#cliffsnotes

stefan edit bc i <3 him (yes his captions are in his handwriting yes i used his dossier to make the font)

it’s a little messy since i’m still getting the hang of editing but i like it

CliffsNotes for Sylvia Plath's novel The Bell Jar featured in the movie Heathers (1988), starring Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk and Kim Walker

About 15 years ago, I was given a stack of Cliffs Notes booklets from a bookstore that was going out of business. I’ve always enjoyed reading criticism after finishing a book, so I was happy to take them. I’m slightly embarrassed to say I’m just reading Jane Eyre for the first time. Ugh. Okay, that said, I went to my pile of Cliffs Notes and found that Jane Eyre was among the booklets I had. I then noticed the name and address sticker pictured here. Curiosity got the best of me, and I decided to look her up.  This is what I found:

I haven’t seen it yet, but right away, reading about it reminded me of the CliffsNotes study guide for the novel. The study guide’s last paragraph is also devoted to the two little Thénardier boys and their uncertain fate. It suggests that Hugo might have meant to imply that it’s “our business” to find and save those children – or rather, the real misérables like them.

Maybe that was what Davies meant to say with that last image. “Valjean was saved, Marius and Cosette were saved, now take what you’ve learned from their story and try to save the poor and the outcasts who are still out there.”

But I can imagine it’s hard to convey that message with a visual. If it just shows the boys alone and lost, I’m not surprised that it feels like a bleak “Nothing changes, nothing ever can” message, whether or not that was the intent.