March: Book One by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin Analysis

John Lewis and Andrew Aydin successfully told the narrative of Lewis throughout his life as an advocate for equal rights. Lewis was born in the deep South of the United States in 1940. Segregation and racial discrimination were a large adherence during his childhood and he knew that he wanted to change the gravity of skin color across the United States. Lewis was influenced by non-violent leaders including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi. Andrew Aydin has grown up in the later years of the generation, not fully experiencing the brunt of segregation, but fully aware of its historical impact. Aydin focuses on writing to today’s youth, teaching them lessons from historical truths and figures. March: Book One, told through anecdotes and first-hand accounts of Lewis, effectively shares his message that reconciliation and hope are crucial when faced with adversity and violence. 

The arrangement of March is an impactful piece of the story to uncover the message of nonviolent protest. Lewis begins his book with the March on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, an event called “Bloody Sunday” after guns and tear gas were used on unarmed Civil Rights movement demonstrators. Lewis and Aydin depict the horrors of this event as a preface to the retelling of Lewis’s involvement in the Civil Rights movement. The book flashes to more recent history, the inauguration day of Barack Obama. The scene starts with Lewis getting ready for the day and traveling to his office in the Cannon House Office Building. Lewis is interrupted in his greetings by a mother and her two boys, the mother wanting to teach her sons about their history. Lewis is generous to share his stories about his involvement in civil rights and his childhood. Through many snapshots of Lewis’s life, he and Aydin tell his accounts of discrimination and his aversion to violence against others. Specifically, they show the importance of remaining hopeful and nonviolent in deep distress. 

Many arguments are made to establish the overarching message of nonviolence. Lewis and Aydin depict the importance of prayer and religion through sermons and gospels. Lewis shares his wish to have a nation united with the fair and morally correct treatment of African Americans by telling of his journey North during his youth. Lewis and Aydin influence empathy by depicting the internal war the demonstrators fought when preparing for violent treatment. The pair desire to retell the tragedy of the past by showing the progress of the present. 

Lewis and Aydin effectively show the continuing importance of being unrelenting in the face of violence by tying the ‘present’ events to his flashbacks. The first large event was “Bloody Sunday,” where Lewis shared the goal of the Civil Rights demonstrators to remain peaceful. So, when troops began to advance on the protestors, who were stranded on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Lewis advised them to lower and pray. Lewis shares his love of preaching from a young age with the audience, establishing his reliance on faith when faced with violence. 

Again, Lewis and Aydin connect the past and present in the opening scene when Lewis sings while getting ready for the day. He sings “You can take my freedom, but you cannot take my dignity”, a common gospel song from the 1900s.  Singing is repeated when Lewis and 81 others were arrested at a sit-in. On the way to the jail and in the cells they sang another gospel song, stating “We will overcome someday.” This continuation of song that inspires change shows the everlasting impact of the Civil Rights movement and the sustained importance of nonviolent protest. 

The continuity of the values of the Civil Rights movement is reflected through small details in picture and text. Lewis and Aydin establish a strong, universal metaphor for treating every individual equally and respectfully through their anecdote of Lewis’s chicken farm. Lewis is questioned about the chicken toys in his office, answering with stories of his childhood chicken farm. Lewis expressed how he alone cared enough to learn the type, name, and personality of his chickens. He also talked of the distress he felt when his chickens were sold or eaten. This story is a strong metaphor that connects to the history of African Americans and aids the reader to understand from an outside perspective of discrimination. Lewis stated that everyone else just saw chickens and didn’t care, similarly to the feeling of going to segregated schools and stores: unnoticed and unimportant. This metaphor is carried throughout the book and showing these chicken relics in Lewis’ house and office, indicating the value of experience. 

The connection March creates with the reader to share Lewis’s experience with the Civil Rights movement uniquely calls attention to the individual struggle, along with the scourages of all facing the discrimination and segregation of the South. This book contains a great portrayal of emotion through the contrasting black and white colors. The use of different fonts and sizes to words to express their importance to the story and their impact on Lewis and Aydin gives a strong voice to the speakers, telling the story fully. As a comic, March has many scenes, some showing the event, some the emotion of a character, and some to bring emotion to the audience. Uncharacteristically, there are frames lacking words that tell the story in a way that encourages the reader to make their own conclusions and think for themselves. Showing that perseverance is needed for the changes brought by the movement and the changes sought after in the future. March shows the perseverance of Civil Rights demonstrators creatively and effectively. 

Through the golden retelling of the Civil Rights movement, Lewis and Aydin focus on religion and Civil rights as a combined idea within Lewis’s and the demonstrators’ past. It would have provided endless benefits to show the religious presence in the ‘present’ as it played a substantial standing on the Edmund Pettus Bridge and the participating marchers. Perhaps, the moral of this absence could be the overwhelming thereness that faith has at all times. Even without the proclamation of God in the ‘present,’ does not discredit the importance of faith in the past, present, and future. The hidden values in March are deeper than the words found on the black and white pages. 

The message found in March is implicitly found within the lines and pictures. The idea that hope and nonviolence is the key to reaching a peaceful world is not limited to the book’s focus on the Civil Rights movement. This message is seen repetitively in the past and will continue to resurface in the future. Calling upon Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi directly shows the movement, but looking back to the preceding events of social equality (or lack thereof)  with alienation and cruelness of the Trail of Tears, Salem Witch Trials, and the enslavement of innocents shows not only progression but a never-ending need of hope and fighting of the societal standards towards the betterment of all. Even in the lifetime of John Lewis, he saw the segregation of whites and blacks lead to the first African American President. The message can be seen as an inspirational push of the current generation to continue towards equality, showing that even as the times have greatly progressed, there will be adversity and room for growth. 

March: Book One effectively shares the message that reconciliation and hope are crucial when faced with adversity and violence. It shows that nonviolent actions take time and perseverance and strength to accomplish their mission. Personally, I would recommend this book to those eager to learn about recent American history whilst open-minded about the impacts of the Civil Rights movement. This book looks deeply into the Civil Rights movement, while simultaneously focusing on the personal narrative of John Lewis. It speaks towards all facing adversity and the message will always be relevant, singularly and worldly. Lewis and Aydin not only speak about the tribulations faced, but the progression of society through perseverance, which established the continuing relevance of Civil Rights.  They meet their goal of inspiring future generations to be inclusive and peaceful.