Show and Tell


Alright, scrap the formula used in the last post, I think I like the freeform paragraphs better. Maybe I'll go back to it at some point. In this strip we get to see Calvin's teacher (Mrs. Wormwood) for the first time, who is actually very reasonable in this instance. She seems to understand that it's important to let Calvin keep imagining that Hobbes is real, despite her inability to see him as anything more than a stuffed animal. We also see Hobbes appearing as a stuffed animal only when Calvin is looking away from him, which is a pattern that was developed in yesterdays strip. I don't really have much to say about the last two panels, as I think they basically just consist of the joke that Hobbes is advising Calvin on math problems incorrectly.

On the other hand, I'm fascinated by the first panel. Calvin has apparently just finished displaying the tiger that he caught with a tuna-fish-sandwich-trap for show and tell. I wonder how the class saw Hobbes? Perhaps Calvin's peers are more likely to see him as Calvin does, or perhaps he is still the only one who sees the world in this way. I feel really sorry for Calvin if he is the only one perceiving Hobbes in this manner. This show and tell would probably instigate a tremendous amount of teasing and bullying if Calvin appeared to believe that a stuffed animal was actually alive and could talk to him. Calvin does seem very isolated from the other members of his class in subsequent strips, and perhaps this was the event that triggered that. Alternatively, he could already be the black sheep of the class, which has led him to form a relationship with Hobbes instead of his human peers.

I feel very fortunate that throughout my life I haven't had any trouble making friends. It's always something that's come very naturally to me, and I remember being very confused as a child as to why it seemed so hard for some others. I hope that these kids were able to form a friendship with someone like Hobbes, who seems like an extraordinarily loyal companion.

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