North Korea is known today as one of the most secretive and closely guarded countries on earth. Very few people are ever allowed to visit and the few that do are only allowed to see the parts of the country that the government wants them to see. In this way, the government can keep information about North Korea from leaking out to the rest of the world. The graphic novel Pyongyang by Guy Delisle follows his experience as a visitor to North Korea. Through close reading of the images throughout the graphic novel, the themes of lack of information and isolation are highlighted by several stylistic choices in the illustrations. 

Lack of information is shown through color, (or lack thereof). The color scheme that is used in Pyongyang shows the bleak and dim outlook the narrator has on North Korea as he goes about his journey. Technically there is no actual color used. Instead there are several different shades of gray. The illustrator uses various shades of gray and black in Pyongyang to show a sense of gloom and misery that the main character feels when on his visit to North Korea. For example, page 153 depicts a hypothetical image of a North Korean man on vacation in France, which is known for being a vibrant cultural hub. Yet the man is depicted as walking through a grey, dull city. In the box, the narrator wonders to himself what book a North Korean might take on a trip to France. There are millions of books a person could chose to read with countless adventures and stories, however, the narrator decides a North Korean would most likely pick a book entitled "The History of the Commune"(Delisle,153) This is a very bland and dull topic much like the grey in the image which reinforces the fact that North Koreans have no access to anything not allowed by the government. They are not free people and thus are not free to learn or experience new things. And the grey city in France in this picture shows the blandness of North Korean knowledge. The author proves that there is so much information and vibrant culture in the world but because of the unfortunate situation they are in, North Koreans are not able to experience.(North Korea's Tightly Controlled Media) Another thing the color scheme shows is uniformity. Every image of the inside of a building is a similar shade of grey and the floor is always paved in grey marble. The lack variety in the color scheme of Pyongyang reflects the culture of North Korea, which also has very little diversity or vibrancy. All the decorations in the building go along with the plainness of the culture of North Korea. Overall the color grey shows the bleak situation in North Korea.

Isolation is another theme that occurs throughout this section of the graphic novel. There are several different ways the illustrations show this theme. First is on page 156, where an island with a vegetable garden, and a golf course is drawn. The island is surrounded by water and there is a large wall on the outskirts of the island and only one way on to the island over a bridge. The compound resembles a medieval castle with a moat and a drawbridge. Medieval castles were designed to keep people out and this island seems to be designed in the same way. While the citizens of North Korea are starving and struggling to find food on a regular basis(Novak, Kathy). the government shows any visitors to the country only the nicest part which is isolated from the rest of the poverty. The other two examples of isolation come on page 159. The first is the top left image of the NGO headquarters. Similar to the island, there is a wall surrounding the compound, which keeps unwanted visitors out and also keeps any information kept inside the walls from getting out. This is once again an example of the secretive nature of the North Korean government that the author is trying to express. The compound is completely isolated from the outside world. There aren't even buildings outside of the compound in the illustration, just flat roads. This shows that everything outside of the walls isn't important and is disposable while the inside is protected and held under strict lock and key. The other example of isolation on page 159 is the bottom right image of the main character standing in a room. The text box explains that a famine had been blamed on a "series of unfortunate natural catastrophes: floods, droughts ... " (Delisle, 159). when in reality, North Korea is simply unable to produce enough food to feed its people(Novak, Kathy). The main character knows the reality and thus is isolated from the rest of the population because of his knowledge. This isolation is shown in several ways in this image. First is how far away the narrator looks. It is a very zoomed out image of the narrator to the point where you can see his entire body. This makes him seem alone and small in a very large room. Also the perspective of the image is looking down upon the man, which also makes the room seem very tall on top of the large area of the room.  The spacing and contrast of the image adds to the main character's isolation as well. The main character, who is wearing all dark colors, is standing on a large area of white floor. He not only contrasts with the floor but he is also isolated in the middle of the floor. All of these ways he is isolated in the image support the point that his knowledge of the true reason there is a shortage of food in North Korea isolates him from the rest of the population. And in these ways, the theme of isolation is present throughout the graphic novel.

Because of the Delisle's knowledge of the outside world and what the people of North Korea are missing, his graphic novel depicts North Korea in a bleak way through color and makes the main character seem isolated in several different ways. North Korea is a military state in which information cannot travel freely throughout the country, which isolates itself from the outside world. Although this is just a short section of a larger novel, the stylistic choices of the illustrator demonstrate these themes and serve to reveal the truth about North Korea.

