Stitches is an autobiographical graphic novel about author David Small’s childhood experience with cancer. Small’s family is abusive and neglectful, and his parents delay his treatment and conceal from him the very fact that he had cancer in the first place. It is eventually revealed that his tumor was caused by the numerous X-rays his radiologist father gave him. An operation to remove the tumor removes all but one of his vocal cords and rendered him a virtual mute. Rather than focusing on battling cancer, this work centers its narrative on the potentially lifelong complications caused by treatment, the paradox of being simultaneously considered well and gravely ill, and paternalism in medicine.
Key outtakes:
Pg. 132
In this panel, Small has finally been taken to see a doctor about a growth in his neck, and is misdiagnosed with a sebaceous cyst.
Pg. 168
This scene takes place immediately after Small’s first operation, where it is discovered that his cyst is in fact cancer. Here, the doctor’s eyes look menacing, and he seems shifty as he tells what we soon discover to be a bald faced lie.
Pg. 204
In this panel Small discovers a letter written by his mother to his grandmother, and learns that he has had cancer the whole time. Small displays an obvious sense of betrayal at this revelation, but due to the emotional and physical neglect of his family he simply withdraws into himself rather than confront them.
Pg. 190
In this panel Small examines his scar for the first time. Although he has been cured of his cancer, the size and messiness of the cut tells the reader that the real wound is that this operation has been conducted far too late, with serious complications, and without his full consent.
His resulting inability to speak above a whisper completely destroys his social life. He describes becoming effectively invisible at school, and begins cutting class and spending time with social dropouts.
Pg. 238
Small’s parents react poorly when he finally confronts them about his operation, angrily justifying their decision to keep everything from him.
Pg. 287
Here is the book’s final twist: the many unnecessary radiation treatments Small’s father gave him as a child were the source of his cancer. In the mainstream narrative, cancer is internal (genetic or spontaneous) or self inflicted (smoking) or occasionally environmental. Rarely is it something inflicted by a loved one in a pattern of medical abuse.
This completely destroys what is left of his relationship with his parents. After this revelation, he moves out of his house entirely at age 16.