Motifs
The main characters were Arnold Melville, a strange, volatile child; Tommy Jordan, his well-meaning but clueless friend; and Mr. Lester, Arnold and Tommy's schoolteacher.
Arnold often yelled "AIEEE" at random moments, and both characters had run-ins with the school cafeteria ladies—specifically Arnold, who referred to mayonnaise as WHITE DEATH at the top of his lungs. Tommy had a particular aversion to "wet bread." Tommy would often walk away from his football coach wearing his helmet backwards, as apparently the coach did not think much of Tommy's suggestions.
Tommy occasionally brought a thinly veiled Christian attitude to his reactions to the other characters. Mr. Lester was often perplexed with Arnold at school.
Toward the end of the run, a baby brother to Arnold, named Sid, was born. Sid frequently grabbed hold of others by holding on with his mouth.
In the last strip, a giant bird grabbed Arnold and flew off with him. Kevin McCormick wrote to the fans of the strip in Detroit Free Press, "I was extremely gratified and happy to receive all the letters from Free Press readers concerning the demise of Arnold. I even had second thoughts. But, alas, it was too late. The gigantic bird had already swallowed."
Read more about this topic: Arnold (comic strip)
Famous quotes containing the word motifs:
“Myths, as compared with folk tales, are usually in a special category of seriousness: they are believed to have “really happened,” or to have some exceptional significance in explaining certain features of life, such as ritual. Again, whereas folk tales simply interchange motifs and develop variants, myths show an odd tendency to stick together and build up bigger structures. We have creation myths, fall and flood myths, metamorphose and dying-god myths.”
—Northrop Frye (1912–1991)
“The poetic act consists of suddenly seeing that an idea splits up into a number of equal motifs and of grouping them; they rhyme.”
—Stéphane Mallarmé (1842–1898)