The Contract With God By Will Eisner

The Contract with God

By Will Eisner

A gripping tale about a kind and helpful man named Frimme Hersh, whom lived in the Bronx of New York City and created a contract with God. Soon after, his daughter; Rachele, dies from a sickness, and he no longer feels God honored their agreement. He believes that God violated their contract and is now on a mission to lie to others as God supposedly "lied" to him. Frimme then becomes the rich man on Dropsie Avenue due to his scanky scheme, owning an apartment building and selling buildings on the avenue. Hersh believes that if he would allow the wisest elders from the old synagogue write a new contract for him, God would not violate his contract and he would be able start a new life. Little did he know, God had other plans for him.

Frimme Hersh is the main character in this Graphic novel, he starts off as kind and helpful Jew whom was always told that God would reward him. He lived his life believing that only great blessing will come his way. When his daughter; Rachele passed, he lived in a depressing realm, trying to get revenge from what he lost. Missis Kelly; an Ireland widow and Mr. Cragg are both tenants from Hershes apartment building. Mr.Johnson is the bank accountant who agreed to help Hersh purchase building. The Mistress is a character in the book that tried to liven up Hershes life and have fun for once. She seemed to live in the fast lane as a gold digger. The three wisest elders are men who are a part of the old synagogue, and are told to write a contract between god and Frimme. Shloime Khreks is a new boy on the avenue who saved three kids and Missis Kelly from an apartment fire. After defending himself from three tough guys, Khreks finds a written stone with Frimme Hersh name on it. He decides to sign his name underneath Hersh name, entering into a contract with God.

The creator and originator of this book is Will Eisner. He was born March 6th 1917 and raised in Brooklyn NY. He experienced a lot growing up as a Jewish tenement, which inspired him to voice some true some that could be true stories through his graphic novels. 

 "My first true literary influences were the stories by Horatio Alger," he said. "This was the first reading I did where I remember being aware of the story content and what was being said. Alger's message was that you can rise above your circumstances and find success through your own diligence and hard work. And as a kid in the ghetto, that spoke directly to me. And the stories were about an average person triumphing against obstacles, and that’s a theme that I' v returned to many times in my work. It was powerful stuff to me then. They still stick with me; they had a tremendous effect on me." 

-Will Eisner

Eisner followed such work as Popeye's E.C. Segar and Tim Tyler's Luck. He read comic strips such as The Gumps by Sidney Smith or Little Orphan Annie by Harold Gray. Some graphic Novels and Paperbacks that Will Eisner has written are A Contract with God, A Life Force, New York: The Big City, City People Notebook, Will Eisner Reader, The Dreamer, Invisible People, To the Heart of the Storm, Dropsie Avenue, Life on Another Planet, Family Matter, Minor Miracles, Name of the Game, The Building, The Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Fagin the Few. Will Eisner died January 3, 2005. He helped define the language of comics, and will remain one of the most important and inspirational creator in the comics' field.

The context and theme of The Contract with God are stories told by Will Eisner expressing the frustration, struggle and the loss of faith people go through when things aren't as planned. Although some stories are true, compared to other comics; Eisner wanted to change comics from the superheroes and comical books to moral tales and real life experiences. He has made an impact on not only readers but by other creators.

"Will Eisner has been cited as an inspiration by comics' creators from all corners of the world and from all areas of the art form"

I absolutely enjoyed this graphic novel. I think there was always a lessoned learned through his stories. I believe the best way to attract readers is to voice about your own experience where others could relate, and that’s exactly what Will Eisner succeeded in. I think he also seceded in relating his images to his story; each character and theme created within the story gave the exact feeling and emotion a reader should feel when reading the story. Even though his images are so vivid; they are strong enough to illustrate the story without text. His images may have dominate over the yet it worked. He was able to express the stages of how one act when loosing someone important to them, (sorrow-confusion-depression-revenge-ransom) realistically through his use of thick and thin lines forming the figure and the settings of the illustration. Using the realistic spectrum with no color; he captured and created the seriousness and importance of the characters situation and what he was going through at that moment.