What is Behind the Peanuts?
There are four main characters in Charles M. Schulz's cartoon strip: Charlie Brown, his dog Snoopy, Lucy and her brother Linus. Some characters appear less frequently, for instance Sally, Charlie Brown's sister. She often behaves in a silly way and at school, she never understands anything, yet she's clever enough to know herself: "I don't even understand vacations", she says of herself. Peppermint Patty is a friendly girl who is very good at sports and is the captain of a baseball team that always beats Charlie Brown's team. Finally there is Schroeder, who lives only for Beethoven's music. In his cartoon strip Charles M. Schulz shows typical characteristics of man in present-day society. Charlie Brown, for example, has neither luck nor success. He loses all the baseball games which he manages; when he tries to fly his kite, it gets stuck in a tree; he is the only one in his group who never gets a Valentine's card. The other children often hurt him by laughing at his failures. Yet Charlie Brown is strong enough to survive in his group. He is patient, and above all he is an optimist. He firmly believes that one day things will change for the better and he'll achieve the success and love which he needs so much. When he goes to Lucy, who gives him a lot of money, that he still has the same faults. In the same way as Charlie Brown, thousands of people in America (and elsewhere) invest millions of dollars to find help for their personal problems. Many of them come to the same conclusions as Charlie Brown: no change, no improvement. Lucy represents those in a society who suppress the others. She is the leader of the girls' group and she encourages them to laugh at Charlie Brown. She likes bossing Charlie Brown and her little brother Linus. She never admits anything since she has a very high opinion of herself. Linus is the philosopher of the group. He has developed "Runism", a philosophy that advises people "to run away", that is, to put off a decision when they can't overcome a difficulty. A look at the world of the adults reveals that many people follow this advice. Snoopy has found another way of running away from problems: he simply ignores them. He lives for himself without caring for others. His main interest is that he feels good himself. The world of the Peanuts is a microcosm, a small world within the one we live in. It shows the pressures of society and it shows in which way different characters react to their environment. The Peanuts can help you to understand what is behind life.
