Jimmy Corrigan: Portrayal of Humanity’s Loss of Meaning

Ryan Lynn
Dr. Adam Johns

I do not believe that there has been a complete loss in meaning in our culture, but I do think that we are heading in a direction where we could lose meaning. Technology has grown exponentially over the past few decades, and has without a doubt made modern life more comfortable. A little too comfortable. Modern day technology has made it possible to continue to interact with the outside world without actually having any real physical contact. This is dangerous, as we can become a species that finds aversion to having contact with its own kind unless it is through the Internet or a cell phone. Chris Ware’s Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid On Earth is a prime example of a man who has lived a life of social awkwardness and minimal human contact. However, if Jimmy was aided by technology, could this help overcome his socially awkward tendencies and become a functioning member of society?
Jimmy Corrigan lives a very sad and meaningless life. He works in an office cubicle and is often pushed aside or ignored by co-workers. He has no friends and is extremely awkward upon talking to other people; often times he stutters his words or just responds with short, quick answers such as “OK”. He lives alone in a barren apartment and visits his mother frequently. However, when his mother calls him, he always says that he is very busy. Jimmy lies to his mother because it tricks himself into believing that he has a life of significance if his mother believes that he is too busy to talk to her. He also has an extremely active imagination, into which he escapes his mundane life into a fantasy world. However, most of his adventures have untimely or disastrous ends. For example, he dreams that Superman picks up his house, which results in the decapitation of his son, who turns into a head, which Jimmy crushes with a brick. Superman is a recurring theme throughout the comic, he is a god-like figure and is looked up to by Jimmy. If Jimmy was genetically engineered so that he to was above the level of a human, would this give his life meaning? Would he be better off if he was genetically superior? I believe that he may have acquired a better job, and this is the eyes of some people would mean that he has more purpose. But, I do not think that genetic enhancements would aid in his natural ability to be socially awkward, which was product of his upbringing.
Technology has even affected Jimmy Corrigan’s grandfather. His great grandfather was one of the many people to aid in the construction of the Chicago World’s Fair. However, as the Fair progressed, Jimmy’s great grandfather lost his wife, his house and eventually abandoned his son at the Fair. The stress from building the Fair and the amount of time it took out of Jimmy’s great grandfather’s life made it impossible for him to have a normal relationship with his son. Both Jimmy and his grandfather were abandoned by their fathers, which could have caused them to grow up to be awkward adults and unsuited for normal human interaction.
Technology threatens to take the purpose out of existence. As Bill McKibben states in Enough about being sucked into new technologies, “…we leave behind the possibility of a reality that “gathers and illuminates our world,” substituting instead “the insubstantial and disconnected glamour” of the technological world, which “provokes disorientation and distraction.” (55). This idea of getting lost in a world of distraction is demonstrated by Jimmy’s overactive imagination. McKibben is absolutely right, we are leaving “the possibility of a reality that “gathers and illuminates” our world” as we continue to rely on technology to keep us in touch with our fellow man instead of going outside and interacting. Humans are inherently social creatures, but I believe that we need to continue to have physical interaction with one another.
I believe that Ware is in fact depicting modern life, but is exaggerating it somewhat. He takes general aspects of meaninglessness that can be found if a multitude of lives, and crams them into one life, Jimmy’s. Jimmy’s life exhibits everything that can be meaningless in life, your job, your social life, your home life, and how some people choose to deal with such meaninglessness, such as fantasizing. Technology is becoming dangerously close to having all human beings in a sort of physical isolation from the world, and interaction with others will have to be done through the Internet, etc. This is not a world that is suitable to live in, to grow up to be healthy individuals physical interaction is key. Without social interaction, motivation is loss, and when motivation is loss, purpose is absent. Jimmy’s life is not a life that I wish upon myself or any one else, and if we can change this from occurring, we need to.

Works Cited
1. McKibben, B. (2003). Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age. New York: Owl Books.