Charles M.

Schulz visionary and humanist: Part Two

Umberto Eco believes that Charles Schulz is essentially a poet andPeanuts is nothing but poetry in graphic
form. In his 1963 essay The World of Charlie Brown, Eco has observed that the strip has an extraordinary
capacity of carrying tenderness, pity, wickedness to moments of extreme transparence and a distinctive
eminence 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 lyrical
poet, from a keen social observer to a visionary philosopher almost unnoticed. Eco has also found that
regardless of the diverse role he plays while creating the strip, Schulzs art essentially remains his version
of the human condition produced from everyday events. Peanuts can be read on several levels due to this
assorted appeal and Schulz could create a pensive mood by infusing a tempting optimism and hope within
the milieu of despair. Quite obviously, unrequited love became a central theme of Peanuts. The narrative
has also given emphasis to various Christian themes. Even if the strip has distinctly represented the
American way of life and Schulz had undoubtedly transpired himself into Americas conscience, the strips
sheer chemistry of blending social and moral subjects with complex themes and ideas, its appealing
characterization and lucid dialogues has touched million hearts across the globe. Readers have found it easy
to relate themselves with the characters.

Although Peanuts featured 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 of
the modern industrial society. Happiness, Schulz had pointed out, does not create humor. According to
David Michaelis, the author of Schulzs recent biography, In Peanuts, the game was always lost, the
football always snatched away the kite was not just stuck in a tree, it was eaten by it; the pitcher did not
just give up a line drive, he was stripped bare by it, exposed. The genius of Schulz lies in shattering the
delusion about childhood inside the adult psyche. The children in Peanuts are 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. Schulz
himself 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.
Reading Peanuts in a socio-political context can uncover interesting aspects of the strip. An early strip had
lampooned present-day consumer culture by showing Charlie Brown getting disempowered by the false
needs of consumerism. Charlie Brown purchases a wastebasket, unpacks it, and feels gratified by the
usefulness of his purchase after throwing the useless wrapping paper into it. In a 1957 strip, Snoopy is seen
holding 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 while
delivering a speech at Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. The trouble was caused by a riot that broke out during a
demonstration 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 memories
once, he has forgotten all of them. Franklins revelation comes after the opening panels where Schulz had
related good memories with hope.

The crabby Lucys psychiatric booth is another superb idea conceived by Schulz to ridicule the neurosis of
modern 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, with
her 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: Life
is like an ice cream coneyou have to learn to lick it which caused a stunned Lucy to yell, Thats the most
stupid philosophy Ive ever heard! In an early 1958 strip, Lucys tousle-haired brother Linus gets terrified
after he mistakenly interpreted snowfall with nuclear fallout. In another episode, Linus finds a note
carrying several parental advices in his lunch packet and anxiously reads it. When Charlie Brown inquires
about his lunch menu, Linus replies, Carrots, Peanut butter and Guilt. A 1969 series show Linuss teacher
Miss Othmar losing her job for participating in an ongoing teachers strike. In a parody of the space race
hype, Snoopy imagines himself as the first beagle to land on the moon and feels jubilant for beating
Russians.

The strip had also carried an interesting number of popular culture references. Charlie Brown wears a Davy
Crockett hat and is seen surrounded by Crockett merchandise, Linus turns depressed because Bob Dylan
was 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 imitates
Mickey Mouse and leans against a wall putting on black glasses to resemble Joe Cool. There are many other
popular 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-fi
movies that can also be found scattered in the strip. In a 1958 strip Charlie Brown asks Lucy, How did you
ever get to be such a fuss-budget? Lucy explains her source of inspiration by displaying all the fuss titled
books she has studied. Every of the titles were a distorted version of actual popular book titles of that time.
Lucys favorite title I Was a Fuss-Budget for the F.B.I. was derived from I Was a Communist for the FBI, a
radio 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 an
ideal example of gender equality. He even refused sponsorship for his team because the sponsor objected
having girls or dogs on the side. Toy piano prodigy Schroeder with his obsession with Beethoven becomes
the symbol of cultural snobbism. Pig Pen is always dirty and messy but when his companions accuse him
for 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 so
sincere, he epitomizes all the misfits of a human society gone paranoid. This superb dialogue is a testimony
of 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. Sally
loves 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 on
rain 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 also
going". Sally also considers her a good evangelist because she was able to convince a classmate about the
superiority of Christianity by hitting him with her lunchbox. In an obvious display of the darker side of his
humor, Schulz once showed Lucys still on the bottle baby brother Rerun Van Pelt getting involved in a
gambling scandal while playing for Charlie Brown's baseball team. But Rerun has a point. How will he know
that gambling is wrong when he is still new in the world? Besides, he had only bet a nickel. What else can
you do with a nickel these days? baby Rerun candidly spells out.

I want to remind adults of the pressures children are always being put under, Schulz once said. In various
instances his calm observation has revealed several absurdities of the modern world. In a 1988 interview
with 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)