In Jimmy Corrigan the Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware,
one theme central to the plot is neglect. Jimmy is neglected by his father, as
was his father by his grandfather, and his grandfather by his
great-grandfather. None of the Corrigan boys ever felt safe or secure around
their fathers, and it made them all self-deprecating, negative individuals. One
page really stuck out to me; it portrays just how alone and neglected Jimmy’s
grandfather, James, feels at home with his father.
On the page, James is at a friend’s house for the first
time. The friend introduces James to both his father and his mother.
Both are welcoming and kind, which James isn’t used to in his own home. The
boys begin to mold lead horses with James’ friend’s father, and James, for once,
feels like he is doing something worthy of being proud of. James feels
“hyperbolic praise” as his friend’s dad watches James work on his mold; James
feels as if someone cares about what he is doing. After working on their molds,
James joins the family for dinner. James explains, “I was given the seat of
honor next to him, for some reason,” him being the friend’s father. James feels as a son should feel, although he has never felt that way before in his own
home. At home, with his own father, James is always left alone. He doesn’t
receive any of the attention that a child should receive from their parents. Even
though James is nine-years-old, he often cooks his own dinner and falls asleep
all alone while his father is out drinking.
At the bottom of the page, James relays his feelings, “And
so, for a while that day, safely concealed beneath the thickening blanket of a
late November snowstorm, I allowed myself to believe I had become their child,
and they, my family.” It’s heartbreaking that the one time James feels like a
real child, he isn’t even in his own home with his own parents. The neglect he
always feels went away for just one night, and it was all pushed right back
into his face when his father picked him up on the next page, only to inform
him that he could never come to this house again.
Ware presents many generations of miserable Corrigan men, and I wonder what extent he expects us as readers to actually relate to these characters. Ware emphasizes the importance of empathy, but it can be difficult to truly empathize, rather than sympathize with these characters, especially Jimmy, due to their extremely pitiful lives, and pitiful reactions to their lives. I think one reason is that to truly empathize with Jimmy requires acknowledging the weak, pitiful side within us that we desperately try to ignore. I know I at least experience the impulse to feel sorry for myself, but that is something I’ve learned to try to avoid, insisting on strength and optimism. Many people seem to have had really negative reactions toward these characters, labeling them as pathological and miserable human beings. However, I think Ware is suggesting that it is nearly impossible to free oneself from multi-generational cycles like the ones Corrigans fall victim to, or perhaps, engage in. Again, it’s unclear how normal or universal Ware considers his characters to be. Are their lives much more difficult than our own, are their reactions far from average? I think maybe these characters’ lives and negative reactions are merely exaggerations of traits Ware believes us all to possess.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alexa that neglect is a major theme in this graphic novel. I would think that Jimmy would not be the insecure outcast he is if he had more attention from his father (or if his father had been around at all).
ReplyDeleteI believe that this theme of neglect smoothly fits into Abby’s suggestion regarding ‘multi-generational cycles’ – this was not an idea I had considered previously, but I now agree that it may be a major theme. Since James’s father was not a loving, caring, and always-present father, it makes sense that James then did not give Jimmy I a ‘fuzzy’ childhood. Even as adults, despite that Jimmy I is hospitalized after his car accident, James berates Jimmy’s character for having not done more for Jimmy II. By extension, because Jimmy I was treated as such by James, Jimmy I also abandoned Jimmy II. It’s this ‘multi-generational cycle’ that the Corrigan men can’t escape. I believe it may not be because they desire to negatively affect their sons, but rather none of these men know any different; they do not know what effective fatherhood looks like, and so they cannot deliver adequate care. They only know neglect, and as such they can only deliver neglect.
It would have been interesting (and heart-lifting) to see how Jimmy II would have interacted with his own children if he had any. Would he have treated them better, or would this idea of neglect pervaded? Who’s to say.