preview

Charlie Brown Satire

Better Essays

“Well! Here comes ol’ Charlie Brown. Good ol’ Charlie Brown…Yes, sir! Good ol’ Charlie Brown, How I hate him!” (Schultz) These were the exact words that Americans read on t­heir weekly newspaper on October 2, 1950. Since the first day, Peanuts comic expressed this aura of satire. Panel through panel, cartoonist and creator, Charles Schulz continued to use this same satire to captivate the hearts of many and establish one of the most well-known comics in the United States. Peanuts itself gave us insight into the life of creator Charles Schulz through the personality differences between Snoopy and Charlie, as well as other characters, their representation of Schulz's own feelings, their adventures in the comics, and the subtle messages that …show more content…

As David Michaels explains, Schulz used to love wearing his aviator cap. (Michael's 54) This admiration is most vividly represented in one of Schulz’s later comics. In the first panel, Snoopy is laying on top of his red doghouse, surrounded by snow, as though he has just awakened, wearing a green aviator cap and red a scarf. In the text bubble above his head it reads, “Here’s the World War I flying ace being awakened to fly another dawn patrol.” (Schulz) He then hops off his doghouse acknowledging that it had snowed the day before. Through the comic strip, he refers to himself in third person as though he was a World War I flying ace. Seated on his doghouse once more, he imagines he is in search of the Red Baron, and he then he prepares to attack. Suddenly he is attacked by a snowball and defensible he says, “You’re a poor sport, Red Baron” (Schulz 63) This comic strip is not just a simple representation of child's play, but Schulz’s desire to be an aviator as child.
Snoopy and Charlie Brown are not the only two characters that are representations of Charles Schulz’s life. Writers Richard Egan and Kimberly Rawson describe how every other main character of the Peanuts cast represent an attribute of Charles …show more content…

As Michaels describes how the Schulz's family and friends saw Charles’ mom, Dena, “In the memories of his childhood friends, she appears distant, reserved, forbidding-a “rather stern-faced lady in dark clothes.”(Michael's 33) According to Michaels, during Schulz’s childhood, his mother was not a very social individual. She did not like to interact with neighbors, strangers or even her son’s friends. Many people described Schulz’s mom as distant. Schulz’s father was also very distant towards him, but in a different way. Regardless of Schultz and his father having a good relationship, his father would often work long hours in his barber shop and would rarely be home. (Michaels 32-33) Moreover, in the comic strips, adults are rarely, if ever, seen. They are always out of the comic panels with only a text bubble coming from the side. In the cartoon and movies, there is a similar revolving pattern. Adults will speak but are rarely in the scene, or they make a “wah wah wah” sound imitating their voice. The relationship between the characters and the adults is a direct representation of Charles Schulz’s relationship with his own parents and their lack of

Get Access