Isolation in Jimmy Corrigan

One of the major themes of Jimmy Corrigan is isolation. Jimmy spends most of his life in isolation; he seems to have no friends and doesn’t meet his father until late in his life, and despite the fact that he calls his mother on a daily basis, they aren’t close. One of the pages that illustrates this theme the most clearly is one of the first pages, the page where Jimmy’s mother is calling him downstairs.

The page begins with a picture of the Earth from very far away, and the images following zoom in and out to make the Earth bigger and smaller until eventually Jimmy’s house is pictured. The first image of the Earth from far away shows how isolated the Earth is. Upon first looking at the picture, the reader could easily confuse the tiny Earth with the stars surrounding it. Chris Ware uses this image to depict how tiny the Earth is in comparison to the rest of the universe—merely a dot on a page. The second image zooms in on the Earth, and the third image depicts Jimmy’s mother calling from him somewhere on the Earth. Ware’s depiction of only Jimmy’s mother’s speech in this image shows how isolated Jimmy feels because even with billions of people on the Earth speaking, only his mother’s voice could be heard. None of the other voices are heard because Jimmy is isolated from them. The third image zooms in further on the Earth, and the fourth image zooms in on the city skyline where Jimmy lives. The fifth and sixth images zoom out, and they only depict Jimmy’s city, leaving out all of the other cities. This omission of the surrounding cities makes Jimmy’s city seem isolated. The last image zooms in on Jimmy’s house. It is clear that there are other buildings around Jimmy’s house, but they are not clearly depicted. Jimmy’s house is drawn with much more detail than the surrounding buildings, making it seem isolated from everything around it. This sequence of images portrays Jimmy’s feelings of isolation. He feels that he is alone in his house, which is alone in his city, which is alone on the Earth, which is alone in the universe.

Ware has claimed that he based some aspects of Jimmy on himself, and feeling isolated is one of the ways in which Ware and Jimmy are similar. According to “The Smartest Cartoonist on Earth” by Daniel Raeburn, when Ware moved to Chicago, “he went through a period of hellish, heartbroken isolation,” and Ware created the lonely character of Jimmy during this time. To this claim, Ware replied, “Yup. Exactly. My sketchbooks from that time are filled with strips where, basically, I am him.” One could look at the page discussed earlier as reflecting the loneliness that Ware felt during this time; the city depicted even looks like Chicago. Ware’s use of these images that show Jimmy’s isolation contribute to the overall theme of isolation throughout the graphic novel.

Not Unhappy

To be honest, I find some pages of this book completely incomprehensible.  Yet in this reading one of the pages seemed to have a rare element of clarity that was unexpected.  The page where Jimmy imagines himself as superman (even though it is a horribly obvious page, deeper-meaning-wise) is still significant.  It also connects to one of the other superman pages, the page where he is at the diner with his father, and his father gets waylaid by mini-superman (but it is actually a matter transformer?). The first of those pages described above I will refer to as page A, the second as page B, for convenience.

Page A is right in the middle of the Jimmy's doctor's visit, which is perhaps one of the most depressing, bleakest, and infuriating scenes ever.  His Dad just keeps blabbering on about ridiculous (and sometimes racist) things, and asks Jimmy the most awkward question (according to Jimmy, girlfriend).  While the dialogue creates the tensions between people, the colors and images add a certain sterility and bleakness.  The winter trees, the grey (if only the walls were actually green...) of the doctors office, the same window image repeated over and over give monotony, but also create the stereotypical terrifying doctor's office that really only exists in people's minds.  Because of this build up of tension and bleakness, Page A thus stands out especially.  Not only does the dialogue fade into the background as Jimmy imagines himself flying, but the pictures take you out of the confines of that gross doctor's office for a couple of seconds (and for once in like 10 pages he doesn't have that stupid blood mustache).  So because it is in graphic novel format, as Jimmy is finding an escape, the reader also gets to see and feel that escape more visually.  If only that escape lasted for more than 12 panels before the bird hits the glass and everything (but the glass, oh the irony) is shattered.  That makes this page then blend back in to the rest seamlessly after a momentary happy interruption.  Of course Ware would have to bring the tone back down again and show off the pure inescapability of his pessimism.

Just as emulating one of superman's most well known qualities provides Jimmy with a momentary escape, a mini-superman figure by chance provides Jimmy an escape from a stupidly super-tense moment in the diner.  On Page B, Jimmy is calling his mother again (why does he keep calling?  he never says anything), and is trying to hide this fact from his father.  He is only able to ditch his Mom in time because his father is stopped by a flying mini-superman figure.  While this situation is completely different than the doctor's office escape, the superman figure does prove to be a positive force, letting Jimmy off the hook, allowing his worlds/lives (parents) to remain separate.  On the most basic level, both of these pages provide positive emotions (however temporary) because of Superman's presence.  This sort of clues the reader in on what Ware meant about being "not unhappy" when reading  superhero comic books.  So far, Jimmy has been not unhappy when Superman, or a superhero type figure, is present.

Faceless People

The illustrations of Jimmy Corrigan provide a depth beyond what text alone can contribute, and Chris Ware understands the significance these visuals can attain if used correctly. Therefore, while there are a number of themes that are brought up through the text of the novel, the visuals provide their own themes as well. A reoccurring visual theme in Jimmy Corrigan is the lack of faces that most of the characters in the book have. Often the characters' heads are turned to block their face from the view of the reader. Just about all of the non-Corrigan characters in the novel block their faces, while even some of the Corrigan characters, like Jimmy's mom, never show what they look like. There are some exceptions, like the doctor who sees Jimmy after he gets hit by the truck or his grandfather's redheaded girlfriend, but for the most part, all non-Corrigans are never revealed.

A perfect example of a faceless character is the nurse who sees Jimmy right before the doctor visits him. Jimmy clearly lusts for her, he might even call it love, and yet someone who he attaches that much emotion to is never even seen by the reader. She gets five whole pages devoted to her before disappearing from Jimmy's world forever, completely unrecognizable. She is not blocked for any character flaw she has; in fact, she is one of the most kind and understanding people to Jimmy in the entire novel, as shown in the page where he drops his bottle of urine on the ground and she cleans it up cheerfully. So if not for coldness or cruelty, why does a character lose her identity in Jimmy's world?

A number of reasons could explain the lack of faces throughout the novel. The blocked faces in the novel are of people who pass through Jimmy's life without making any further connections to him. Jimmy's mom is Jimmy's mom and serves no other connection to anyone else he knows, just as the nurse is only his nurse and has no other tie to him. His father, on the other hand, knows Jimmy's grandfather, his mother, his half-sister, and has rooted himself significantly into the relationships in Jimmy's life. Those who do not establish deeper connections within Jimmy’s life are simply faceless people who could be anyone to him. 

Jimmy is childlike in just about every way, which could also explain why the reader never sees many of the characters’ faces. He is looking up to grown adults and does not see himself as their equal, so he must look away. Their lack of a face creates a gap between their emotional maturities and Jimmy’s.

The visuals of Jimmy Corrigan highlight some of the character traits of Jimmy that text alone cannot as effectively convey. The faceless characters in the novel create a separation between the adult world and Jimmy’s world, just as there was a clear separation between the nurse’s intentions and Jimmy’s desires.

Men in "Smartest kid on Earth"

The page I think illustrates a main theme of the book is the page where James and his father, William, stay the night at a widow’s house after watching a picture slide show at her house. One of the themes of this book is the treatment of women by the male characters. They see the women as objects that they can use for whatever they want. On the page it says, “This widow’s body has lost its novelty for him.” This displays how William doesn’t want this woman because of her personality or who she really is, he simply wants her because of sex. Because her body has “lost its novelty for him,” he’s considering not having sex with her. It also says, “How could he be expected to bank on a long term partnership with that?” showing how he would only get into a “long term partnership” with a woman who is, in some sense, flawless. He eventually does have sex with her though, because it says, “But for one last time at least he makes his usual weekly deposit.” This word choice illustrates how he isn’t interested in this woman at all, except for the weekly sex they have. The men in the novel see woman as objects for getting what they want and only what they want. Jimmy, when he fantasizes about other women, thinks first about the sex they could have, and then about the actual relationship. Jimmy is somewhat different in this aspect because he does want a legitimate relationship with a woman, but he also does want a woman to have sex with. Each man in the novel sees their father using women in this way, and in return exhibit the same behavior when they are men.

            Another aspect on this page that speaks to the novel as a whole is the leaving behind of a $10 bill for the widow after they have sex. The page says, “and slip away into the April day with nothing but a note left behind as the sole token of his appreciation.” William believes money will compensate for him leaving in the morning without saying goodbye or probably ever seeing her again. This is much the same with Jimmy and his father. His father believes that if Jimmy sees and visits him one time it will make up for all the years he never knew him. These men think that there are certain actions they can take that will “make up” for the mistakes they have made. It’s ridiculous to think that a $10 bill will make up for William leaving this woman after having sex with her. It’s also ridiculous for Jimmy’s father to think that they are able to have a normal father-son relationship after he left him all those years ago. The men in the novel have a warped view of relationships that, once again, is seen by their sons who, in return, display the same behavior when they are older. 

The Danger in Hoping

             In Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid On Earth, Chris Ware explores the danger in individuals allowing themselves to hope through the scene of Jimmy daydreaming he is flying while actually sitting in the doctor’s office.  Up until this point, the readers see Jimmy as a very lonely and repressed narrator who seems to live without any overarching goals.  In order for Jimmy to deny his depressing reality, he constantly daydreams of himself holding various superhuman qualities in order to overcome his daily struggles.  In the doctor’s office, Jimmy wishes to deny the reality that he has a bloody nose after being hit by a car.  The bloody nose symbolizes his feebleness as being merely human, that there are forces in the world stronger than he is, such as the car that ran him over.  In order for Jimmy to ignore his shortcomings as a human, he imagines himself possessing the superhuman ability of flight, as he flies alongside a bird sans bloody nose.  Hope becomes an illusion preventing individuals from seeing the reality of their situations.  For the bird, he literally does not see reality when he falls from the clouds and collides with the window of the doctor’s office.  Flight becomes synonymous with success, and falling with failure.  This is previously demonstrated with the man dressed in the superman costume jumping from a skyscraper only to realize too late that he cannot fly and it was his initial hope that he could which brought about his eventual demise.  Jimmy’s hopeful fantasies remain just that: imaginary.  Jimmy does not overcome his problems in reality when he is caught up in his dreams.  His wishful dreaming can only allow him to deny reality so much before it comes “crashing back”; a crashing that literally manifests itself in the bird’s collision with the window.

The page concludes with the doctor and Jimmy’s father confirming the source of the crashing as “some stupid bird”, dismissing Jimmy’s dreams of overcoming his weaknesses.  This comment also demonstrates an adult disillusionment for dreams whereas Jimmy never “outgrew” the hope that comes with dreaming, explaining why Jimmy is often depicted in a limbo state between child and adult.  It is Jimmy’s hope and belief in superheroes that keep him “stupid” and childlike, which prevents him from acknowledging the reality of his struggles.  For Jimmy, superheroes possess powers greater than any forces in the world, yet it is a dangerous notion to believe humans are capable of superlative greatness.  It is pseudo-superman and Jimmy’s hope that they can fly – or remain uninjured from forces greater than them – that leads to them falling and further hurting themselves.