Things I Like: Charlie Brown and Snoopy

Not too long ago, I went to see a high school perform the musical "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown". It was a fantastic production, but I think it's also the first time I saw the Peanuts gang since I grew up to be able to understand abstract thought. Now I finally understand what makes Charles Schultz a genius - he created Charlie Brown!

Now, this may not sound like an amazing revelation to you, but it is to me after I got to understand Charlie Brown's character. I never noticed that Charlie Brown is bad at everything. That's the charm of his character - he's always searching for some way to prove to himself (and his friends) that he's good at something. The genius of Charles Schultz is that he never lets Charlie Brown succeed at anything! Why? To teach a lesson.

Charlie Brown is always looking for a way to be successful in a worldly sense. As a stark contrast, Snoopy is a dog. As he says: "Yesterday I was a dog. Today I'm a dog. Tomorrow I'll probably still be a dog. Sigh! There's so little hope for advancement. " The sort-of depressing thing is, Snoopy's awesome at everything! He's Joe Cool! Any time he tries anything, he does exactly what Charlie Brown wants to do.

But Snoopy doesn't care, because he understands he has nothing to prove, and nothing to advance to. He's just a dog, and therefore his status is about as high as it will ever be. Charlie Brown, on the other hand, wants to be amazing at sports, a good student, or smooth with the ladies. These desires of his and Snoopy's successes completely overshadow one fact: that Snoopy is entirely dependent of Charlie Brown for food! And if there's one thing Snoopy wants more than all the fame he already has, it's supper! Snoopy has learned to enjoy the little things, while Charlie Brown is still searching for that little thing to succeed at.

In the end, though, Charlie Brown is finally told that there is one thing he's good at. In fact, it's something he's probably the best at out of all of his friends: he's a good man. Charles Schultz lets us all know that no matter how successful in this world you are, true success is somewhere a lot less noticeable.