Arts Thread

Pareidolia is a graphic memoir that chronicles a girl’s journey through childhood into adolescence. Moving between cities in Canada and China she wonders about the meaning of belonging as her life continues to shift. Her father, a Chinese immigrant, struggles to take care of her as a single parent. Her elusive mother grapples with mental illness. As her dysfunctional family encounters obstacles through life – from language barriers to grief and loss – the girl slowly comes to terms with forces beyond her comprehension. Pareidolia highlights my mother’s struggle with mental illness, my parents’ divorce, and my father’s challenges as a single parent. The narrative highlights themes of displacement, family conflict, and mental health issues. The ambiguity of memory is an important theme explored through the narration.The narrative voice is split into one that is experiencing the events of the memoir as they are unfolding, and another looking back at the experiences with the benefit of hindsight. This is related to the title, Pareidolia, which refers to the phenomenon where things are perceived as different from what they actually are. As a result, readers are left wondering which perspective is closer to the truth.