As a graphic novel, THE KINDLY ONES uses visual language as well as the language of the characters to convey meaning. The individual characters' speech is represented by specific styles. Morpheus' words are presented in black amorphous boxes, just as Morpheus himself is black and shadowy and pale. When the police come to question Lyta about her son's disappearance, her words are small, representing how far away, mentally, Lyta is drifting from the world.