"Pedro and Me" Panel Page 43

Group 7- Kara Phillips

Joan Thrift

Ryan Hassel

In the panel we chose, found on page 43. It’s representing one of the main themes of the book, of Pedro in ability to grieve and deal with his loneliness, after the loss of his mother. Therefore in an attempt to fill the void of the love he’s loss from his mother, he has chosen to get involved in risky sexual behavior. In the panel there are tones of sadness represented as darkness, and the light represents happier tones. Pedro is sitting in a black room with a circle of white light illuminating him. He however is slumped over at his desk, doing homework, school is something he is good at and proud of, which we see as the white. The darkness represents his grief and loneliness this seen through his facial expression in the panel. We find the colors and tones to be a strong symbol in our panel. The wording is straight forward in that it states, Pedro is looking for the love his misses, which lead him to become sexually active at the age of 13. Pedro’s posture gives us the impression of depression due to his loneliness. We also noticed that things were missing from in the picture, that seem should have been there; such as a phone, computer, or even a friend to study with. We feel this was an attempt to show the depth of his loneliness as a result of his grief.