Everything else is inconsequential.

Kalvin’s theory also describes how creating a “cacophony of information” allows each listener to have a distinct experience, because each one will decide to listen to something slightly different. Mazzucchelli’s paneling during this scene echoes the ideas suggested by Kalvin’s theory—a subtle but powerful indicator of whom the author believes has the proper understanding of life. Typically, in a graphic novel panels are placed on some sort of “grid,” which is then designed to guide the reader’s attention from left to right and then up and down across the page. For this scene, as the characters speak the panels begin to overlap and break into one another, creating a layering effect as the frames (each at varying degrees of opacity) combine to make one cohesive image.

Mazzucchelli’s layout creates a fractured but harmonious effect—a design rife with the opportunity for multiple perspectives.

The way in which Asterios phrases this accusation is important to understanding his perspective: namely, that he believes that it is one’s responsibility to inform others in the way in which they should think. This incident is not the first time Asterios has reacted in such a way.
The student may have had a perfectly reasonable and valid idea behind his design, but because it did not match Asterios’s perspective, he was unwilling to listen.


Back in Kalvin’s apartment, Asterios’s insistence on ignoring that which he believes does not pertain to him has greater consequences than simply missing out on the opportunity to enjoy theoretical insight. As Kalvin and Asterios debate their perspectives, a very different—and considerably more sinister—perspective is being put on display.


However, Mazzucchelli is not content to simply point out the flaws in Asterios’s perspective, but is subtly playing with the limitations of his readers as well. In typical postmodern form, everything in the novel should be called into question, because everything in the novel is told from a particular perspective—in this case, Ignazio’s, who appears to be working off of Asterios’s perspective. This limitation is demonstrated most clearly as Hana and Asterios leave Kalvin’s apartment.  

As they walk through the snow, Asterios’s personal dialogue never pauses as he comes up with sarcastic comments such as, “a sonic expedition? Will he be handing out acoustic pith helmets?”. Asterios’s question, however, must be kept rhetorical because Hana is never given a speech bubble of her own for this scene.

Thus, even though the readers see four separate panels of Hana being silent, Ignazio makes it clear that her silence is not necessarily because she was not speaking. Rather, it is because Asterios does not remember her doing so. Though Asterios Polyp is likely intended to be a fairly accurate interpretation of Asterios’s past, it is still just that: an interpretation. Accordingly, the readers must be aware that every scene that appears in the novel, and every angle from which it appears, is the direct result of a specific perspective.

To prove this point, on several occasions throughout the novel Mazzuchelli will show a scene from one perspective, only to revisit it from another perspective later on. The clearest example of this occurs in the first panel in which Hana properly appears, as it is later recreated for Hana and Asterios’s last fight before they divorce.
