“Calvin and Hobbes” Analysis

In the popular comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes” by Bill Watterson, a young boy named Calvin makes various observations about childhood and life in general. He is joined in this journey by his imaginary tiger friend Hobbes. The characters, named after philosophers John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes, provide various insights into the meaning of life on many occasions. Let’s take this strip for example:

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The comic strip provides a look into the human condition and the desire for meaning contrasted against a vast, unanswering universe. This closely resembles Camus’s description of the absurdity of the universe. Calvin is seen calling out to the universe, a notion that could stand for humankind’s search for meaning. The universe however, does not answer. This causes a crisis for Calvin, as Camus stated it would for many people, as he now compares himself to a meaningless speck of dust.

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The strip above can be used to describe Schopenhauer’s views on death and how it undermines the meaning of one’s life. What is interesting about the strip is that Schopenhauer believes that in our early years we are usually about life and are like children before a curtain is raised in a play, but it appears Calvin has already thought about the meaning of his life in this manner. Perhaps he has thought of how the pain of life outweighs the pleasure like Schopenhauer argues, and explains life’s bleakness to Hobbes by referring to the “big picture” or the inevitable death of everything, as we discussed in class. Perhaps Calvin can find meaning elsewhere.

This Calvin and Hobbes comic is drawing ties to Nagel’s theory of the absurd. His theory says that we all take life seriously but when we take a step back, we realize how insignificant it is. By stepping back, you are reminded that the universe will eventually end leaving it to question whether your life or life in general is meaningful. Despite this overwhelming feeling from stepping back, we just go on with life and still take it seriously.

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Here it can be seen that Calvin uses death as a motivation for life. This parallels Bernard Williams’s thesis about the Makropulos Case. In the Makropulos Case, a woman who has had an extended existence is seen to be living a life of boredom, apathy, and emptiness. Calvin seems to argue that an unlimited existence allows you to put off your pleasures or goals in life, therefore death provides a sort of deadline to which you must take action or “live in the moment”. Hobbes seems to disagree with this however. Perhaps he chooses to “look down the road” of extended existence because he agrees with Rosati that extended life can be appealing because it allows for unlimited choices with limited regret of those choices.

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It appears in this strip that Calvin is looking towards happiness as a source of meaning in his life. According to May, it makes sense that he would do that because happiness seems to be easier to understand and obtain than a concrete sense of meaning. It appears that Calvin does not agree with Bentham that happiness is seeking pleasure and avoiding pain however. To Calvin, happiness is having a lot of money. It appears his views of happiness more closely align with Julia Annas’s, as he sees it as something you can achieve or earn. He however, would choose to use the money to indulge, seek pleasure, and even crush others. Susan Wolf would say that these traits would not make his life meaningful. Even though it appears he is successful, he is not actively engaged in a project and that project most definitely does not have any positive value associated with it. It also relates to May’s point that evil tasks actually detract from the meaning of one’s life. Perhaps Calvin should donate the money to charity, a task which is viewed as good.

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This Calvin and Hobbes comic alludes to subjectivity in life. Todd May brings about the idea of narrative values as an overarching theme in peoples’ lives. Both Calvin and Hobbes in this comic are living intensely, however it suggests that the narrative values about their life are subjective. Calvin prefers the intensity and actually would like more in his life while Hobbes’s idea of intensity has reached a maximum and he would prefer to tone it down.