Only logged in members can reply and interact with the post.
Join SimilarWorlds for FREE »

I Love Calvin and Hobbes

I have often had this discussion with readers/lovers of "Calvin and Hobbes":

Is Hobbes a real live sentient being that only Calvin can perceive as such - perhaps by tapping into an alternate reality; or is Calvin suffering from some severe mental aberrations which affect the way he interacts with a simple stuffed animal?

I have always believed the answer to be the first of these. I believe that Hobbes has the ability to be animated, sentient, and very intelligent, but chooses not to display these abilities when in the presence of anyone other than Calvin!

Quakertrucker

Top | Newest First | Oldest First

SageWanderer · 70-79, M

Calvin is a normal six year old with an imagination. Before the dawn of the electronic age that’s how us kids played!

Quakertrucker · 70-79, M

@SageWanderer

I am 66, so I remember the pre-internet days clearly.

Those were also the days when parents let their kids explore life on their own. I would play in the woods all day - by myself or with friends - only needing to be home by dark.

Actually, my parents would also let me and a couple friends camp out in the woods in a pup tent by ourselves - once even for two days over a weekend. They did not know where we were except that we were somewhere in the large - several miles in all directions - woods that surrounded our short street. We would even - heaven forbid - take food and cook our dinner over an open fire unsupervised. And, I think most of us turned out just fine!

I also rode my bike alone several miles to play Little League, and I often walked or rode my bike the four or so miles to downtown Paducah unescorted.

Parents - or society - today has destroyed childhood as a time to learn independence and freedom. So, now we have college age babies who demand safe places on their college campuses for God's sake.

I did not mean to run on so much, but I find the overprotection of children today to be infuriating!!!!! As well as damaging to our future as a society and as a nation.

So, yes, I probably had much the same pre-internet childhood experiences as you did - and as most children of our generation had.

However, although I had toys that I played with, I never had an "imaginary" friend - particularly one as astute and erudite as Hobbes.

I would imagine scenarios for play, but never interacted like Calvin and Hobbes do! I would have killed - okay, not really, I'm a Quaker - for a friend like Hobbes.

My friends were interesting and fun, but they were all of the flesh-and-blood variety. Okay, a few were also of the canine variety.

Thanks for helping me remember those carefree days and nights. Too bad that parents today won't give their children the freedom to explore that their parents - and ours as well - gave them!

Quakertrucker

By the way, I still think there was a real element to Hobbes that surpassed Calvin's imagination.

Add a comment...