‘They are the We of Me’ is based on Carson McCullers’ novel ‘The Member of the Wedding’, set in small-town Georgia in the summer of 1944. It tells the story of twelve-year-old Frankie Addams who, desperate to belong, decides that her brother’s wedding is the perfect way to escape:

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“The trouble with me is that for a long time I have just been an I person. All people belong to a We except me. Not to belong to a We makes you too lonesome.”

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My illustration combines portraits of Frankie and her family with key scenes from the novel. With Frankie at the centre of the story and the drawing, we see the world as she sees it - full of the anticipation, hope, and grief surrounding the wedding. The novel depicts how one shared experience of the wedding, while seen as ‘everyday’ to the other characters, becomes an obsession and ultimately transforms the way Frankie perceives the world. 

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