Here

Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Adult | Published in 2014

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Pages 1-113

Pages 114-209

Pages 210-303

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Pages 210-303Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Pages 210-303 Summary

A couple looks at a mounted deer head over the fireplace in 2015, and the woman declares she does not like it. In 1984, a girl at the window asks about the history of the colonial house, and a girl doing a handstand suggests it has to do with Benjamin Franklin. A game of Twister unfolds first in 1971, and then panels layered over this one depict the same game in 1966 and 2015. Couples hold each other in 1930, 1952, and 1972. In 1973, a mother finds her children in a pillow fort they make with couch cushions, and in 1990, a family takes wedding photos. A man in 1990 says he was confused after a nap, while a man in 1995 discusses a recurring nightmare about his children drowning. A mother teaches a child to tie her shoes in 1977. In 1777, two men carry something bloody, wrapped in a sheet. There is a funeral in the room in 1916, with a man in a coffin in front of the fireplace. In 2007, another man talks about a dream in which he is in a big mansion. He walks in on his dad in bed with a naked woman. When he asks her name, she says, “Everyone has the same name here” (230).

In 1906, there is an empty lot across the street from the colonial house. In 1907, a man breaks ground on the plot. Soon, the lot has a foundation, with many men working to dig and build the brick fireplace. Throughout 1907, progress on the house continues, with wooden floors installed. A man in blue overalls and a red shirt works to complete the floor and frame of the house. In 2015, a woman reads on a couch, while panels from 2005 show a man on the phone explaining that his father is in the hospital after falling and breaking his hip. He tells whoever is on the phone that his father cannot walk up and down stairs after he is discharged, at least not at first. His father will sleep on the pullout bed in the room. In 2015, a woman holds a baby at the window and shows it the moon.

An artificial woman leads a tour across a boardwalk in 2213, using a projector to show what a home built on this site in the 20th century looked like at different times. She shows her crowd various artifacts of their past, like a watch, a wallet, and keys. Someone in the crowd comments: “She’s so lifelike!” (263). In 2005, the injured father of the man on the phone stays on the pullout bed in the living room. He pretends not to hear as his son explains repeatedly, his voice becoming louder each time, that his pills are on the table. The father finally admits that he is teasing his son and warns him that he will also grow old. In panels across the top of these pages, a shark swims in 2126, balloons bump against the ceiling in 1978, a blimp flies in the distance in 1863, a paper airplane glides past in 1908, and a fly buzzes by in 2006. In 1624, Dutch colonists meet with Indigenous men and express frustration at receiving a gift they believe to be a bag of dirt. In 1964, a group of four plays charades.

A phone rings in 2006, and someone leaves a message. In 1935, someone calls “Hello?” through the window. Hummingbirds swarm vibrant plants in the year 22,175 CE. A girl looks up the chimney in 1935, and in the foreground of the room a doll house closely resembling the room itself is on display. A woman cries in the year 2051, sitting by the window, and frames from 1940 and 1952 show couples embracing and kissing. Debris covers half the room in 2015, and panels laid over this mess show women in 1932, 1970, and 1993 laughing. The house is gone and the area is desolate in 2313, and men in hazmat suits walk around and test for radiation levels.

In 1960, “Love is Here to Stay” by Nat King Cole plays on a record player. A fire roars in the fireplace, and a lamp lights the wall. Over this scene are panels that show William and his wife walking in 1775, an Indigenous man walking in 1620, the man with blue overalls and a red shirt working in 1907, and a man in 2005 refusing to take a call. Panels show children in 1889 playing Ring-Around-the-Rosie and falling down. In 1968, “Is That All There Is” by Peggy Sue plays on a radio. In 1957, the woman in the pink dress remembers what she is looking for. She picks up a book from the coffee table.

Pages 210-303 Analysis

Here does not follow a chronological narrative, instead changing focus to different years from page to page. However, the graphic novel does essentially begin and end in 1957, with focus concentrated on the woman in the pink dress. Pages 8 and 9 display the room in 1957. On page 14, the woman in the pink dress walks into the room and becomes the first person depicted on the page. She is in the room, looking around, with a purpose she can’t quite remember: “Hmm...Now why did I come in here again?” (14). The woman is looking for something, and it is not until page 298, the penultimate page, that she finally finds the book she wanted resting on a coffee table. This final moment of Here demonstrates how the graphic novel explores the theme of The Fluidity of Time. The entirety of the graphic novel occurs during this brief period while the woman in the pink dress looks for her book. An inconsequential moment in the life of this woman becomes an exploration of the history and future of the room she is in. By doing this, Here challenges the nature of time as a chronological process, layering many moments on top of each other and containing them all within a single moment. Time in Here resists traditional graphic novel narrative style, making a statement on how the past, present, and future depend on perspective, with each panel by itself being the present, while those around it become its past or future.

Here often uses panels from different years to show The Interconnectedness of Human Experiences, demonstrating how human experiences remain similar over time. However, it also occasionally provides context for how shared human experiences can transform over time through societal change. One example of this occurs on pages 265, 267, and 269, in which panels depict an interaction between Indigenous men and European settlers in 1624. The Indigenous men gift what seems to be a bag of dirt to the Europeans, prompting a disappointed reaction from the Europeans. In reality, the “dirt” is likely tobacco, which will soon become the cornerstone of the colonial economy in the Chesapeake Bay region. The colonizers do not yet understand the meaning this gift holds for those who offer it, nor do they understand the economic value it will acquire for them. Following this moment are panels depicting a game of charades in 1964. In these panels—on pages 271, 273, and 275—a woman’s partner gives answers for the hints she acts out. In both 1964 and 1624, communication between two people is hindered because of a language barrier. In both cases, the intent of the interaction is not immediately clear. In charades, the woman must act out context clues for her partner to succeed in guessing what she means. In 1624, the lack of a common language hinders any explanation of the gift, making its intent unclear. Both are moments of hindered communication and possible frustration, impacted by their place in history. The comfortable leisure of 1964 is assuredly absent in 1624.

Here’s unique use of panels achieves a specific narrative and thematic purpose. Pages are set with one view of the room, captured at a moment in time. The panels that then layer on top of it show the room at different points in history, in that exact same spot, opening a window in time. In this way, McGuire presents Objects and Images as Containers of Memory, showing how a single object or image—even devoid of context—can suggest a whole life. Pages 292 and 293 show the room in 1960, darkened except for a lamp that brightens part of the wall and ceiling. Only part of the lamp actually appears in 1960, with the rest of it lined up perfectly in another panel from 1957. The fact that this is the same lamp demonstrates continuity: In three years, many things may have changed in the lives of the room’s inhabitants, but the room remains the same. However, there are three other panels on page 286 that show the room at different times. The one from 1968 shows the fireplace and wall above it. Though it is only 8 years after 1960, this panel shows a redecorated room, with a yellow painted wall instead of pink wallpaper. To this panel’s left is a panel from 1907, the year the house is built, that covers part of the fireplace. In this panel, the fireplace is red brick, unfinished, and with the walls around it incomplete, its flue is visible where it is not in the other panels. The final panel on page 293 depicts an Indigenous man in 1620, walking. There is no house in this panel, and the man’s surroundings are rough sketches of a forest. By layering these panels together, one page shows the progression of this space over time, from wilderness to the house’s construction, early design, and redecoration. Meanwhile, the presence of these panels suggests that even as the world changes, the past remains alive within the present.