Looking at the comic outside a medieval context simply does not work. When one does, one has to take into account the fact that Beetle's comment in panel one is the comment of a soldier. It is, in fact, the comment of a soldier whose country is at war. Zero's reply is the reply of another soldier. The whole comic dissolves in a big steaming vat of silly nonsense.
No...I shall stick with the medieval interpretation. I have faith. I shall cling to the following thought:
Angry Kem, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Angry Kem, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, Angry Kem, there is an intelligent Beetle Bailey. It exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no wisdom in this comic! It would be as dreary as if there were no Angry Kems. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which comics fill the world would be extinguished.**
'Nuff said.
*Why? Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?
**Yes, you have seen these two paragraphs before...or something like them, at any rate.
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When This Bloody War is Over* **
When this bloody war is over
Oh, how happy I will be;
When I get my civvy clothes on
No more soldiering for me.
No more church parades on Sunday
No more putting in for leave.
I shall kiss the Sergeant Major
How I'll miss him, how he'll grieve.
*Sung to the tune of "What a Friend We Have In Jesus"
**Video from Oh What A Lovely War
I would like to inquire about what chocolate bar you are referring to.
Marq: Actually, I made that example up. However, if my favourite chocolate bar were discontinued, I would certainly do quite a lot of anguished screaming.
For quite some time, the Haagan-Dazs people were monitoring my garbage to discover my favorite flavors of ice cream, then discontinuing them. They have recently brought back one, Honey Vanilla, having determined, I suppose, that I have suffered enough. Maybe there's hope for Pear Sorbet and Vanilla Fudge.
Vanilla Fudge! How can anyone discontinue Vanilla Fudge?! It is one of the basic ice cream flavors of the cosmos.
Jana C.H.
Seattle
Saith Arthur Pinero: Where there is tea, there is hope.
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