"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated July 09, 1911:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (APRIL 9, 2021):
This strip is a bit dull for me; not a lot going on… especially after the fanfare of the last stirp. - 1/15
The focus of this strip is how betrayed the donkey feels after twenty years of devoted service and friendship. - 2/15
He wants to use the voice that he's been given to explain to his friend, Rantone, that he has not been treated kindly enough for his liking. - 3/15
Rantone, for his part, refuses to acknowledge his donkey's voice at first and claims it to be his imagination… though that changes after he's bucked forwarded to the ground! - 4/15
The donkey expresses how he feels and Rantone is remorseful, which leads to their reconciliation. Rantone remembers his loyalty and friendship with the donkey and this leads to them riding off together. - 5/15
This strip, though a bit less exciting, does return to the promise of animal's sharing "their" stories, and Nemo reminds us of this in the final panel. - 6/15
It also speaks to the allegorical reading that we've been exploring by presenting a scenario that McCay might have wished would happen in his real working relationship. - 7/15
It's possible that McCay wished the Herald would remember their loyalty and treat him with the respect that he felt he deserved. Though the fictional reconciliation didn’t come to be realized in the real world, it might have been a moment of dream fulfillment for the artist. - 8/15
Finally, there is most certainly example of racial caricature here with Rantone (who is a Black American). Though the colouring makes this slightly more difficult to decipher, the different skin tones between he and Nemo are evidence of this. - 9/15
He also has a strong accent throughout the strip. - 10/15
I'll admit that these two pieces of colour and linguistic evidence wasn't, at first, enough to help me identify the racial caricature. It wasn't until panel 10, when I saw Rantone's visual depiction, that I realized. - 11/15
At first, I wondered whether his riding a donkey as transport was a part of the caricature (widespread automobile ownership was fast approaching in 1911), but it likely wasn't. - 12/15
According to the Donkey Museum of America… yes, it's a thing… though donkeys were quickly transitioning to farm work by the end of the 1800s, there were plenty around to use for transport, as well. - 13/15
Ultimately, I'm not sure that I see any malice in the depiction (beyond the systemic/unconscious racism that permeates all of McCay's black characters), but if others note something I've missed here, please point it out! - 14/15
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #300. What's yours? - 15/15
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