Some Lovable Characters

A Bunch of Lovable characters...

The All American Handful - Dennis

Hank Ketcham, Creator of Dennis the Menace, described Dennis as sturdy, tireless, and hard-to-catch. Since Dennis' mind was always zinging with curiosity, and imagination, he inevitably found himself in situations far beyond his control. Look at him - a shock of hair, freckles, smudges of paint and chocolate all over, dirty overalls...

Dennis was born in 1951. It is a strange fact, that in post-war America, it was Dennis who ushered in the era of permissive (as opposed to authoritative) parenting, and the creation of a democratic atmosphere at home. Those born in the 50s', would realize that it is permissiveness that has shaped their outlook on life, defining them and describing their relationships.

Life, though, is all about economics, and when the economics shifted, permissiveness was questioned. The changing times had their effect on the dynamics at home. For one, stay-at-home Mums started thinking of getting a job. This was totally out of Dennis' scheme of things. Check this out: When Dennis wants to give Mr. Wilson one of his many 'I'm sorry' cards, he goes over, but since Mr. Wilson is not up yet, he asks Mrs. Wilson if he could leave the card by Mr. Wilson's whisker-cutter. He tells her he has to go to Margaret's home, as they were getting poor, and his Mom had to go to work. Dennis' life was clearly falling apart!

Dennis could drive Mr. Wilson up the wall, but it's just that he wanted to know things; he wanted to know how things worked - the tangible, as well as the intangible.

His appeal was such that he started speaking to both adults and children. Thanks to Dennis, families realized that home was all about give-and-take.

Typical Dennis-isms include: belting our grudges, and then forgetting about them; that it was adults who asked the wrong questions, there was nothing wrong with his answers; and that when he said he was hungry enough to eat a horse, that certainly did not include carrots! Among many others...

He was real enough to say that if one dreamed it was Christmas, and woke to find it wasn't, one would feel too disgusted to even think of getting out of bed. It was the same with the last ice cream truck of summer; when that went away, the feeling of sadness was overwhelming.

Dennis sitting in his chair in the corner, pondering the imponderables is the picture we carry about him.

Calvin - Of Calvin and Hobbes

Shooting around in his characteristic black jeans, red and black striped shirt, and magenta sneakers, this six-year-old is Bill Watterson's gift to us. Calvin is a treat - exuberant and boisterous, he is completely without any restraint in what he says and does.

Calvin was born in 2000, and is named after a 16th century theologian. He has an absolute proclivity to get into trouble. His vivid imagination takes him on the wildest of adventures with his boon companion Hobbes. Hobbes is probably the only one who understands Calvin and sees his good side, since Calvin's insubordinate ways invariably get him into all kinds of scrapes and troubles.

This bright sparkling little boy thinks school is a waste of time, and invents the most outrageous excuses, ever, to get out of doing his work. Miss Wormwood, Calvin's teacher is totally foxed by Calvin. He is a character she has never encountered even in her dreams. His refusal to answer a question citing the excuse that it is against his religious principles, floors her, and leaves her spluttering...

Calvin is wise beyond his years, and has an exhaustive vocabulary to match! He, however, cannot get the better of his parents in the vocabulary game...When Calvin's mother asks him to take out the trash, he comes up with this statement to show why he cannot do this chore: He feels he has been disempowered, because his centering, self-actualizing, anima is in collision with toxic, co-dependent dysfunctionality! Of course when his mother comes back with the retort that he has only temporarily been inconvenienced, he has to take out the trash!

Calvin would not be complete without a word about the faithful Hobbes. Hobbes was named after a 17th century philosopher, who did not have much faith in human nature, and though Hobbes is very dignified and good-natured, he is exceedingly proud of the fact that he is not a human being. He sticks by Calvin through good and bad times, evil and happy times, rocketing and grounded times.

Watterson understood, while creating Calvin, that deep inside all of us is a brat. Reading Calvin, being with him in his adventures, and vicariously living through him, removes the veneer of goody-goodyness, and helps us enjoy being our real selves. Calvin impersonates the most improbable characters, and through him, we too can be Spaceman Spiff, Stupendous Man, and Tracer Bullet, among others.

A wonderful Calvin-ism is the prayer for strength to change what he can, the inability to accept what he can't and the incapacity to tell the difference! Some others are: childhood is short, but maturity is forever; life's disappointments are hard to take, when one doesn't know swear words; that he has to obey the inscrutable exhortations of his soul; and that reality continues to ruin his life.

Charlie Brown

Born in 1950, Charlie Brown is an utterly lovable loser. He, however, is possessed of great determination, and though he is always hopeful, his insecurities end up dominating him, making him a 'permanent case of bad luck.' Fact is, there is a Charlie Brown in all of us, and when we are with Charlie Brown, the world doesn't end up looking bleak. Charles M. Shulz, Charlie Brown's creator made him funny-cute and wise. He often verbalizes our feelings, and our reactions to life.

Charlie Brown has many friends, but his best friend is Linus, who always stands by him, puts him on the right track, and on occasion even offers wise counsel.

The classic Charlie Brown incident is when Lucy mocks him and challenges him to kick a football she is holding. Time and time again, despite promises and written commitments, Lucy reneges and Charlie Brown ends up on his back, limbs flailing.

Left to himself and his friends, Charlie Brown happily goes about exploring the meaning of life.

Charlie Brown's philosophy is wonderful - he only dreads one day at a time! His theory of the secret to life is to replace one worry with another.

Another favorite Charlie Brown-ism is that he does not believe in solving problems right away. He believes that you need to give problems time, simply so that they can go away!