Manipulating the Reader's Perception By Theodore Kemna

Manipulating the Reader's Perception

By Theodore Kemna

      I recently finished reading the first volume of American Vampire by Scott Snyder, Stephen King, and Rafael Albuquerque. This volume, which collects the first five issues of the series originally published by Vertigo Comics between March and July of 2010, tells two side by side stories following Skinner Sweet, an undead Wild West bandit and murderer who happens to be the first of a new breed of Vampires, the American Vampire. 

      Throughout the book, Snyder, King, and Albuquerque use a variety of storytelling techniques to manipulate the reader into liking and almost rooting for Sweet, who in any other story would be a villain, which gives the book an uneasy sense of morality. This is done through creative uses of what is and isn't shown or emphasized in the book, which effects how the reader perceives the events that take place. 

Skinner Sweet

      One example of this is in the beginning of the book. The book begins with the reader being introduced to Pearl, an aspiring actress in 1920s Los Angeles. She is portrayed as a semi-protagonist of this half of the narrative, and is shown to be kindhearted and helping to others. One night while at a party she is violently attacked and killed by a group of "European" or stereotypical Vampires but before she can pass on to the afterlife, her corpse is found by Sweet and she is made into a vampire. When she wakes up she is given a run-down by Sweet where he explains that he was there to kill the Vampires who killed her, but has instead made her one to allow her to get revenge on them and stop them from killing others like her. He then provides her with a man he caught for her to feast upon so she can survive. By showing less of his murder of the man than the other Vampire's murder of Pearl, and by setting up his intentions beforehand, the reader views Sweet's actions less negatively than the other characters in the book. This is done throughout the book where Sweet's acts of violence (for example the briefly shown murdering of an entire town with only his teeth and hands) are shown to a lesser extent than his acts of justice or good (the longer shown scene of Sweet killing a corrupt and powerful businessman vampire who has himself been shown as a villain throughout the book) which makes them seem less bad in the eyes of the reader.

      I can't say much more without spoiling the book completely, but overall, American Vampire Volume 1 is a fun read which is able to use a hard to pull off storytelling technique to make the reader like a morally questionable protagonist. If you enjoy a fun horror adventure story, I definitely recommend checking it out.