Genre, Form, and Leading the Reader

       At first glance, RM Wilburn’s, The Cautioner’s Tale, is a graphic novel embedded with image and text. The genre of graphic novel requires that we read the images, looking for clues and meaning in the images we see, not only the text we read. On the opening cover of the book, we read, “From the pages of Mary Morgan’s Journal.” Wilburn’s work, then, is also a journal. I expect to be addressed by a narrator, Mary Morgan. I also expect a confessional tone. Upon beginning reading, we are told this is a work of fiction. Wilburn writes in a note that prefaces the beginning of the story, “Any resemblance to real persons or places is an absolute fluke and is to be disregarded as a product of an over-active imagination.” Up front, I know to expect “made up” people and situations. However, there is a tone of hyperbole to Wilburn’s note. While similar notes can be found at the beginning of many fictional works, the language is often staid, professional. Wilburn chooses “absolute fluke” where “coincidence” might be the more traditional choice. Additionally, Wilburn cites an “over-active imagination” as the cause of the resemblances to real persons or places. These choices seem to me hyperbolic, unnecessary, unless, by their appearance, Wilburn hopes to impart a sense that there might, in fact, be more to this story. Once into the first few pages, we see that Mary Morgan has not created just any old journal. This is also a mystery, a political intrigue. Fairly soon, we realize Wilburn is engaging in political satire. Herr Billy Rump’s orange hue and pale hair call out for comparison to contemporary figures, as do his henchmen and collection of swampy grifter compatriots. Wilburn creates a blend of genres: graphic novel, fictional journal, political satire, and classic whodunit. 

The blended genres serve to propel the story forward. The structure of collage, handwriting font, leaflets of paper in varieties of color, ripped and torn edges, stained and fraying from overuse or accident all invite the reader to make assumptions about what kind of world Mary Morgan inhabits. Were I writing a journal, I’d use clean sheets of paper, all glossy white, bound in a single book with leather cover and hidden stitching. Mary Morgan has no such luxury. We catch minute details that both remind us of current political events and return later to become key pieces of the mystery puzzle. Indeed, this is one way in which this story is defined by genre. In a mystery, we expect that there may be red herrings and false leads. But we also expect that the detective will solve the case and find the bad guy using some, if not all, of the details we pick up through the telling of the story. The Cautioner’s Tale is much more about the righting of the ship than the crime. We know who did it in the beginning. That is, we know that Herr Bigly Rump is a bad dude. We read on to find out how Mary Morgan proves this fact. We read on to see the take down. Additionally, the fact that The Cautioner’s Tale is a graphic novel requires that the images have meaning. Even the font used, a scribbled handwriting, is important in that it imparts to us readers that Mary Morgan is handwriting this journal on scraps of multicolored found paper. This detail, too, says something to us about this world, paper, knowledge, books even, may be hard to procure. In this way, the choice of genre defines some of the choices Wilburn made. She certainly could have chosen to break genre rules, but more often than not, Wilburn uses the rules of the genres she chose to push the story forward and help guide the reader through the story.