Story Of My Tits By Jennifer Hayden: Literary Analysis

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The graphic novel The Story of My Tits by Jennifer Hayden is an autobiographical, alternative style work following Hayden’s character from childhood, to the time she writes the book. The story explores Hayden’s experience of developing breasts as a teenager and reflects on societal standards of a woman not being able to achieve the “ideal” sized breast. The story also uncovers the despondency associated with developing Breast Cancer, such as receiving the diagnosis, having a mastectomy and death. Hayden reveals the complications of seeing what the women in her life go through when fighting the disease and the societal difficulties and expectations that come along with it. While the book does not particularly state that her character is a superhero, the protagonist …show more content…

The recurrent bird is also used to reflect upon how the storyline transforms from the past and gradually develops into the future. Groensteen reveals that for an autobiographical piece to be reconstructed and retold the fragments need to be connected in meaningful ways (Groensteen 10). The bird assists present day Hayden in organizing her linked experience into a coherent, autobiographical story about her past self. Michael Chaney, author of Animal Subjects of the Graphic Novel, notes that becoming an animal or visualizing oneself as an animal, is a way one deals with “the experience of life and death, the fear of stagnancy and loss, and the hope of vitally expressive becoming - all from the vantage point of the human that cognizes its proximity to the animal.”(Chaney 141) The birds are symbols of the future Jennifer Hayden, giving advice to her younger self, helping her cope through her adult

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