 To comics scholar Bart Beaty , Kalo 's giving up cartooning for familial duties provides the protagonist an opportunity to evaluate his own life : his failed romances , his obsessive collecting , and his relationship with his family — in particular his mother , whose home is an emotional safety zone for him . The Seth character declares , " I used to like to get inside cardboard boxes and close them up behind me . I enjoyed being in that safe , confined space . My mother 's place is a lot like those boxes . " 
