Chris
Ware’s Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid
on Earth is a very complex comic book. Not only does it not read like a
normal comic book due to its complex panel layouts, but it is almost
meaningless when read on the surface. However, when read at a deeper level,
there are multiple meanings or purposes are possible to explore. One of these
purposes is to criticize America as whole. However, Chris Ware is not satisfied
with plainly stating his opinions of America in one time period, but rather
does it across multiple. Ware presents what he considers to be failures in
America from roughly the mid nineteenth century through the late twentieth
century. Ware mainly focuses on the issues that result in common value or policy
choices. Although these are not necessarily everyday issues, they are not one
time events either. Some of these issues are related to military, technology,
and commercialism.
One
of the earliest chronological failures in the book is when Jimmy’s grandfather
shoots off his own finger. Although shooting off you own finger is never a
positive, but since Jimmy’s grandfather did it during the Civil War, it could
be viewed as betrayal or maybe even treason. Regardless how severely you view
it, the action was not a patriotic one. The exact reasoning behind this
decision is not given, but it is likely to get out of the war. Although it can
be argued that War is not for everyone and having someone who is not mentally
capable of being at war is likely to be more of a liability than an asset,
failure to function in war times was not something taken lightly. During the
Civil War, it is expected that any able body man, slave or free, fight for
their side of the Mason-Dixon Line and anyone caught escaping would be prosecuted.
Due to this, shooting off his own finger was probably the easiest and only way
for Jimmy’s grandfather to “legally” leave the war zone. Ware could be pointing
out the failure in the way the Jimmy’s grandfather acted, as well as the
failure in the system. Depending on your viewpoint on liabilities versus
assets, this failure could either in an easier dismissal or punishment for the
betrayal. Although it is not completely obvious which Ware prefers, he is
likely to side with the lack of punishment due to the emphasis on the finger.
Even if I am wrong and Ware sides with the lack of easier dismissal, Ware wants
the reader to think about this event and their viewpoints on it.
Ware portrays
Jimmy’s grandfather as a racist who is fighting for the Union, which obviously
is not something that would end well. This emphasizes the argument on whether
the draft system is designed properly. Every able bodied male is required to
fight during war time, regardless of their viewpoints on the war. Although now
there are some requirements for everyday enlistment, during war times, these
requirements are typically ignored. However, this is not always the case. My
grandfather wanted to enlist during the Vietnam War time frame, but was denied
due to my grandmother being pregnant with my mother. My grandfather thought it
was his duty as an able bodied American to enlist, but even that did not meet
the requirements. Granted this was a century after the Civil War depicted by
Ware, but someone who wanted to take part in a war could not, whereas someone
whose viewpoints likely opposed the war was enlisted.
Ware is not only
considered with military policy, but also with everyday issues such as
technology and commercialism. This pairing is because it hard to discuss the
implication and advancements in technology without commercialism, and
vice-versa. Although military is somewhat distinct from the technology-commercialism
pairing, one would not exist to the extent that it does today without the other.
Although today we tend to refer to technology as electronic devices or various
forms of software, technology is actually anything that has an effect on our
lives, generally in a positive way. The weaponry used in war is technology that
was created with a commercial goal or restriction in mind.
Ware emphasizes
this through the depictions of the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893. There
are numerous pages of panels relating to the World’s Columbian Exposition in
the book. Several of these pages are related to building designs. In this time
period, there was a cultural demand for attractive buildings. Unfortunately,
with the rise of industrialism, came the rise of commercialism. Although
commercialism is nothing new, the greed and demand for products to be highly
profitable arose. Several of the buildings that Ware depicts would never be
built today due to costs. Everything today is costs versus benefits with the benefit
as the primary, if not the only, factor for most executives. For example, one
of the buildings is essential a huge hangar-like building with the walls and
ceilings being steel and glass. Although this building may be fond to the eyes,
it is highly expensive and would never be seen to be worth the costs in today’s
society. Throughout the whole section on the World’s Columbian Exposition, Ware
depicts buildings that have visual appeals like this one. This is likely due to
Ware forcing the reader to think about what not only their values are, but what
is valued by others and the country or world as a whole.
The concept of
thinking about or re-evaluating values is a reoccurring theme throughout the
book. Although it is not solely tied to the issues relating to military,
technology, and commercialism, it can be applied to most, if not all, of these
issues. For example, with the issue of Jimmy’s grandfather during the Civil
War, the reader is guided towards thinking about and possibly re-evaluating
what they think is versus what is valued for someone in the military. Although
this is not bound to war times, the values could be different due to
circumstances.
Although the theme
is throughout the entire book, the heart of the theme has to deal with the
focus of technological progress of the World’s Columbian Exposition and the
failure to adhere to this forecast. Despite the theme of the World’s Columbian
Exposition, “Some of the more popular exhibits were curiosities rather than
serious displays of technology and progress. They included an eleven-ton cheese
and a 1,500 pound chocolate Venus de Milo in the Hall of Agriculture and a
seventy-foot-high tower of light bulbs in the Electricity Building. (“The
World’s Columbian Exposition”)”. Ware
decides not to include this in his book. Although it may be hard to depict this
specifically, it definitely changes the way the World’s Columbian Exposition is
viewed. This could be interpreted in many ways including people did not see or
value progression and that people find attractions more interesting. Those
interpretations may not actually be distinct. As for not seeing progress, for
the people attending the event, most of the exhibits being displayed were part
of their everyday lives. Typically things that people use on a daily basis,
they take for granted, hence the lack of value of progression. Although these are not the only reason why
people may find the exhibits that they do not get to experience during their
daily lives, it is definitely a serious possibility. What is more interesting
is why Ware did not include this in his depiction of the World’s Columbian
Exposition. One likely possibility is that it is not necessarily a failure, but
rather human nature. Despite this, taking things for granted seems like it
should be covered by Ware. The likely reasons that Ware did not cover this
concern is that either he did not think of it, or his did not want to be
hypocritical since he probably takes things for granted as well. Although this
cannot be explained entirely, it is something that could probably be explored
at a deeper level reading of the book that I currently have. Again, this ties
back into value evaluation. Although it does not appear to be explored by Ware,
it still is something that should be considered by the reader.
The World’s
Columbian Exposition was supposed to be an event displaying progress. Although
it has been noted that these exhibits were not always valued during that time
period, it defines a forecast for the future. One of the technologies that is
displayed to shape the future is electricity. Ware depicts a building with a
sign saying “ELECTRICITY IS LIFE”. He also caps the section on the World’s
Columbian Exposition in panels depicting a street light and some electrical
wires connected to telephone poles. There is also a depiction of the lights
turning on at the beginning and off at the end. This can be interpreted in
multiple ways that are somewhat similar. One of these is meaning is from the
use of light bulbs as an icon for an idea. When exploring this meaning, we see
the World’s Columbian Exposition as purely that, an idea. This is probably
close to reality. The forecast depicted by the World’s Columbian Exposition was
a great idea, but not reality. Another meaning comes from the expression “to
see the light”. When applying this meaning, the World’s Columbian Exposition is
a brighter life, or at least the forecast could have been. Unfortunately, the
saying “things aren’t always better on the other side” comes in to play here.
With both meaning applied, you get a sense of what is really occurring.
Electricity did have a huge impact on life, but not always in a positive way.
Most of this falls back on the evaluation of values.
I’d have liked to see a more focused introduction - you cover a little too much ground a little too vaguely here.
ReplyDeleteIt’s hard to disagree with the premise that shooting off your finger in war has significance, and it seems likely that *something* is being criticized - but you’re awfully vague about the details. What is the importance of the civil war here? His father’s racism is ironic and important - but where do you take it from there? You might have said something about the relationship between war & nature, or the role played by war in the Corrigan family (Jimmy is the first Corrigan not to go to war - doesn’t that seem awfully significant?). Note that war gets some discussion in the postcards, American soldiers are mentioned at the beginning, etc. If you were interested in war, broadening your scope to include all of it would have been a good move.
Too much of the rest of the essay relies on things said in class without further development. Obviously it’s fine to refer to things we talked about in class, but what do you want to *do* with them? Saying something about the way the military works in connection with how technology & progress work in Jimmy Corrigan would have been fine - but you needed to draw those connections more clearly.