Blankets is an autobiographical graphic novel (or an "illustrated novel" as it's called on the cover) by Craig Thompson.
Blankets tells the story of Craig's life from childhood until adulthood. Growing up Craig had a less-than-stellar childhood full of unfortunate events and boredom. He spent his days drawing and fantasizing. As he grew, he became more and more interested in Christianity as a way of dealing with his woes. While at Bible Camp as a teenager, his life changes when he meets another outcast named Raina.
Blankets provides examples of:
- '80s Hair: Mullets are commonplace in scenes set in Craig's elementary years. He also mentions that mullets are popular in his rural town even into the 1990s.
- Abusive Parents: While Craig's father is never seen beating the children, he does lock Phil up in a spider-filled closet for being too noisy, and when Craig is caught drawing a dirty picture, he looks like he's barely restraining himself from hitting him. Also when one friend's mother catches them having a pee fight, Craig mentions that they were lucky it wasn't their father.
- Adult Child: Raina's sister Laura, who's nineteen but has a mental age of about one.
- All of the Other Reindeer: Craig was bullied his entire childhood for being too skinny, too poor, too religious, and too quiet.
- Bland-Name Product: In one scene, Craig has a bowl of Cheeryoats.
- Big Little Brother: After Craig comes back from college he's surprised to see his younger brother is now a foot taller than him.
- Bittersweet Ending: Craig and Raina break up because she wants to focus on her schooling as her parents get a divorce, and Craig suffers a Crisis of Faith on studying the Bible. On the other hand, Craig decides to go to art school, move to Portland and pursue his dreams while taking day jobs on the side.
- Bullying the Disabled: Raina's brother Ben was bullied growing up for having Down's Syndrome.
- Children Are Cruel: A reoccuring theme is that even little kids can be cruel. Craig suffered a lot of abuse from his peers growing up.
- Closet Punishment: Ater complaining about sharing a bed with his older brother, Phil gets locked in the "cubby hole", a small unlit room hidden in the playroom that is covered in dust and filled with pests.
- Cope by Creating: Craig began drawing as a way to cope with his stress and boredom.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: As this takes place in The '80s and The '90s, values are a bit different when it comes to punishment and perception of Abusive Parents.
- Dirty Kid: Deconstruction. Like many boys his age Craig displays a budding sexual curiosity and ends up drawing a naked woman. When his parents find out, they shame him for it.
- Disappointing Older Sibling: Craig laments on his inability to be a protective older brother growing up:I should have been the one who was locked in the cubby hole that night—because I was a pathetic older brother. I neglected my protective role in dangerous situations. At other times, when Phil needed a play-companion I demanded to be left alone. But perhaps worst of all, I'd constantly threaten him with my discouraging discoveries of the "real world", as if my three years of seniority made me an expert.
- Do You Think I Can't Feel: Ben confronts his adoptive father for considering divorce. He says just because he has Down's Syndrome doesn't mean that he's stupid; divorce would ruin their family and go against what they were taught in the Bible.
- Escapism: Craig used dreaming and later drawing as escapism growing up.
- Everyone Has Standards: When Craig gets with the other social exiles, they go into the boys' cabin and mess with their stuff. Greg however objects to one kid's stuff being messed with because to him, he sounds like a harmless nerd - and it's one thing to do this to jocks because they deserve it.
- Friendless Background: Craig didn't have any friends growing up, outside of his little brother. He stuck to himself prior to meeting Raina.
- The Fundamentalist: Craig's mother, as well as many of the religious figures in his life.
- Heaven Seeker: Craig in his youth.
- Karma Houdini: The bullies and the babysitter presumably never get punished for what they did.
- Mood Whiplash: When Craig and Raina are about to go to bed together for the first time (only sleeping, using each others presence as comfort), Craig mentally recites several Bible passages which deal with the temptations of the flesh as being something to resist. Then he sees Raina in her nightgown and his thoughts switch to the Song of Solomon, which is a paean to the joy of God's gift of sexuality.
- My Greatest Failure: Craig, pretty rightly, sees not warning Phil about the perverted babysitter as this.
- Nothing Is Scarier: The babysitter's full face is never shown - and Craig never mentions specifically what was done to him and his brother. This makes it frightening.
- Rape as Backstory: As children, Craig and his brother were molested by their babysitter.
- The Runaway: As a child Craig often fantasized about running away.
- Sadist Teacher: One of Greg's teachers is portrayed this way. Of course, Greg did submit a poem about people eating excrement so she does have a point...
- Shrinking Violet: Raina in a picture is this compared to her sister, who is dressed in very fancy makeup.
- Sleepy Depressive: Craig used dreaming as an early form of escapism from his abuse. He later turned to drawing instead.
- Toilet Humor: The kids naturally engage in this. Truth in Television as kids this age are often this way.
- Their First Time: Played with. Craig and Raina are (definitely in his case, implied in hers) each others first adult sexual experience, but they never go farther than dry-humping while Craig kisses her breasts.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Greg at one point draws a naked woman - which concerns his parents and his bus driver.
