THE PEANUTS

Charlie Brown, Snoopy and their friends were born in 1950 by the American Charlies Schulz with the comic series entitled "Peanuts" (translated from English means "peanuts") is currently published all over the world. It's about the life and troubled thoughts of a group of kids attending elementary school. In the comics and cartoons of the "Peanuts" adults have never made their appearance and even the dialogues made with the teacher are almost monologues where from the protagonist's response you can guess what the teacher's speech was. One of the main protagonists is undoubtedly Charlie Brown (always called by name and surname), a boy characterized by a round head (which all his companions point out to him) and a tuft of hair on his forehead, usually wearing a sweater yellow zigzag and a pair of shorts.

Charlie Brown is a very sensitive and problematic child, so much so that he is the victim of a great inferiority complex towards his peers. He feels stupid, obnoxious and clumsy and reflects the fears of all teenagers. His greatest passion is baseball, where he takes on the role of both player and coach of a shabby team made up of his friends, which is punctually defeated, this increases his despair even more. She is also a lover of writing and kites which, however, she never manages to fly.Many of Charlie Brown's problems also arise from the cynical and irreverent words of her exact opposite: Lucy Van Pelt, a little girl whose pragmatism is equal to the problems of Charlie Brown. Lucy never misses an opportunity to point out her shortcomings to her friend especially when they play baseball. Lucy is grumpy, defeatist, foolish, selfish, arrogant and suspicious. Good is the innate sense of business and his sympathy that comes from his defects. Whenever poor Charlie Brown does some reflection on the problems of life, Lucy's ignorance and presumption punctually snubs his friend's intelligence and sensitivity.

But as it happens Lucy has a brother of a few years younger, who has a similar character to that of Charlie Brown, this is Linus. He is a child who always dresses with a horizontal striped shirt and short pants. He usually cuddles himself by hugging his inseparable blanket to his cheek and putting his thumb in his mouth. When his parents decide to wash his blanket, he bursts into a fit of tears and panic. Like Charlie Brown, Linus is a sensitive and constructive child, and it is with him that he thinks about the meaning of life and things. He often takes refuge in a watermelon field and expresses his doubts to an invisible entity called the "Great Watermelon". In all this of course, Lucy can only discourage him. In the comics of "Peanuts", just as adults do not appear, animals do not appear, except for the most famous hound in the comics: Snoopy actually appears also his friend Woodstock, a very cute and surprising little bird. Snoopy is Charlie Brown's dog and if he lives on the roof of his kennel where he sleeps, he thinks, dreams, writes novels with his typewriter and plays at impersonating a famous WWI fighter pilot "Joe Falchetto". Imagining that he is on a plane instead of on his kennel, he dreams of having tremendous aerial duels with the terrible Red Baron. Snoopy doesn't speak, but he can understand everything the boys say and make himself understood by them when he is hungry or when he wants something. Indeed, in many circumstances he managed to get our protagonists out of trouble, with surprising solutions (such as driving a bulldozer and clearing a stream of boulders that hindered the boat of Charlie Brown and his friends). Snoopy's sympathy also stems from the fact that while the problematic friends discuss about the solutions to be adopted for a certain type of problem, he has already arrived and is already operational. He is fond of skating and surfing and sometimes takes long trips in the company of his friend Woodstock. Another characteristic character of the "Peanuts" is the pianist Schroeder, a blond child who has a great passion for classical music and for Beethoven in particular. He spends his days playing on a small piano for children. Very often Lucy, (eternally in love with Schroeder, but unrequited) tries to distract him with materialistic and spoetizing speeches, this does nothing but unleash his inevitable rebellion. Among others we also remember the very dirty Pig Pen, Violet, Sally, "Piperita" Patty, all children who live an existence plagued by a thousand false psychological problems that distress them. But on the day of the Halloween party, they all dress up as watermelons and celebrate, forgetting about their problems. Schulz's "Peanuts" have become very famous: their adventures have been collected in books and have given rise to various cartoons. Think that the names of Charlie Brown and Snoopy were given to the lunar module and the command module of the spaceship of the "Apollo 10" mission. It is also taken with great attention by writers, essayists and psychologists, as in one way or another, they make us reflect on what are the small problems of all children (and not only) of this world. Thanks to "Peanuts" the comic has conquered a respectable place in our modern culture.

The Peanuts are copyright © Charls Schulz and of the right holders, they are used here for cognitive and informative purposes.