This graphic novel reads like Modernist fiction. The way Chris Ware fragments time from the minutia of table settings to the unlimited scope of time travel produces such a complicated narrative that I’m not sure I can describe it coherently. Maybe that’s the point. It’s written (drawn) in free and indirect discourse.
However, the two aspects of the work that stand out to me are the obvious psychological markers of child abuse and low self-esteem, and the various time frames in which the “Jimmy” character lives and relives generational patterns.
Jimmy comes from a long line of dysfunctional men who evidently marry narcissistic women. He is vulnerable and without normal self-protective behaviors. Basically, any of the horrible stories relived by the older men could apply to the lives of his father, grandfather, or great grandfather. These thick nightmares are so deeply layered into the story that I could see any of these men telling their son to go out and shoot his pet horse because the horse tried on the father’s pants. Obviously, the horse turns out to be a miniature horse so small it can fit inside the palm of a boy’s hand. It represents what Jimmy thinks of himself after years of violent physical and mental abuse – a small, weak vulnerable animal exposed to the dangers of unpredictable insane individuals.
Further complicating the plot are the time fractures. The earliest setting takes place at the 1893 Columbian Exposition held in Chicago to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ discovery of America. It was highly regarded compared to other fairs and expositions of the time, more like Epcot. Industrialism and classical architecture were the themes.
Comparing the Expo to any part Jimmy’s or his family’s life is unfulfilling. It represented the best achievements (on Earth?). Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth, is essentially the opposite of the achievements the Expo represents.
The choice of setting the grandfather and great grandfather’s background in this White Palace of perfection is puzzling. Jimmy’s motifs of the peach orchard, only seem like escapism and why write a book in which your protagonist escapes?