The road to becoming a famous cartoonist was very difficult, but Charles Schulz made it to the top. He had fallen in love and married the love of his life, Joyce. He had persevered and Peanuts was gaining the stardom he deserved rapidly. He put a little of himself in each of his comic characters,
He gave his wishy-washiness and determination to Charlie Brown, the “worst side of himself” to Violet, to Lucy his sarcasm, to Linus his dignity and “weird little thoughts,” his perfectionism and devotion to his art to Schroeder, his sense of being talented and unappreciated to Snoopy. (Michaelis 258)
Being almost done with the book, I can definitely see where all of these characters stand out in his life. His high school years when he was very shy around girls is his Charlie Brown side. His strive to be at the top, and never give up was where Schroeder came from. His years at the bottom of the pack helped him to form Snoopy. He put all the characters together and a winning comic was formed. He was making more than $90,000 a year in 1957 (287).
Not only did he start collecting more cash, but he also began to accumulate many awards. Charles, however did not want to go to collect these awards, “Sometimes [Joyce] left the airport, having just put [Charles] on a plane, only to have Sparky beat her home in a cab” (299). I find this kind of funny because you would expect such a famous person, especially one who has worked to hard to attain his stardom, to accept his awards. He just wanted to be home above all else (299). According to Michaelis, “He grew up in the apartment over his dad’s barber shop, and all he ever did was sit there and listen to classical music, draw his cartoons, and play golf” (299). I don’t know how many famous stars these days would rather sit at home than attend a party, but that was what Charles had always known. With his mom gone and his dad always working, Sparky found things to do by himself and I think that stuck with him through his adult life.
Michaelis, David. Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2007.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
This post is very interesting! I think it is funny that he puts a little of himself in each of the characters. He seems like a pretty amazing guy, very creative and talented to be able to do that. Good analysis!
I agree with emily!! I really enjoy when authors put a little bit of themselves into their work. It make their writings even more interesting. Until reading your post i was unaware of this fact!! Good job Kyle!
I enjoyed reading this post. Usually, when I read Peanuts, I never consider the work and the heart that was put into it. But now I can see that Charles Schulz really poured himself into it. The fact that he liked to stay home also interests me. It would seem that Schulz was an introvert. For that reason, it's great that he won so many awards and was so appreciated.
It appears to me that that your character seems to be one that although works hard to be known, he does not want rewards for it. He's one of those people that would rather not be awarded and live the normal life, while still being able to bring entertainment to people. All you said about him and how he doesn't want the awards in unison with the fact that he wants to just stay home and listen to classical music explains to me that he wants to carry a normal life while being able to provide entertainment for others as they do to him.
Post a Comment