Abate on Solitude in Calvin and Hobbes

In “’A Gorgeous Waste;’ Solitude in Calvin and Hobbes,” Michelle Ann Abate speaks to Watterson’s unique perspective on the value of solitude and the ways that this viewpoint speaks forms something of a philosophy in the comic, one that speaks to modern concepts of isolation. 1/9

“Although Calvin spends virtually all of his time with Hobbes, he does not feel sad, isolated, or depressed. Rather than lamenting his limited social life, Calvin embraces it. Watterson’s protagonist does not merely prefer spending time alone, he relishes it.” 2/9

“Whether he is frolicking in nature or fantasizing about travelling through outer space, the best times that Calvin experiences are times that he spends alone. In so doing, this feature forms an overlooked aspect to the strip’s premise as well as to its popularity.” 3/9

Abate reads Calvin against some 2000+ years of scholarship on the subject of the human need for social interact, tracing the concept back to Aristotle. She concludes that there is a longstanding false presumption that being alone is being lonely. 4/9

“Individuals who shun human company and prefer to be alone, however, do not do so because they are immune to loneliness. Rather, they opt for this state because they desire solitude.” Read in this light, Calvin isn’t a sad lonely kid, but simply someone who thrives in solitude: 5/9

“During a time when the ability of individuals to time spent alone was increasingly scarce and even stigmatised, Calvin and Hobbes offered a powerful case study about the benefits, joys, and importance of solitude.” 6/9

Abate then applies C&H’s treatment of isolation to “changes taking place in American daily life and especially within the realm of childhood in the closing decades of the twentieth century.” Here she finds the emergence of helicopter-parenting in response to an exaggerated media panic over child safety. 7/9

For Abate, Calvin “contradicts this social shift…Solitude allows Calvin the emotional, physical, intellectual, and psychological time to explore, imagine, adventure, ponder, innovate, challenge, dream, question, create, and – of course – have fun.” 8/9

In conclusion, Abate offers the following: “Calvin and Hobbes has long been seen as a comic about friendship. I agree, but with an important modification: Watterson’s strip is about the relationship that we can have with ourselves when we are by ourselves. Let’s go exploring, indeed.” 9/9