8/10/2019 Charles M. Schulz Visionary and Humanist (Part 2)

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Charles M. Schulz visionary and humanist: Part Two

Umberto Eco believes that Charles Schulz is essentially a poet andPeanutsis nothing but poetry in graphicform. In his 1963 essay The World of Charlie Brown, Eco has observed that the strip has an extraordinarycapacity of carrying tenderness, pity, wickedness to moments of extreme transparence and a distinctiveeminence where readers are accustomed to identify with the surface of things, a revelation that causes us

to touch the depth of things. Panel after panel Schulzs artistic mastery is manifested in the graceful way he

had moved from one kind of role to another. He can effortlessly drift from a funny cartoonist to a lyricalpoet, from a keen social observer to a visionary philosopher almost unnoticed. Eco has also found thatregardless of the diverse role he plays while creating the strip, Schulzs art essentially remains his versionof the human condition produced from everyday events.Peanutscan be read on several levels due to thisassorted appeal and Schulz could create a pensive mood by infusing a tempting optimism and hope withinthe milieu of despair. Quite obviously, unrequited love became a central theme ofPeanuts. The narrativehas also given emphasis to various Christian themes. Even if the strip has distinctly represented theAmerican way of life and Schulz had undoubtedly transpired himself into Americas conscience, the stripssheer chemistry of blending social and moral subjects with complex themes and ideas, its appealingcharacterization and lucid dialogues has touched million hearts across the globe. Readers have found it easyto relate themselves with the characters.

AlthoughPeanutsfeatured only the children, the strip is certainly not about childhood. The losses,rejections and disillusionments faced by the children are mostly related with the psychosomatic torments ofthe modern industrial society. Happiness, Schulz had pointed out, does not create humor. According toDavid Michaelis, the author of Schulzs recent biography, InPeanuts, the game was always lost, thefootball always snatched away the kite was not just stuck in a tree, it was eaten by it; the pitcher did notjust give up a line drive, he was stripped bare by it, exposed. The genius of Schulz lies in shattering thedelusion about childhood inside the adult psyche. The children in Peanutsare actually representing the

epitome of human life confronting all the unavoidable complexities of the adult world depression,loneliness, melancholy, humiliation, struggle to succeed, fear, failure, anxiety and self-doubts. Schulzhimself had hinted on the real essence of the strip by saying, Anybody who says Peanuts is cute is just

crazy.

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Through the years, the strip has skillfully addressed various socio-political issues with a dry sense of humor.ReadingPeanutsin a socio-political context can uncover interesting aspects of the strip. An early strip hadlampooned present-day consumer culture by showing Charlie Brown getting disempowered by the falseneeds of consumerism. Charlie Brown purchases a wastebasket, unpacks it, and feels gratified by theusefulness of his purchase after throwing the useless wrapping paper into it. In a 1957 strip, Snoopy is seenholding his fist in the air and moving around like the fascist dictator Mussolini to suggest Lucys fascistic

temperament. In a July 1970 episode, Snoopy gets trapped and tear-gassed with the rest of the crowd whiledelivering a speech at Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. The trouble was caused by a riot that broke out during ademonstration against dogs being sent to Vietnam, and then not getting back. In another remarkable

episode, Charlie Browns African-American friend Franklin reveals that though he had three good memoriesonce, he has forgotten all of them. Franklins revelation comes after the opening panels where Schulz hadrelated good memories with hope.

The crabby Lucys psychiatric booth is another superb idea conceived by Schulz to ridicule the neurosis ofmodern civilization and its citizens. Lucy, who probably achieves tranquility through her insensitivity,councils the alienation, fear, anxieties and frustration of any patient, who has a problem and a nickel, withher aggressive psychobabble. In one of the episodes, Lucy counsel Charlie Brown to develop a personal

philosophy which will carry him through times of stress. After thinking hard, Charlie Brown finds one: Lifeis like an ice cream coneyou have to learn to lick it which caused a stunned Lucy to yell, Thats the moststupid philosophy Ive ever heard! In an early 1958 strip, Lucys tousle-haired brother Linus gets terrifiedafter he mistakenly interpreted snowfall with nuclear fallout. In another episode, Linus finds a notecarrying several parental advices in his lunch packet and anxiously reads it. When Charlie Brown inquires

8/10/2019 Charles M. Schulz Visionary and Humanist (Part 2)

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about his lunch menu, Linus replies, Carrots, Peanut butter and Guilt. A 1969 series show Linuss teacherMiss Othmar losing her job for participating in an ongoing teachers strike. In a parody of th e space racehype, Snoopy imagines himself as the first beagle to land on the moon and feels jubilant for beatingRussians.

The strip had also carried an interesting number of popular culture references. Charlie Brown wears a DavyCrockett hat and is seen surrounded by Crockett merchandise, Linus turns depressed because Bob Dylanwas about to turn thirty. Peppermint Patty tells Marcie Has anyone ever told you that when you're mad,you look just like Billie Jean King? and refers to Marcies Billie Jean King glasses. Snoopy imitatesMickey Mouse and leans against a wall putting on black glasses to resemble Joe Cool. There are many otherpopular culture references like pop singer Pat Boon, rock king Elvis Presley, baseball star Duke Snider,comedian Mort Sahl, the popular children television show Howdy Doody, The Beat Generation and sci-fimovies that can also be found scattered in the strip. In a 1958 strip Charlie Brown asks Lucy, How did youever get to be such a fuss-budget? Lucy explains her sourceof inspiration by displaying all the fuss titledbooks she has studied. Every of the titles were a distorted version of actual popular book titles of that time.

Lucys favorite titleI Was a Fuss-Budget for the F.B.I.was derived fromI Was a Communist for the FBI, aradio show and later film based on an undercover agent infiltrating communist organizations.

Charlie Browns baseball team had three regular girl members Lucy, Marcie, and Violet on the side anideal example of gender equality. He even refused sponsorship for his team because the sponsor objectedhaving girls or dogs on the side. Toy piano prodigy Schroeder with his obsession with Beethoven becomesthe symbol of cultural snobbism. Pig Pen is always dirty and messy but when his companions accuse himfor his filthy appearance, Pig Pen loudly proclaims that he has clean thoughts and an immaculately clean

conscience. When Charlie Brown laments after losing a baseball game, How can we lose when were sosincere, he epitomizes all the misfits of a human society gone paranoid. This superb dialogue is a testimonyof why Charlie Brown is called the most sensitive child ever to appear in a comic strip.

Charlie Browns little sister Sallys school building has a habit to drop bricks on people it didnt like. Sallyloves to talks with the building and frequently questions its authoritative existence. Burdened with

numerous complains and criticism, the building collapses from depression. While presenting a report onrain in her class Sally reads, "This is my report on rain. Rain is water which does not come out of

faucets...after a storm, the rain goes down the drain, which is where I sometimes feel my education is alsogoing". Sally also considers her a good evangelist because she was able to convince a classmate about thesuperiority of Christianity by hitting him with her lunchbox. In an obvious display of the darker side of hishumor, Schulz once showed Lucys still on the bottle baby brother Rerun Van Pelt getting involved in agambling scandal while playing for Charlie Brown's baseball team. But Rerun has a point. How will he knowthat gambling is wrong when he is still new in the world? Besides, he had only bet a nickel. What else canyou do with a nickel these days? baby Rerun candidlyspells out.

I want to remind adults of the pressures children are always being put under, Schulz once said. In variousinstances his calm observation has revealed several absurdities of the modern world. In a 1988 interviewwith Michael Barrier, Schulz had spoken about the strips relation to social issues:

I think the social issues that I deal with are much more long-lasting and more important than losing the White

House..People say, Dont you ever deal in social issues? Well, dont you read the strip? If you read the strip

every day, youll see that I deal with more social issues in one month than some of these deal [with] in a whole year.

But you have to be a little more sensitive to it. (Source)

(End of Part Two)

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