"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated April 14, 1907:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (AUGUST 14, 1907):
The most immediate stand-out in this strip is that it is another example where Nemo is completely silent throughout the entirety of his time in Slumberland. - 1/21
Though he spoke when he awoke in Strip #77 (March 31, 1907) and says "Oh! Pshaw!" in the final panel of this strip, aside from that Nemo has been entirely silent in Slumberland since the cannonballs first ripped through the hull of the pirate ship. - 2/21
What's particularly interesting is that McCay draws immediate attention to Nemo's silence when the Slumberlandian in tier one says, "Hello Nemo" and when the Princess inquires about whether he's been on a battleship before. - 3/21
That Nemo doesn't reply to either makes it abundantly evident that his silence is intentional… Could he be traumatized? One might understand that; being in a sea battle (not to mention captured by Pirates) would be a terrifying experience… - 4/21
But this reading makes his shell-shocked expression in the final tier even more pronounced… The Princess looks at him while he stares, blankly, ahead in a perfect solider pose… - 5/21
This made me look back at some of his gesture in the last couple strips and much of it is identical (@AlexxKay mentioned this at strip #77, as well)… he just seems to be blank faced, jaw dropped, and all-around inactive. - 6/21
If it is indeed trauma, then I'm unsurprised that he has been quiet for this long (not counting the final panels of the last three strips, he hasn't spoken in 14 panels by by my count…). - 7/21
If the cannonballs caused the silence to begin, then last week's strip made it exponentially worse with the torrent of cannonball fire they pelted the pirate ship with, and now the Slumberlandian's demolish the pirate ship with… more cannonballs! - 8/21
On another note, the demolition of the pirate ship by cannon fire raised a question for me: Was it common practice to fully sink abandoned pirate ships even after defeat? - 9/21
I have no love lost for those pirates and, considering how brutal and vicious the history of piracy is, it makes total sense to destroy the defeated ship without mercy, thus ensuring that it a) sank completely, and b) kept pirates from floating on it until help arrived… - 10/21
I admit that I know little of the *real* history of pirates (mostly basic pop culture knowledge, which is probably rife with inaccuracy), but it seems like a reasonable move. - 11/21
The three friends are treated like royalty on this ship and is in stark contrast to the way they were treated on the pirate ship. Flip's bravado hasn't gone away though as he wears his new "emperor" clothes proudly. - 12/21
From King to Emperor, Flip is doing incredibly well of late. In fact, he is doing SO well that when the Slumberlandian introduces them at presentation, he is said to be "their guest"! - 13/21
This is, in my opinion, the ultimate acknowledgement of Flip's position in the group now! He has risen to the ranks of inclusion through sheer persistence and tenacity… it was a long journey, but he seems to have finally been accepted! - 14/21
Recalling that Flip has been cast as an ethnic caricature of Irish-Americans, I wonder if McCay had any intentions towards social commentary with this new (though admittedly long-coming) development? - 15/21
It is certainly possible that Flip's success in becoming an important member of the group could have been McCay's way of commenting on Irish-Americans cultural position in the early 20th Century. - 16/21
The idiomatic of "pulling oneself up by one's bootstraps" had been around since the 19th century, and though it evolved in the 20th century, it's original implication (claiming to have achieved some far-fetched or impossible task) remained until the 1920s. - 17/21
The definition of the term in political discourse today (succeed or elevate one's position without the help of others) is commonly recognized for it's problematic assumptions about privilege and work ethic, but it didn't carry that weight back in the early 1900s. - 18/21
By this etymological logic, I wonder if McCay was using Flip (as stand in for Irish-Americans) to suggest that though the task of cultural integration *seemed* impossible, it was more achievable than it might be perceived? A call to persistence and perseverance, perhaps? - 19/21
Of course, less optimistically, it could also be read as poking fun at Irish-Americans by suggesting that they could only hope to successfully integrate into American culture in their dreams… - 20/21
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #79. What's yours? - 21/21
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