacy between the reader and the comic. For example, as seen in the picture, Hook writes, "But I hope my children and theirs will know they are not the vine or the fish-", directly referencing the author's own internalization of xenophobia mentioned earlier. Through the comic, we have learned about Hook's struggles, on top of blunt fact and information, and by ending the comic with her personal thoughts and hopes for the future, the reader is forced to analyze that information on a more interpersonal level. 
  
  Although The Vine and the Fish includes this narrative, it's important to not that we cannot scroll through this comic and assume we know what it is like to experience xenophobia and internalize such harsh language as is presented. In Empathy and its Alternatives, Bonnie Ruberg concludes, "more valuable than a video game that allows players to identify with someone else is a game that requires players to respect the people with whom they cannot identify" (68). We must understand that certain experiences, like what's portrayed in this comic, cannot be experienced through a screen and should not be advertised as so. The Vine and the Fish does a great job of educating the audience about the stigma surrounding invasive species and the very real impact that it has had on minority communities while also using detailed and visually appealing artwork to catch the reader's attention. It does not place the reader in the author's narrative but rather encourages them to take great care in understanding the content.