The Man (comics)

The Man is a graphic novella for children, written and illustrated by Raymond Briggs and published by Julia MacRae Books in 1992. The diologue tells the humorous story of a boy, John, who is visited by the titular Man, a minuscule human (homunculus) who arrives in the boy's bedroom unclothed and hungry. After getting over his initial shock, the boy starts to take care of him. The story follows their relationship over the next few days between John and 'Man', with the Man showing himself to be demanding, bossy and messy, but nevertheless a bond forms between the pair. Their time together involves many funny and peculiar moments, such as an odd obsession with "Frank Cooper's Oxford marmalade", using socks for jumpers, and a near-death collision with a marmalade jar.

Unlike the boy and Snowman in Briggs' famous wordless picture book The Snowman, both characters have full dialogue throughout, with each character's lines formatted differently so that they can be distinguished. Occasionally the dialogue and drawings are interspersed so that speech bubbles surround certain lines of text.

Dutch and Danish-language editions were published in 1993 and the first U.S. edition in 1995.^[1] Later there was an audiobook edition, with Michael Palin voicing the Man.

For both writing and illustrating The Man Briggs won the 1992 Kurt Maschler Award, or "the Emil". The award from Maschler Publications and Booktrust annually (1982 to 1999) recognised one British "work of imagination for children, in which text and illustration are integrated so that each enhances and balances the other."^[2]

Plot

John awakes one morning to find a tiny naked man standing next to his bed, demanding to be clothed. Initially assuming he is dreaming, the boy gets up and finds a fur mitten to be used as a sleeping bed, before cutting up a sock for the Man to wear as clothes. He then makes some breakfast for the stranger, who requests specific brands of food he should have in future, such as Frank Cooper’s Oxford Marmalade and Channel Island milk. John then questions where the Man has come from, and asks whether he is a Borrower, an alien, fairy, or gnome (and later Nazi refugee), much to the Man’s annoyance. John then decides to use his "secrets cupboard" as a space for him to sleep in.

Later John bathes the Man, before drying and cutting his hair. Before he leaves to go shopping, the Man makes him swear that he won’t tell anyone about him, including the authorities, and then pricks their fingers as an oath. The boy returns later with all of the Man's requested food, and soon sets about making belongings for the Man, including a record cassette brush as a toothbrush and a tiny flannel and basin. That evening, the Man climbs up the house and uses the drainpipe to urinate, citing Job 38 atop the roof.

The next day, the two awake and start talking about the importance of names after the Man states he has never had one and acknowledges his lack of an education. Later he explains that there are not many of his kind left, and John states that since they are an undiscovered endangered species, they could be looked after and studied; exasperated, the Man disagrees. Downstairs, John’s mother queries why he has bought Oxford marmalade (and later the Gold Top milk), and John hides the real reason. The Man also requests for him to get him some beer, and subsequently John finds some old Guinness in the garage. Later, with his permission, the Man uses John’s Walkman, and whilst listening to the radio’s Sunday morning service, starts to sing the hymns aloud. Afterwards, he notes how John is lucky in owning lots of useful possessions, contemplating that he has nothing, unlike most other people.

As the evening draws in, the Man asks for a Bible and begins reciting Job 14 aloud, much to John’s annoyance. Later, he is angered again when his Mum blames him for getting marmalade on the phone; the Man owns up and clarifies he had tried to ring someone regarding the loss of his clothes. He then goes out onto the roof for some fresh air and to pray a little, despite stressing he is not religious.

In the morning, John makes a boiled egg for the Man, and later queries what he is going to do with him. Angrily, the Man retorts that only he governs himself in living the life as he wishes, and would find no trouble in staying somewhere else. Eventually John confesses he enjoys his company and wouldn't want him to leave. Sometime later, the Man asks for more needed supplies and John complains he has already spent a lot of money on him, deeming him too demanding. Some time afterwards, the Man explains that he is expecting a call, despite the line having been engaged when he tried before. He explains that before he had arrived at the house he had told them John’s address, since having previously studied the day-to-day life of John’s home, (at one point even spending Christmas there). Due to a sudden emergency at his past settlement he had then been forced to leave immediately and make for the house.

Later that day, the Man requests some beef, despite the boy’s parents being vegetarians, and subsequently they later cook the meat in his bedroom fireplace much to the Man’s pleasure. However, his mum soon discovers more Marmalade around the house and blames John. Subsequently forced to eat in his room, he wonders why he had bothered to take the Man in, to which the Man deduces that it was all down to his fascinating size as opposed to John's kindness, and argues that John sees him as a pet, rather than a person. Later John apologizes and the Man forgives him, much to both their surprise.

That night, the Man asks to rest in John’s hand and shares a tender moment explaining his species’ lack of ability to lead a human life and how dangerous the world is for them. Later, having a realisation, the boy notes the Man’s tanned and hairy appearance and deduces he is foreign. The man states he can’t stand foreigners as well as all "barging-about" humans, resulting in John almost throwing him out. Meanwhile, in bed, John’s parents contemplate about how strange John’s behaviour has been lately, having discovered both the beef and beer in his bedroom.

The next day when his parents are out, John agrees to let the man make his own cup of tea. The man manages this, but upon attempting to open a jar of marmalade, accidentally smashes it and almost kills himself in the process. John saves him, and later as he cleans up the mess he complains to himself about his role as a "servant" and "mother" to the Man. Once they start their meal together, he states he likes watching the Man eat. Irritated, the Man tells him that he doesn’t want his life being a performance and that John only sees him as a "toy" and "novelty" to play with due to his size, whilst John retorts that the Man uses his own size to manipulate people into waiting on him and disguise his true personality. After their argument ends, John’s father berates him downstairs regarding the mess around the house, and later John returns to voice his frustration to the Man.

That evening, the boy explains that he has heard about people on the radio who are in need of care, like the Man, and that he wishes to hand him over to the authorities. After John almost phones a care home, the Man in retaliation, believing he would die, claims he is just as capable to end a life early and threatens to commit arson on the house. John then realises with horror he could kill them all, and decides to take a walk outside, with the Man going up to the rooftops.

In the morning, John wakes up to find the Man gone and a note left for him, outlining the Man had to leave as a result of a ‘three day’ rule, and that the boy was more kind to him than anyone else in his life. He also adds that he had managed to receive his clothes. The story ends with John grieving over the departure of his friend.

See also

• Fairy tale

References

External links

• The Man in libraries (WorldCat catalog) — immediately, first edition