Twins

In the first section, the first-person narration establishes Maureen as the protagonist, even though the narration of a graphic novel is executed in a very different way than in a regular novel. To distinguish Maureen’s internal thoughts from her speech, the narration is typically written in yellow rectangles that are set off from the main part of the panel, while her direct dialogue is encased in white speech bubbles superimposed upon the panel itself. Sometimes, brief internal thoughts are shown in thought bubbles, but general narration is placed in rectangles to show that it is commenting upon the current scene and is not being spoken aloud. Because Maureen’s internal thoughts are clearly displayed, this arrangement allows the creators of the novel to indicate that she is the protagonist of the story; this aspect is reinforced by the fact that Fran’s thoughts and feelings remain unknown unless she expresses them aloud.

While the visual arrangement of the text provides key clues to the roles of various characters in the story, the author has deliberately left the time frame and the setting vague. This decision allows the author to establish the primary conflicts without limiting the novel’s scope to a specific year or place; as a result, the generalized setting creates a deeper sense of empathy for the characters, who are designed to be relatable to a broad range of readers. The novel appears to take place around 2020, the time of its publication, and it is clearly set in an unidentified, suburban section of the United States.

Combined with this mundane setting, the novel begins on the protagonist’s first day of middle school in order to introduce the main themes of The Challenges of Adolescence and Middle School and The Search for Personal Identity. Francine has already begun her search for personal identity, which is symbolized by her changes in her clothing and her new nickname. Instead of going by her given name, Francine—which almost rhymes with Maureen—she aims to distinguish herself from her sister by adopting the nickname “Fran.” Because Fran has chosen this name herself, this decision demonstrates her attempt to distance herself from her sister’s identity and create her own persona. Frustrated by everyone’s tendency to mistake her for Maureen, Fran updates her wardrobe to cultivate a more retro fashion sense, hoping that this will distinguish her from Maureen and help other people to tell the two twins apart. Although this doesn’t work at first because people don’t know which twin has cultivated a new fashion sense, it still represents Fran’s attempt to become her “own person” instead of just an indistinguishable “Carter twin.” This search for individuality will guide many of the twins’ choices throughout the novel.

As the characters and conflicts are introduced, the author and illustrator have established a distinctive artistic style for Twins, using several full-page illustrations and double-page spreads to emphasize key narrative moments and render them more visually striking. For example, Maureen’s explanation of some of the differences between herself and Francine is given a double-page spread, which shows that although Maureen has not adopted a new nickname or fashion style, she is also searching for her personal identity and is tired of being confused with her twin. In this illustration, the girls have tabs attached to them and dotted lines around their bodies to make them look like paper dolls; this artistic choice illustrates Maureen’s feeling that, by reducing the identical twins to their appearances, other people are objectifying them rather than viewing them as the individual humans that they really are.

Several of the full-page and two-page panels in this section also emphasize the extent of Maureen’s anxiety about socializing in middle school, which is one of the greatest challenges of adolescence for Maureen. For example, when Maureen loses track of Francine in the hallway on their way to Advisory, the full-page illustration shows the intensity of Maureen’s anxiety, for she is depicted as being distraught amidst a large crowd of students (16). This moment illustrates that, to her, navigating an unfamiliar world without the support of her sister is almost unbearable. She is similarly intimidated by the prospect of eating lunch without any of her friends, and a two-page illustration accordingly emphasizes her fear amid a crowd of happy, loud, and chaotic students (22-23). These narrative moments demonstrate how stressful crowds are for Maureen, especially when her usual friends are absent. To further drive home this point, the full-page illustration of Maureen eating an apple alone in the library (25) shows that she is willing to forgo her full meal and even break the rules in order to avoid crowds and socially stressful situations. All of these full-page panels develop Maureen’s initial character, showing that she is shy, easily stressed, and lacking in “self-confidence,” as her parents say.