In these adventurous panels, Watterson criticizes society’s contempt for anything that falls outside preconceived boundaries of truth and knowledge, as well as its efforts to pull children from their youth and plug them into a standardized system of education and development.
Angus Kitchell, originally from Seattle, Washington, is a sophomore majoring in Ecology and Biodiversity. His hobbies include hiking, skiing, kayaking, and gener-
al exploration of the outdoors, and he is a recipient of the Clean Plate Club lifetime achievement award.
nation’s ideology—a move that catapulted the genre to the forefront of social and political relevance, where it still remains today. In short, it is the comic strip’s ability to present pressing social and political commentary that affords it this continued success. Such is the case in Bill Watterson’s Sunday classic Calvin and Hobbes, in which Watterson’s marriage of childish exuberance, social commentary, and philosophical quandary make for a uniquely appealing literary and visual adventure. Given that the strip’s eponymous characters make reference to the 16th and 17th century philosophers John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes, it comes as little surprise that Watterson explores a broad spectrum of philosophical issues through the thoughts and interactions of his characters. Indeed, as they make their way through daily life, Calvin and Hobbes are often seen discussing matters of identity, consumerism, environmentalism, political power, and countless other 54
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realms of lofty thought. The juxtaposition of this sophisticated contemplation with youthful naiveté and recklessness serves as one of the central sources of the strip’s humor, as Calvin simultaneously pairs immaturity with a level of thought that far exceeds the realistic cognitive capabilities of a 6-year-old boy. And while examining the influence of Hobbesian thought or Calvinism in the strip would undoubtedly lead to interesting conclusions, I wish to explore Watterson’s work in relation to a separate pair of philosophers: the American naturalist Henry David Thoreau and 4th century BC Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi. Both have personal philosophies with many parallels to themes explored in Calvin and Hobbes. Examining the strip in this philosophical context helps to reveal the subtleties of Watterson’s work and the social commentary it provides. Although separated by thousands of years, Thoreau and Zhuangzi shared similar philosophies, noting the value of wandering through nature as a means of expanding one’s intellectual domain and escaping the restrictions imposed by society and language. For both Thoreau and Zhuangzi, the experience of learning was of greater value than knowledge itself. This very same philosophy is one of the central motifs of Calvin and Hobbes, offering a lens through which Watterson explores imagination, education, and cognitive development (in addition to the other themes mentioned above). These philosophical undertones are the genius of Calvin and Hobbes, adding tremendous depth to what appears on the surface to be a simple children’s comic. What Watterson has created is a wonderfully complex