What appealed to me most about Jimmy Corrigan (and in turn, the other Jimmys) was the essence of the “everyman” that encompassed him. Loneliness, social ineptitude–all of this was made clear in the graphic novel without much actually needing to be said. What I found most interesting was how much faster the read was towards the end when Jimmy’s half-sister Amy is introduced. As one of the first female faces we see, she seems to serve as a strong foil to Jimmy. She is adopted into a loving family, whom she remains close with throughout her life. Her mother has passed away, unlike Jimmy’s, but there still seems to be a strong connection with her despite that. During the car ride after their father has just been in an accident, she talks about how she would never want to meet her “real” mom because it would ruin everything, but she remains hesitant after that. I think it’s interesting how closely linked the two are, especially when the page of her lineage mirrors Jimmy’s earlier on in the novel. Amy serves as the more emotionally stable character, but she sort of ends up in the same scenario as Jimmy in the epilogue. I’m not sure exactly how much time has passed, but it seems like nothing has ever really changed for either of them in the end.

Respondents: What do you think is the significance of Amy ending up in the hospital where both her parents have passed away? Do you think that Amy and Jimmy could have maintained any sort of sibling relationship after the death of their father?