Notes

One of the most striking scenes from the book is the image of
Chinese peasants passing through the heavily barricaded gateway out of Shanghai.
the newly turned page settles we are submerged in the first panel. Occupying over two thirds
of the page, this behemoth panel hits the eye with an emotive palette of color and
detail. The window into Tintin’s world of the past is thrown wide open and we are more
inside the story than ever. A line of Chinese peasants stand slouched under the weight of
back-strapped parcels, while a single Japanese officer examines their papers with
unhurried scrutiny. Brackets of barbed wire, bayonets, and semi-automatics crowd the
peasants as they wait their turn to pass through the gates. The bold pointed strokes of
Chinese lettering add to the visual intensity. The combined effect is one of blistering
unease. The city has been torn to shreds by the hand of imperialism. The gate which
stands towering in the background, clearly once a work of Chinese architectural beauty, has been turned by the Japanese into a trap as they slowly suffocate the people of
Shanghai.
Through a single highly detailed panel, Hergé has conveyed an entire perspective
into the Chinese situation. One cannot help but feel sympathy for the Chinese people,
even when looking back on the events from a historical perspective. This panel
represents the realism that is a part of Hergé’s style. His detailed image would not have
the same effect if it were redrawn by a more cartoonish hand. It is the reality of this
scene that makes it so stirring. The viewer understands that he is seeing is not just a
fictionalized construction, but a historical snapshot of the reality of oppression.
The other half of Hergé’s drawing style, the iconic image, is used more frequently
in The Blue Lotus; it is one of the more prominent ways Hergé conveys his political
attitudes. Characters in The Blue Lotus almost always fall under the iconic category. By
comparing characters of different political and racial groupings in The Blue Lotus, we can
see the extent to which Hergé manipulates their images to portray his attitudes towards
them